Azhur Saleem and James Boyle have asked me to contribute my co-writer perspective of the "The Marionette Unit" filmmaking process to theirs. When Azhur sent me the first draft of The Marionette Unit, I had already been collaborating with him and James for about 12 months on other film and TV writing projects. We had established a rapport, which is essential in any enterprise, but especially so in creative projects. Our first creative meeting was for another feature-length idea, which we are still developing.  We met in a Starbucks on friday night after work and hashed out the initial plot in a couple of hours over cold coffee. The process was incredibly easy and organic. Ideas flowed and were assessed on one criterion only: Does it make the story better? I have had a number of writing collaborations in the past, but they have been ego driven: one party will feel strongly about something they had contributed and would fight for its inclusion in the final draft, to the detriment of the work itself. What I discovered in Starbucks that night was another writer who cared enough about story to check his ego at the door. Shortly after, Azhur asked me to pitch my ideas ...

Some really great news! The Marionette Unit has just been featured within an article on Ain’t It Cool News – the news source for loads of film, tv and comic-book related projects. This is really great as it means HUGE exposure for our film as that site gets read by millions of people across the world. The posting is AICN & Twitch Present International Eye Candy so thanks again to the guys at Twitch Film for including us in their roundup of films across the world. Scroll down halfway on the page to read the blurb: (http://www.aintitcool.com/node/43632) "Steam punk? We got some of that. Coming soon out of the UK is THE MARIONETTE UNIT, a Victorian-era steam punk picture revolving around theatre performers manipulated and controlled by a massive steam-driven organ, the project currently gathering – if you’ll pardon the horrible pun – steam. Producers are putting together funding for both short and feature versions of the concept and, to sell the concept, have put together a fantastic proof-of-concept trailer."

Had a really interesting conversation with Paul the co-writer today during a story conference meeting we were having. We're in the process of really nailing the structure and tone of the film in treatment form before moving onto the actual screenplay draft. It's constantly evolving, characters are changing and morphing into others and levels of importance are constantly in flux. This is the fun part, but also pretty tough. It's easy to get lost - but it helps to work in a team. We both can keep each other in check. With an idea like this it's easy to let your imagination totally wander and you start getting an idea that would require a budget of $100m or something. Our aim with this film isn't to make a blockbuster type affair but more something like a dark thriller, a film that deals with the characters' lives and situations in a fantastical and visually interesting setting. We're having to strike the balance between taking the story to the limits and writing a script that can be produced on a reasonable budget. Normally you just worry about the story you want to tell - which is pretty much how we approached the short script version ...

Hey everyone, just a small update this time. Azhur and I wanted to say a huge thank you! You really have made our new year one of the best. From my previous message on the 2nd Jan, The Marionette Unit Inception trailer then had been watched over 10,000 times! No small feat I hear you say. I would totally agree with you. However after checking the stats and numbers this morning, I was floored! In 5 days since then, the trailer has been watched another 10,000 times. To quote the exact figures, it is 10,340 views in 5 days! That is incredible, I cannot believe it. A total of 20,350 views of the trailer. We wouldn't be in this position without every single one of those views. Also everyone who has sent it to their work colleagues, friends and family. I cannot wait to see what happens next, and as I've mentioned Azhur and I have lots of great things planned and some exciting news coming up. I will just close on this, if you like the trailer and the idea of the film, then help support us even more. Just by sending it out to someone else you know is a great help. The ...

Hey everyone, So 2010 continues to be great for The Marionette Unit. Azhur and I have loads of great things to tell you very soon. In the meantime, to help celebrate the new year, we are launching the redesigned home page for the official website. Call it v2.0 if you will. To see the new page click HERE During the coming weeks and months, we will be updating it with all your wonderful comments about the trailer (some of you may see yours already there). We will also be announcing events that you fantastic people can get involved with. Another new feature is a link to Azhur's Filmmaking blog on his official website. Azhur has a lot to say about his job and film in general, which is always a fantastic read. I urge you all to subscribe and keep up to date with his thoughts and ideas. Also if you would like to get in contact with Azhur and I, we have a new contact page HERE as well. Until next time, happy filmmaking James

Happy New Year everyone. Azhur and I hope you had a great holiday break So we have come to a new year and already it is looking good for The Marionette Unit. As most of you know 2009 was a great year of development for our film. Launching the website and film making blog in April, gaining fans over the summer, shooting then releasing the Inception Trailer in Sept and a very successful trip to LA in Oct. Some of our recent highlights: Azhur posted this yesterday, but it is worth mentioning again. The Marionette Unit on IMDB News: Brit Steampunk The Marionette Unit Impresses. http://www.imdb.com/news/ni1355497/ Promising teaser for Victorian steam-punk drama The Marionette Unit http://www.imdb.com/news/ni1355607/ Inception Trailer viewer figures: YouTube : 5376 Vimeo : 4490 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDn9TDz6D3Y http://www.vimeo.com/6792930 Some comments from YouTube "Beautiful Cinematography. Was it shot in HD or film?? Looking forward to it." "Looks very interesting - please get more footage up! Nice period feel." "What a tease!!! Awesome work here! What camera did you use?" "This looks sick!!!" The thought that our trailer has been watched almost 10,000 times is very exciting and makes us very happy, and its only a teaser as well! The Marionette Unit : Internet response. Over the holiday and new year period amazingly and to our excitement The Marionette Unit started to spread ...

The proof of concept trailer for The Marionette Unit has been spreading across various blog sites in the last few days and has also been featured on two news articles on IMDB which is fantastic. This is great exposure for us and hopefully bodes well for 2010. Check out the links below: http://www.imdb.com/news/ni1355497/ http://www.imdb.com/news/ni1355607/

Watched a Q&A with Guy Ritchie tonight about his upcoming film “Sherlock Holmes”. I really liked Lock Stock but the rest of his films didn’t really do it for me, but I have to say it’s great he’s trying a completely different genre for this one. Watching a couple of clips of the film, it seemed like it’s going to be pretty good. Robert Downey Jr looks like he’s on top form and the script is quite funny and fresh. What interested me was the way Victorian London was presented in the film especially in terms of “The Marionette Unit” and how this period is received by an international audience. One of the difficulties of bringing a period film to the screen is investors’ fears that period won’t sell. I’m hoping that if this film is successful we can use it as a case study to finance our film. Guy talked about working with Hans Zimmer on the score and how it was a very organic process – throwing mud at the wall and seeing what stuck in terms of themes and pieces. I’m a big fan of his scores and it was fascinating to hear the working process – that he’s ...