This Is Ian Fenton

If you happen to be in Poland on May 19th then try to get along...

Thu, 10 May 2012 14:54:00 +0100

If you happen to be in Poland on May 19th then try to get along to Mińsk Mazowiecki, where they’re putting on a show of animated films including The Big Push. Organiser Jakub Kuć explains: ‘Our city is very small, we don`t have even a cinema :/ (we rent a projector to view shorts). So, it`s more like a “local” event. We want to share our passion to animated films with people from our city :).’ Sounds great and I wish I was there. Trailer for the show here.

Time Machine in TES

Fri, 04 May 2012 15:00:00 +0100

The Times Educational Supplement published a great article by Adi Bloom on Time Machine on May 4th....

Here’s a short trailer for the film I’m making with...

Tue, 01 May 2012 19:40:00 +0100

Here’s a short trailer for the film I’m making with Northern Stars about photographer Stuart Roy Clarke for the National Football Museum in Manchester. It features a cracking score commissioned from British Sea Power. The final film way play in the gallery alongside an exhibition of Stuart’s work curated by him and designer Wayne Hemingway.

Award #2 for Time Machine (Plus new nominations)

Tue, 01 May 2012 19:31:00 +0100

Award #2 for Time Machine (Plus new nominations): ‘Stylish, engaging, and at the cutting edge...

Time Machine had its official launch on Monday evening, when the...

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 07:37:00 +0000

Time Machine had its official launch on Monday evening, when the brilliant Bill Thompson introduced the project live on stage the the Tyneside Cinema in Newcastle and grilled some of the creative team including Annie Rigby and Jeremiah Alexander. Above you’ll find the little film we made to promote it to schools.

Time Machine Wins Award

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 07:24:00 +0000

Time Machine Wins Award: Here’s Holli McGuire and me picking up our Innovation Award at the...

If I am really really lucky then I’m going to spend the...

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 23:44:00 +0000

If I am really really lucky then I’m going to spend the next eighteen months making a film with my friend Jacob Polley about the most amazing house I have ever been in…

A few years back I sat down with a friend of mine Clive Tonge to...

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 23:24:00 +0000

A few years back I sat down with a friend of mine Clive Tonge to write a short horror film called Sunday Best for him to direct. Clive had made a number of cracking shorts (including Emily & The Baba Yaga which has almost 300,000 hits on Youtube) but had run into a brick wall with funders running shorts schemes in the UK who wanted him to ditch his darker side and make something sweet and fluffy; and because they knew best he didn’t get to make Sunday Best, or any films for that matter for a long long time. So last summer, frustrated at sitting around waiting from someone to give him permission to make a film, he transformed his house into a studio, talked some friends into crewing from him and shot the film for nothing but love. And now its finished and its bloody good and sticks a nice big finger up to everyone who told him not to go too dark. Find out more here.

Since 1989 Stuart Roy Clarke has been photographing the...

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 20:08:00 +0000

Since 1989 Stuart Roy Clarke has been photographing the changing face of football across the UK and beyond and has amassed an enormous archive of photos, which from May will find a permanent home at the National Football Museum in Manchester. I’m working with Stuart and my team of young filmmakers at Northern Stars to create a new piece of work that will play in the gallery during the exhibition. It’ll be made up of archive video from the last fifteen years - my first professional commission for a broadcaster was to make a profile of him in 1996 - as well as new material. And going by the image above, he’s trying to qualify for my Looking After Elvis project…

Here’s a little film Northern Stars made to send out over...

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 17:57:00 +0000

Here’s a little film Northern Stars made to send out over the festivities.

Time Machine on Slide Share

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 22:17:00 +0000

Here’s the teaser for the Time Machine ARG I’ve been...

Thu, 18 Aug 2011 18:44:00 +0100

Here’s the teaser for the Time Machine ARG I’ve been working on for the Tyneside Cinema in Newcastle. Full update on this project soon…

Photo of the actor Michael Hodgson taken between shots for a...

Wed, 04 May 2011 22:42:00 +0100

Photo of the actor Michael Hodgson taken between shots for a project I’m currently working on. There’s more here.

Here’s an image from an ice rink on the frozen island of...

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 22:40:00 +0100

Here’s an image from an ice rink on the frozen island of Suomenlinna, a short boat ride from downtown Helsinki, where my wife and I recently took weekend break. It was strange being somewhere where the weather was worse than at home but still being so excited to be there. More images I made on the trip can be found here.

The Story Engine 2011

Sun, 23 Jan 2011 19:56:00 +0000

Having programmed this event for five years, its sometimes been hard to see where to take it next....

Here’s the first image to emerge from the Time Machine...

Wed, 01 Dec 2010 16:36:00 +0000

Here’s the first image to emerge from the Time Machine alternate reality game I’m designing for the Tyneside Cinema. The artwork is by Cora Stone over at Ideonic, who are building the online experience. This is from an online game where players have to enter the mind of the cinema’s founder Dixon Scott to restore his memory - if they fail, the cinema will never exist…

Here’s Kimmo Pohjonen playing Avanto, which was composed...

Wed, 01 Dec 2010 16:35:00 +0000

Here’s Kimmo Pohjonen playing Avanto, which was composed for my film Flickerman & The Ivory Skinned Woman.

Flickerman & The Ivory Skinned Woman Adam Suschitzky shot...

Thu, 11 Nov 2010 13:54:00 +0000

Flickerman & The Ivory Skinned Woman

Adam Suschitzky shot this short film for me on 35mm back in 2001 in a tiny space above The Union Rooms in central Newcastle. The script was written with poet and novelist Jacob Polley. The wonderful production design was created by Sarah Beaman and costumes and make up are by Imogen Cloet, who spent days sandpapering those pajamas to get the look we wanted . Lead actor James Ramsay - brother of filmmaker Lynne Ramsay - had just done a bit part in Scorsese’s Gangs Of New York (he was hung by Daniel Day Lewis) and plays opposite Joy Sanders, who stepped into those red shoes two days before the shoot after Brid Brennan dropped out. The score was recorded in Helsinki with accordion-wrestler Kimmo Pohjonen who got me drunk for three days straight before taking me to the studio. All I could say was ‘Yes, Kimmo. That sounds great…”

I recently won a contract to deliver a REALLY exciting project...

Thu, 23 Sep 2010 14:10:00 +0100

I recently won a contract to deliver a REALLY exciting project for the Tyneside Cinema in Newcastle. The Tyneside Time Machine is an alternate reality game aimed at engaging 9-12 year olds in the heritage of this terrific independent cinema. The story centres on a girl who’s been transported into the past by a dicky projector at the cinema and the kids have to help get her back home. So The Wizard Of Oz meets Back To The Future. There’ll be online elements, original and archive film material, as well as a narrative journey through the building itself. It’s going to launch in early 2011, and will run for three years taking in somewhere in the region of 130 school visits. I’m currently putting together the creative team and will post more details here in the coming weeks.

Dawn and The Living Dad - the project I worked on with young...

Tue, 17 Aug 2010 00:42:00 +0100

Dawn and The Living Dad - the project I worked on with young filmmakers from Stockton in the summer of 2010 - has been nominated for Best Drama at the Firstlight Awards 2011. Its one of only four films chosen from dozens across the country and the winner will be announced at a sparkly ceremony at the Odeon Leicester Square on March 15th. Judges include James Bond himself, Daniel Craig, everyone’s favourite pet zombie Nick Park, and the rather scrumptious Sienna Miller. Oh and some guy called Terry Gilliam. Needless to say the filmmakers are rather excitable at this time. The film was shot with in a tiny flat over four days with a terrific cast featuring Bill Fellows (pictured) and newcomer Emily Dowson. The grisly make up was done by Laura Tallentire and mentors included Louise Rea, Richard Lawson, Sara Cooper, and Hannah McParlin.