Category Archives: Filmmaking

MOCKDOWN! Chat show, Episode 7, Aug 2, 2020

Acting, Actor, BBC, celebrities, Celebrity, Coronation St, Covid-19, Emmerdale, Film, Filmmaking, ITV, Mockdown, Music, stage, theatre, TV, Voiceover, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Hello dear followers!

We’ve just finished another wonderful episode of Mockdown!
I think we could have chatted for another hour!

This week, my guests are actors – with a musical side…. Jonathan Kydd and Andy Whitaker [more details on my guests below]

Due to copyright issues, Andy’s version of BLACK – WONDERFUL LIFE
cannot be shown above, Click here to see the full version of his song.
The full show is also available on my Actor Facebook Page

MY GUESTS

Jonathan Kydd
An actor. But also does voice stuff and makes films and videos and write songs. Written three musicals and a variety of hour long shows featuring comedy bands  and a number of video blogs, mostly about football. Also does cartoons. Was a dinosaur in Toy Story that time forgot, and all the voices in Bangers and Mash, and in Mr Bean, and Noddy, and Dennis the menace, and hilltop hospital, etc… He also made two comedy short films and a lot of videos. Podcasts about football as well.
His father, great British actor Sam Kydd, made over 280 films and thousands of tellies 1946 to his death in 1982. Sam played cockneys and Irishmen, despite being quite posh having gone to Dunstable Grammar. Jonathan found an unpublished autobiography of his dad’s career 1946 to 1970 in his mum’s loft and is editing it. It’s almost finished. He’s also going to make a documentary about his dad’s career. He has all the home videos, 300 stills, a mass of letters and scripts and diaries. As well as the book.
Official Web Site 
Twitter
The Rudy Vees

Andy Whitaker
You may know Andy by his professional name, Andy Moore, in his role as PC Mike Swirling in the BAFTA-winning soap Emmerdale… He has a vast musical history and is about to make his own film…
Having started out as a musician in The Sun and the Moon with The Chameleons front-man Mark Burgess and Chameleons Drummer John Lever, went into acting at the age of 35 in the 90’s telling himself it was a less age prejudice profession. After all, they always want granddads in films and TV shows.
After doing the rounds in rep and theatre in education, he got my first telly part as an Amnesiac who thinks that he is Kevin Keegan in the BBCs The Cops in 1998, was a series regular in Dream Team for Sky One, played the obligatory red herring in The Bill and the role of Sean Wakefield in Coronation Street under Alan Wareing’s direction – that lead to his current role as PC Mike Swirling under Alan Wareing’s direction.
Andy Moore Facebook Page
Twitter
More about Andy’s Music – 

SUPPORT ARTISTS –
https://www.equity.org.uk/about/benevolent-fund/
My Ko-Fi link – http://ko-fi.com/davemcclelland

MOCKDOWN! streams live Sunday evenings at 8pm (UK) on my Actor Facebook Page.
Past shows are on my Actor page, and are also available as a Playlist on YouTube

Stay safe you darlings!
D x

Mockdown! Episode 2

Acting, Actor, Barry Pigeon Protects, BBC, Celebrity, comedy, Covid-19, Filmmaking, History, ITV, Lancashire, Liverpool, Manchester, Mockdown, Politics, Radio, stage, theatre, TV, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Hi folks!

Hope you’ve all survived another week, well, let’s face if, if you’re reading this, you HAVE survived, but, of course, it may have been a bit of a shit week.

This Government-led Shitshow rolls on… excess deaths, the collapse of the economy, right wing thugs on the streets… but at least I found a socially appropriate way to unload with 3 mates over a chat.

Yes, it’s Episode 2 of MOCKDOWN!

My guests this week are:

Kurt Brookes – Head of Development at MIM Productions and the producer of the upcoming BBC Radio 4 comedy series “The Likely Dads“. He is also the creator and co-everything of the webseries “Barry Pigeon Protects“.

Marie Friend – a born & bred scouser who’s now dead posh and living in Chester. Marie has trained with many acting practitioners across Manchester over the last 6 years , she is a Broadcast Journalist , experienced in Voiceover and TV presenting… and was last seen at the Hope Mill Theatre in Welcome to Shangri La…. along with myself, and my final guest…

Robyn Moore – a London born, British actress of Belgium and Polish decent. She has over 30 years of experience in theatre, film and television… including “Family Affairs” and playing Shirley Benson in “East Enders”. She also has over 20 years of experience teaching actors and professionals in acting and performance techniques.

A few links for you…
GET SCENE – the link that Marie mentioned.
Follow me, ROWE DAVID McCLELLAND on Facebook for future shows
Help arts freelancers through the EQUITY BENEVOLENT FUND
and if you want to help me, donations are appreciated at PayPal.me or Ko-fi

Thanks for checking in, thanks for watching the show, and stay safe!

D x

 

Reasons to be cheerful…. April 2020

Acting, Actor, Barry Pigeon Protects, Film, Filmmaking, Music, , , , , , , ,

Greetings Dahhlings!!!
I hope this update finds you happy and healthy.

A couple of items for you… on the last post, I shared a video of me doing the opening Future Legend monologue from Bowie’s Diamond Dogs, a lyric I memorised at 16 and never forgot.

Today I have more remembered lyrics, and I’ve done a bit of a video production on this one. Reasons to be Cheerful, Part 3, by Ian Dury and the Blockheads, is well lodged in my brain, and I will often rattle it off to the confusion of those around me… Until I get to the chorus and they realise what it is.
So here is my version of it. It makes me cheerful, I hope it does you during these Lockdown Days. My memory must be dodgy though, I missed some lines, should have listened to the original or checked the lyrics first!

NEXT:

Right, last time I told you about the new Barry Pigeon Protects episode, Barry Goes Viral, a special Covid-19 episode.

Happy to report it’s been selected for an online screening in the South Yorkshire Filmmakers Network Online screening event Tuesday night. Going to be a few other short films on the bill, so it’ll keep you entertained on Tuesday night.
It’s streaming online and features a Q&A, so put your very best Pajamas on, grab a glass of your favourite beverage, and see you there. Here’s the streaming link. It gets underway at 7pm.

Stay Sane. Stay Safe.
D xoxoxo

April Lockdown Update

Acting, Actor, Barry Pigeon Protects, comedy, Covid-19, Dogs, Film, Filmmaking, Humour, Sheffield, Short Films, , , , , , , , , , ,

Hello my dears

I hope you’re all well and staying safe during this pandemic. I don’t know how it’s impacting on you, but for me, I seem unable to concentrate on computer stuff, hence the long wait since my last post. I just don’t have the willpower tou sit at a screen. I’ve had to force myself to write this today.

Similar tale with TV. I can sit to watch a show and I’m constantly pausing to check for phone updates. And I fall alseep a lot in front of the telly, despite sleeping well at night. It’s different ways of reacting to the state we live in I guess.

I’m trying to be creative, done lots of garden work, tidying, weeding, planting. I make lots of videos, dog walks, bird song, etc. More of that further down.

A couple of things I’d like to promote though… 5 years ago, I worked on a web series called Barry Pigeon Protects, all about a night security guard sharing his life via webcam. Lovely project written/directed and produced by Kurt Brookes and Andrew Birtwell.

My old mate Doug Thorp asked if I could rekindle Barry as a guest for his Broken Biscuits  Online Cabaret.

I asked Kurt and Andy, and within a week we had it written, shot and edited. Due to lockdown, I shot at home with a green screen, and my old security cabin office magically appeared in editing.

Here’s Broken Biscuits Online No. 2. Barry Pigeon is the final artiste in the show… It’s well worth the watch as an alternative to the assault of information we have these days.

For those who want just a dose of Barry Pigeon, here’s the new episode….

And good new Pigeon fans, more Barry is likely to be forthcoming 🙂
I’ll update when I can.

Other bits of creativity overcome me. The opening of David Bowie’s Diamond Dogs album, the spoken track Future Legend, is something I committed to memory at age 16.
The words kept coming back to me recently, so here it is, performed as a monologue…

I have another favourite song committed to memory that I plan to make a video for. A more complicated production, but hopefully coming soon.

As mentioned earlier, I’ve been filming my daily dog walks, and sharing on my Facebook feed as Virtual Dog Walking for Shut Ins. I also post my daily Twitter Feeds… the sound of bird song captured in the park.

I’m putting these on to my YouTube Channel now, so here’s a link to my Virtual Dog Walks Playlist….

Norfolk Park Twitter Feed

Okay, hope you enjoyed the walkies and the birds. I’ll keep adding to the Playlists so keep checking back.

Stay safe, love your friends and family – and tell them you do.
We all need it right now.
I hope to update again soon.

D x

The Memory of Fat

Acting, Actor, comedy, Filmmaking, Food, weight loss, , , , ,

New video uploaded today on my weight loss…. I have lost around 80lbs over the last two years, 60 of those in the last year.

To help me remember how good it is to have lost that weight, I still use my old belts on my jeans and trousers. With 14″ less waist to encircle, the spare belt reminds me how well I’ve done.

So if you spot something brown and leathery flopping from my trousers, you know what it is 😜

10 mores pounds to my next milestone…..

Christmas is coming. New video, new pics, and on TV in January

Acting, Actor, celebrities, comedy, Family, Filmmaking, friends, Girlfriends, health, ITV, Music, Parody, Photography, Sheffield, Short Films, The Yorkshire Teabaggers, TV, , , , , ,

Christmas is almost here!
We’ve had the first dusting of snow on the Sheffield hills, my cards are sent, presents mostly bought, now I’m making lists for food shopping for the big day.

I’ve also been busy on the business side, getting new actor headshot pics and making a new video to share with you, so lots to tell you about in this update….

I usually record a video each Christmas of me reading A VISIT FROM ST. NICHOLAS (‘Twas the night…). I used to read it to my children on Christmas eve in the pre-divorce days, but I never see them to read it now, so I started recording it for them.

This year I decided to record an audio version for them and put a bit more into the production side, with sound effects and such. I’m very pleased with the results.

I’ve put it on YouTube with some family photos and videos under the audio, here it is….

If you’d like the original audio version in it’s full glory, it’s here to listen or download…. or buy if you wish to send me money.

 

I’m going to be in your house in January!
Earlier this year I recorded a lovely episode of GIRLFRIENDS, Kay Mellor’s new drama for ITV. A couple of nice scenes with Miranda Richardson and Zoë Wanamaker. The series begins Weds January 3rd. I’m in Episode 3. It’s a lovely cast, please watch.

Here’s some of the new pics of the new slimmer me (over 80lbs lost now) – and with new glasses too. I’m hoping the new slimmer look leads to more TV work as directors move me from the obese to hunky casting category 😁

And here’s a final Christmassy treat for you, the first Yorkshire Teabaggers video. Our parody take on one of the most popular of Christmas songs.

What a lot of Christmas goodies eh?
So, now I’ve unloaded my sack on you, I will bid you a Very Merry Christmas and the Happiest New Year.

Stay warm, stay safe, help others, spread the love and be good to yourself.

Love always,
Dave x

 

A very short film at the festival….

Acting, Actor, Film, Filmmaking, Horror, Sheffield, Short Films, , , , ,

Had some brilliant news today, a very short film I’ve made has been chosen as a finalist to be shown at Celluloid Screams, the Sheffield Horror Film Festival this coming weekend.

INSIDE, a short ‘bumper’ film, has been accepted as one of the finalists in the Celluloid Screams Film Festival Bumper Competition this weekend in Sheffield. Bumpers are 30 to 60 second short films designed to play before festival feature presentations. The winning Bumper will be announced at the close of the festival.

You can preview all the bumper competition entries, including mine, at the South Yorkshire Filmmakers Network SHOWROOM SHORTS at The Showroom Cinema Tuesday evening, 9pm.

Mine is a very personal little film, so I hope you can see it either Tuesday night, or at the festival this weekend in Sheffield.

Dave
xxx

Post-election….

Acting, BBC, Broken TV series, Filmmaking, Labour Party, Politics, Sheffield, Short Films, TV, , , , ,

Wow, what a couple of weeks we’ve had.

Terror attacks, horrific fires. And May holding on to power by her finger tips.

I was very pleased with the Labour result in the election last week. Yes, a straight win would have been better, but things may change in coming weeks as May collapses. The Grenfell disgrace may just be the thing that finishes her off, so roll on the Queens speech and subsequent parliamentary vote next week.

I walked the streets delivering leaflets and knocking on doors for this election, and I have to say there was a great feeling of support for the Labour Party. When the time comes to go to the polls again, and it could be soon, I hope you’ll see we can actually win this thing, get out there and help turn the tide against austerity.

Since the election, I’ve been kept busy on the latest production from WellRedFilms, a left-leaning, Sheffield-based group of filmmakers.

The latest video, shot on Thursday evening, released Friday and online now, takes a topical look at the aftermath of the election and looks at various campaigns we still need to continue.

I took the production lead on this one, working 5 cameras, edited it all together once I returned home, suffering technical issues and internet problems. I’m very pleased with the end result. I hope I can develop more work like this.

In other news, BROKEN on BBC1 is getting great reviews and I return for the remaining episodes as Christopher Kerrigan, brother to Sean Bean. Not a huge role, but loved it. Jimmy McGovern has written a timely piece on British society, the cast is incredible. It’s not easy viewing, have a tissue handy, but you can’t stop watching.

And I had some good news about an upcoming project. I can’t say more now, but it’s a nice role in a new series from another hugely respected writer.

Old song – new version – new video

Actor, comedy, Family, Film, Filmmaking, Humour, Music, Short Films, , , ,

Hello there!!!! April has suddenly turned cold, we’ve had snow this week! Luckily the weather was warmer last week when my son Benjamin helped me make a new video for a song I originally recorded 4 years ago.

I’d never been happy with the original video. I shot it on my iPhone and I didn’t have playback of the song to sync with so I guessed the audio speed when I shot the video…. which made editing very difficult .

So I’ve been wanting to make a new video for some time and I recorded a new audio track for it as well, so what we have below is a whole new version.

That’s the new above…. below is the old version from 2013….

Hope you like one of them at least….

Cheers and stay warm. Especially on’t moors!
Dave X