It's All Groovy – Détails, épisodes et analyse

To say she is the Yoda of the acting world would be an understatement - having acted since she was 6 in her hometown of Nova Scotia, Val arrived in London in the 50s and never left. Teacher, mentor, actor, she made her mark just as much in the theatre world as on set, forever giving her heart, soul and talent to the acting world.

I hope you love her as much as I do!

Further reading:

Uta Hagen's Respect for Acting

Val's favourite play in which she played Margaret in her bare feet: The Playboy of the Western World

Val's favourite film: Bambi (as pure as her heart!)

Filmmaker, doctor and lecturer in Directing at Farnham's UCA, Maria isn't one to go unnoticed... Having met her at the London Film Festival where we shared a fascinating conversation delving into her origin story, films and the industry as a whole, there was no one better suited for my first episode.

Happy listening and hopefully you'll learn a few nuggets!

Further reading:

You'll find hereafter the link to Maria's paper about ⁠⁠Queer Representation in Arab and Middle Eastern Films⁠,⁠ if you want to read more about it.

And here are the names of the films we touched upon ( next movie night sorted!):

⁠⁠Caramel⁠⁠

⁠⁠Circumstance⁠⁠

⁠⁠In Between⁠⁠

Jack of all trades and master of all, Katherine has shown countless times she does not shy away from a challenge. Puppet designer, seamstress, director, teacher - what can’t she do?

A true inspiration to anyone in the performing arts industry or even if you’re starting off somewhere and need some guidance, Katherine will share some amazing stories, advice and life experiences, all thrown in with some love and warmth!

Happy listening !

Katherine’s favourite show: The Ferryman, by Jezz Butterworth.

Katherine's recommendations:

- Puppet workshop: https://www.instagram.com/brunskillandgrimes/

- Clean Break: https://www.instagram.com/cleanbrk/

- War Horse (for those living in the UK): https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/productions/war-horse/

- Her and her Co-founder Tess' company, Bea in My Beanie: https://www.beeinmybeanie.com/

Katherine’s book recommendations:

• ​Stephen Jeffrey’s - Playwriting
• Edwin Catmull: Creative, Inc
• ​Michael Kaiser: The Art of the Turnaround
• ​Kelly Hunter: Shakespeare’s Heartbeat

You meet passionate people, and then you meet Ylan.

Born and raised in, Geneva, Switzerland, he fell in love with musical theatre at 16 and thus began his wonderful journey into the Performing Arts industry. Directing and producing his first show at 17, writing his first musical at 22, Ylan is not one to rest on his laurels.

Seizing every opportunity and open door (figuratively and literally as you'll come to discover), always with a great big smile and a box of chocolates, Ylan will inspire you to jump off your sofa, get your hands dirty, and start working on that great project of yours.

And to finish off with his favourite quote (inspired by our dear Seneca): "Opportunity is luck meeting preparedness".

Happy listening!

Ylan's favourite & go-to show: Addams Family (whether it be small scale, large or the film, go and watch it)

His company Lympa, you can follow it on Instagram to see his upcoming shows, when you're passing by Switzerland:

https://www.lympa.ch/en/

https://www.instagram.com/lympa.ch

The film we spoke about you can watch on Netflix: Tick Tick...Boom!

Never would I have imagined that doing an episode on Virtual Production and Green Screens would have ended with us talking about chasing your dreams and the redefinition of being an artist.

Such is the journey we will take you on with Sam, teacher and true expert in the field of Virtual Production (or VP as the pros say), visual effects and story telling !

Bear with the initial technical jargon as you will learn a heap, (incidentally you'll sound really snazzy name dropping these terms into conversations) but most of all, in the second part, you will be wowed off your socks with Sam's captivating insights.

Happy listening!

Further watching:

• Ian Huberthttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsGZ_2RuJ2Ahttps://youtu.be/IXImKSLnmjY?si=5tjx2ZpfcSIGmTPu
• Star Trek: Strange New Worldshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUelUM2ZLqs
• Film Riot Virtual Productionhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJzcO_eXqgIhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRQvi5Jc_Js
• Performance/Motion Capturehttps://youtu.be/Fp3P0tSnY-Y?si=a2rtnenPRazY-YWm

Further reading:

• Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse: The Art of the Movie
• The Odyssey
• Hamlet

Sam's favourite Book and Film:

• The Time Machine
• The Shawshank Redemption

(Achtung: this episode is in French so if you want to brush up on your French GCSE lessons, this is the time & place for it)

Je crois que je ne peux décrire d'une façon claire et précise l'épisode que vous allez découvrir...mais je peux vous assurer que nous n'avons ni pris de Red Bull ni de café, c'est simplement l'amour de l'Improvisation qui nous emballe tant! Rejoignez mes amis Fab & Jeff, les pros de l'impro pour 1h de quésaco, accent québécois et comprendre pourquoi nous devrions absolument tous - oui tous - faire de l'impro!

Happy listening!

Les cours de Jeff à London:

French it Up où vous pourrez trouver ses cours et les spectacles à venir pour découvrir et vous laisser tenter!

Further reading:

Keith Johnstone:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/306940.Impro

Viola Spolin: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/274628.Improvisation_for_the_Theater

Further watching:

Key & Peele - Substitute Teacher: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dd7FixvoKBw&t=5s

SNL (watch it all - but my top 3):

Super Showcase Spokesmodels

Meet Your Second Wife

An oldie but classic

Met by happenstance on a student film set and after chatting for 5 minutes, I quickly realised Lionel had quite a story to share.

To say he had a busy career would be an understatement. Starting as 3rd AD and making his way up to 1st AD and eventually director, Lionel's work has taken him across the globe, working with some of the greatest directors in the world. Seizing every opportunity with one suitcase and the phrase "worst case, if it doesn't work out, they fire me", Lionel has managed to pave an uninterrupted career spanning over 30 years, stopping only when the pandemic hit, when he finally rested and decided to become a teacher at a film school in Paris.

This episode will be in French, but hopefully, my English friends, you'll be able to whip out your textbooks and catch glimpses of his fantastic life.

-

Rencontré par cas fortuit sur le set d'un film d'étudiant à Paris, j'ai très vite compris que j'avais face à moi quelqu'un qui n'avait pas eu le temps de niaiser pendant ces 40 dernières années.

Commençant en tant que 3ème AR, Lionel a vite su se faire connaître parmi les meilleurs directeurs du monde, ce qui lui a valu une carrière internationale ininterrompue pendant plus de 30 ans, pendant laquelle il gravi les échelons jusqu'à 1er AR et éventuellement réalisateur. Ne refusant jamais un projet et suivant sa phrase clé "au pire, on me vire", Lionel nous partage sa carrière tant surprenante que rocambolesque, qui, je l'espère, vous inspira à prendre vos propres risques.

A selection of the films Lionel worked on/ Une sélection de film sur lesquels Lionel a travaillé:

- Animal Farm

- Hotel Rwanda

- There's Only One Sun

- Pub Cartier: L'odyssée de Cartier

- Case Départ

Lionel's top picks /ses films favoris:

- Apocalypse Now

- Taxi Driver

- Jaws

Thank you to my dear friend Mory at Pars Studio for the great sound engineering.

I have come to find that most creatives in this industry are very modest and rarely boast about their success.

Jérôme definitely is a prime example; his career as sound engineering and boom operator has led him far and wide across the globe, on projects as varied as they are fascinating.

His sensibility and passion to his craft and to the world film is extremely touching and I hope you will be as enthralled as I was!

Little note: this episode is in french as our dear friend Jérôme (albeit speaking great english) is from the South West of France (where the sun shines) but I am sure your GCSE French will allow you to enjoy this wonderful episode!

Happy listening!

To see the plethora of films Jérôme has worked on throughout his career you can find him on IMDB , AlloCiné and MUBI .

Jérôme's favourite films :

Angèle de Marcel Pagnol

Pierrot le Fou de Jean-Luc Godart

Gare centrale de Youssef Chahine

Thank you to my dear friend Mory at Pars Studio to help make the sound sound so groovy!

Have you ever been moved simply with words? No background music, no back-up singers,…just words and a microphone.

I shan’t give out too much information as this episode truly is unique but I introduce you lovely listener to the amazing world of performance poetry. 

A very fortuitous meeting with a co-actor led me to meet his son, poet and musician, Jasper. I knew when I heard his story that I wanted to bring him on the podcast.

So I nudge you to have a listen and let yourself be transported by Jasper’s words.

Happy listening!

Jasper's Instagram account to follow his poetry.

Jasper’s favourite poet: 

• John Keats (if you haven’t read his poems do buy yourself his Complete Poems for Christmas) 

Poets to go see perform:

• Molly Sapphire 
• Stephen Gill
• Go watch videos of the late Benjamin Zephaniah performing - 'absolute legend' (Jasper's words)

Live poetry to watch in London:

• Sofar Sounds (there isn’t always live poetry at every night but you can email the team to ask)
• Spit Nights

Film we speak about which has beautiful poetry and live poetry : Love Jones

Thank you to my dear friend Mory at Pars Studio for the great sound editing!

To say that I've listened to some of his songs 18 times would be an understatement and it's not just because I happen to (lucky me) to be his cousin. Ever since our family Christmases where his voice and guitar playing clearly stood out from the rest of our cacophony of songs, we knew he'd go somewhere and in London he landed where he is now producing and composing his songs as well as other artists.

Tibo has truly managed to craft a style of his own, blending in R&B, Jazz and blues with a touch of "saudade".

Have a listen to one of his songs and I am adamant you will feel the stress and worry of the day seep out of you whilst you let yourself be carried away by his melodious voice.

Tibo Step

Tibo's 'coup de coeur' artists and songs:

Mk.gee - How Many Miles

Astronne & LaBlue - Sous la pluie

Puma Blue - Too Much , Too Much

ELIZA - Straight Talker