fbpx

Storytelling PR

Miriam Attwood

DAVID MICHAEL PRODUCTIONS present QUEENZ – the show with BALLS

by

Starring chart-topping Union J’s Jaymi Hensley – the Queenz are heading to Edinburgh LIVE.

For the night out we’ve all been missing – Queenz are ready to, (like a prayer,) take you there. Five vocal powerhouses armed with songs, sass and plenty to say. This unapologetic, dance party night out with five incredible vocalists in their realest drag is landing at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe to bring some much-needed pride and joy. 

From backstreet bars to West End stars, the Queenz cast represents a mix of undeniable artists who have been waiting their whole lives for this moment in the spotlight. The cast comprises pop star turned drag star Jaymi Hensley (UK Chart top ten selling member of Union J) as Mis Dia Montay the White Queen; Grant Jackson, who recently went viral on TikTok with a Celine Dion vocal some accused him of lip syncing – it was entirely his vocal – joins the band as Gold Queen; Louis Wallond as the Rock Queen aka Billie Eyelash; Lew Ray as the Blue Queen – Mr Van Cartier; and last but not least Josh Hanson takes to the stage for their first leading professional role as Pink Queen – Candy Caned. Welcome to the circus Josh!

The Queenz cast represent a mixed background of experience, all professional singers and dancers at various stages of their career – in and out of drag – including Jaymi, fulfilling a life-long career ambition, professionally putting on a pair heels for the first time – but still relying on the voice that got him to the final of X-Factor and into the UK Chart Top Five. 

Expect an all-singing, all-dancing hour of live vocals and chat with the Queenz as they guide you through an eclectic party playlist, featuring remixed and reimagined pop anthems from The Spice Girls, Shakira, GaGa, Britney, Whitney and everything in between.

Together let’s smash down social boundaries and invite the world in all its sequined glory to a non-apologetic pop party, celebrating unity, unicorns, divas and death drops.

Ends.

Swamp Motel’s Original Mystery Thriller IP, The Isklander Trilogy optioned by Gaumont UK

by

– Interactive Game Series Set for TV adaptation –

London-based immersive entertainment company Swamp Motel has secured a deal with Gaumont UK to option the film and TV rights to their sleuthing alternate reality adventure series Isklander trilogy. 

The three-part interactive game series comprising Plymouth Point, The Mermaid’s Tongue and The Kindling Hour invites players to unleash their inner online detective as they enter a world of corporate deceit, occult horrors, and shadowy cabals to uncover the twists and turns of a murky underworld deep within high society. The trilogy, which stars actor Dominic Monaghan (Lord of the Rings trilogy), has amassed legions of fans with over 60,000 people across the UK and the US having played the games since the first instalment, Plymouth Point, launched in April 2020.

Whilst the Isklander trilogy in its current form has been designed as an at home, online experience for two – six players, plans to adapt the story for a multi-part drama series for TV are now underway with Gaumont UK – the British arm of the French studio behind Lupin and Narcos. The drama development is led by executive producer Alison Jackson (Tin Star, Ashes to Ashes, Hunted), who also helms Gaumont’s UK growing London-based division, and Gaumont UK’s Senior Development Exec Jamie Jackson.  

Employing a blend of inventive storytelling and cutting-edge technology, this dark, digital story world was created by Swamp Motel writers, co-founders and creative directors Ollie Jones and Clem Garritty. Both creative associates of Punchdrunk and co-founders of the critically acclaimed comedy theatre company Kill the Beast, they created Plymouth Point initially in response to the closures of entertainment and theatre spaces across the world last year. It has since grown into a permanent fixture in the online entertainment space internationally and now an entirely new arm of the company’s creative output.

Interactive, multi-media and episodic, Isklander is a transmedia franchise intended to be explored across multiple formats. 

Swamp Motel co-founders and creative directors Ollie Jones and Clem Garritty

Gaumont UK CEO and executive producer Alison Jackson said: “From the moment our senior development executive Jamie Jackson played the first of the Iskander trilogy and recommended it to the team, we could see it’s potential for adaptation. A breathtakingly paced thriller, with a fascinating conspiracy and heart stopping twists at its centre. It feels exactly the sort of show we’re all desperate to watch at the moment, we’re thrilled to be partnering with such an exciting, forward thinking company as Swamp Motel.”

The Isklander series follows a secret society with ties to big money and an international network who will go to any lengths to protect their supremacy. The stories blur fiction and reality, with the very real London Stone at the centre of the race against the clock. Hunting for ancient artefacts linked to this underworld, players work with various characters across the Isklander series to bring down the organisation from the inside. 

Swamp Motel’s Clem Garritty and Ollie Jones commented: “We’re so excited to collaborate with Gaumont UK. Our online experiences – Plymouth Point, The Mermaid’s Tongue and The Kindling Hour – were always more than just a trilogy. Together they’re a storyworld. There is so much scope to delve deeper into the world we’ve created and its characters. Adapting Isklander for film and tv purposes provides the perfect opportunity to do just that.

“We see transmedia narratives as the really exciting future of original IPs and we’re passionate about their development and the impact of storytelling on each platform. We’re thrilled Gaumont UK has spotted the same potential.” 

Gaumont UK was launched to produce exceptional original British drama for the global market. Led by Executive Producer and CEO Alison Jackson, whose credits include Tin Star, M.I High and Ashes to Ashes, Gaumont UK has several projects in development for terrestrial channels and the streaming market.  Gaumont UK recently produced the third series of Sky Atlantic’s hugely successful Tim Roth drama Tin Star, which Jackson executive produced, alongside Kudos. 

Further details regarding the TV adaptation are still to come. In the meantime, the Isklander trilogy is available to be played online now – visit isklander.com for more details. 

Gaumont UK CEO and executive producer Alison Jackson

What critics are saying about Isklander trilogy game series:
 “Swamp Motel’s escape room/scavenger hunt mashup is the most fun I’ve had in a year“ – CNet

“Swamp Motel knows how to put on a show” – Wired

“Inventive, gorgeously designed and technically dazzling”
★★★★  The Guardian

“Fiendishly good fun”
★★★★  Metro

“It left us feeling invigorated”
★★★★  Daily Mail


Ends. 

Facing Racism in Fringe PR & Media

by

In July 2020 Storytelling PR Director, Miriam Attwood sent a rambling email to Black, Asian, Migrant, Indigenous and Ethnically Diverse artists and colleagues in the industry (that Storytelling have worked with) saying Storytelling was keen to use the rare time we now had in lieu of the August Festival season to hold a formal awareness raising moment about Racism in Fringe PR and Comms. As an industry leader it felt possible to get people within the industry to really face and work towards making long term change – but of course – inappropriate for Miriam A to hold that space. 

In doing this work we sought invaluable advice, accepting constant suggestions, amendments and corrections along the way. Three points specifically we would like to underline about this work are; one change can only happen when the industry welcomes Ethnically Diverse Talent to take up positions of power, and fosters that talent with real awareness and two as a white team we cannot take up room in this space, but we feel we can support with providing a platform, carrying out admin, and asking for funding. three we are a small cog in a huge space of change and we would like to thank the leaders in this space who have taught us so much. 

Manifesting from this were two forums where Tigho Feldman held the space as facilitator. Tigho is currently Head of Operations for Rambert London, and through her impressive career held senior roles within the Festival Fringe Society.

Leading on both format and content were Arusa Qureshi (Edinburgh based, Freelance Culture and Music writer) and Clarcia Parinussa (dancer, choreographer, race equalities work as ID.Y and D/ecology)

With Arusa, Claricia and Tigho’s leadership we came to a conclusion a closed forum with a group of creatives would begin the event, providing a safe space for comment and honest reflection, (Storytelling PR did not attend). Then a second industry facing forum with conclusions shared and an ask of a commitment to change with an open sign up sheet.  There was a third forum – a breakout space – for industry – namely PRs, media and marketers – to meet and reflect. We would like to fully recognise this was very much a ‘change, amend, update’ process, and we are greatly appreciative for all the honest feedback we received. 

The contributing creatives* include: 

Annie George – Artist and Writer 
Shivani Saini – Director Atelier Culturati 
Christian Graham – Writer and actor
Apphia Campbell – Writer and Actor 
Katherina Radeva – Co-Director Two Destination Language
Sage Nokomis-Wright (Producer)
Mandla Rae (Performance Artist) 
Natalie Chan (Producer) 
Arusa Qureshi (Culture and Music journalist)
Claricia Parinussa (Dancer, Choreographer and race inequalities facilitator and industry leader)

Artists and writers in the first forum were welcome to attend the second. Many of those contributors have also fed back to us specifically with suggestions and ideas that were taken on board, and shared. We are looking at how we continue to build and share on these responses and to safely make these public. 

*we have invited artists to keep their name anonymous as in the closed forum facilitated by Tigho Feldman. 

Footage of the second session will soon be available for media and PRs to engage with. We would ask anyone joining this space to commit to making at least one change in their working practice to make spaces safer for Ethnically Diverse Artists and Industry. 

Breakdown of funding:

Festival Fringe Society £240
Storytelling PR LTD £715
Industry attendees were asked to contribute £10
Artists and facilitator payments £850 
Donations in lieu of fees to Ethically Diverse led companies £150 

NEXT STEPS: Storytelling will seek to apply for funding to continue this work and then hand over the space to Ethnically Diverse Talent to own and hold the space and continue the work with the resources Storytelling can offer. 

Storytelling PR Ltd will be looking to hire a new PR in 2021 to diversify our permanent team and will be advertising with the Taylor Bennet Foundation https://www.taylorbennettfoundation.org/ and Black-led British publications and job sites. 

We will continue to publish comments from contributors and commitments from industry in this space.

Darkfield’s DOUBLE joins the official selection for the Venice International Film Festival 2020

by

DARKFIELD’S ‘DOUBLE’ CONFIRMED TO JOIN THE  OFFICIAL SELECTION FOR THE VENICE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2020 

  • First ever audio-only experience to be shown at Venice Film Festival
  • 2500 people worldwide have experienced DOUBLE in two weeks
  • London-based AR company’s run extended into September due to popular demand
  • Evening performances to begin on United States time zones from mid-August

Announced today across Europe and round the globe,  DARKFIELD RADIO’s first broadcast DOUBLE is confirmed for the Venice International Film Festival, the first ever audio-only experience in the programme.  DOUBLE is part of Venice’s ‘Best of XR’ (eXtended Reality a catch all term for immersive productions including AR and VR) category and represents an innovative shift for the immersive theatre company, from physical installations to home entertainment as a reaction to the ongoing COVID19 pandemic.

Alongside this announcement DARKFIELD are excited to announce Darkfield Radio and DOUBLE performances will open up to the US with evening performances added for Eastern and Pacific time zones . 

Darkfield Radio, a groundbreaking new project, brings DARKFIELD’s innovative audio experiences to audiences at home. DOUBLE, the first ever audio only experience to be part of the official selection for the Venice International Film Festival, will be shown as part of the ‘Best of XR’ category usually held in a site specific island in the Italian town, it will instead be hosted on well-known XR gaming platform ‘VR Chat’ opening up the festival XR programme to audiences worldwide.

DOUBLE, a strange and curious world built from 360 degree binaural sound, is a troubling exercise in familiarity for two people sitting opposite each other on either side of their kitchen table. It asks ‘‘everyone to be who they say they are”. DOUBLE explores the Capgras delusion, a condition in which the sufferer is convinced that a loved one has been replaced by an exact replica with malign intentions. This follows the theme of Darkfield’s previous shows, exploring ideas around Drug Placebos, the Multiverse and the unknown beyond the veil.

The experience is communal – not only are audiences experiencing the show in pairs, but the show is replicated in hundreds of rooms across the world with a set performance time, much like going to the cinema for a screening, or a theatre for a play. The DARKFIELD RADIO app, available on IOS and Android is designed to deliver the show at a set time and date. Part of  The magic of the show is the ability for Darkfield to deliver a powerfully immersive experience with just a pair of regular headphones, a mobile phone, and a kitchen table. 

“By turning your house into a stage, this one, fleetingly, becomes a doppelganger for the real thing” ★★★★ The Guardian 

“Darkfield prove themselves arch manipulator” Lyn Gardner, Stage Door

“Conceptually, this is sorcery” – ★★★★ Reviews Hub 

“…What has been created fills [the audience’s] senses and the room around them“ – ★★★★ The Stage

“all the classic horror tropes are here as the sinister soundscape sweeps you up in a wave of irrational fear” ★★★★ Time out

“your kitchen – so achingly well known to you – becomes an eerily defamiliarised place” ★★★★ Metro

DARKFIELD creates new innovative work at the forefront of technology and theatre, utilising binaural sound and sensory effects. Previous acclaimed pieces SEANCE, FLIGHT and COMA, sited in shipping containers, originally premiered at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and have since toured the UK and Australia.  DARKFIELD has so far welcomed 167500+ audience members globally and with DARKFIELD RADIO, will now reach even larger audiences worldwide in their homes. The Darkfield Radio App is powered by Wiretapper, and funded by the Arts Council for England. 

Tickets are available via the DARKFIELD website and will be signposted within the ‘Best of XR’ at the Venice Film Festival on ‘VR Chat’.

Shows run every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday at 20:00 & 21:30. PLEASE BE AWARE SHOWS ARE 14+.

Experienced through the DARKFIELD RADIO app available for android and iphone. 

darkfield.org/radio

NOTES TO EDITORS

CREDITS

PERFORMER Chris Brett Bailey

DIRECTORS David Rosenberg & Glen Neath

WRITER Glen Neath

SOUND & TECH David Rosenberg

PRODUCER Victoria Eyton

PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Sara Codrington

IMAGERY Alex Purcell

For press information, images and interview requests please contact Miriam Attwood miriam@storytellingpr.com 07825642225 

Venice International Film Festival

Wednesday 2 September 2020 – Saturday 12 September.

https://www.labiennale.org/en/cinema/2020

Best of XR

A popular new strand of Venice International Film Festival screening the best of XR / VR / AR from around the world.

VR Chat

https://www.vrchat.com/ create and play in virtual worlds 

PRAISE FOR DARKFIELD CONTAINER SHOWS

“[Darkfield] harness the very Uncertainty Of Pretending, and In Doing So Create An Experience That’s Properly

Exhilarating. It’s A Perfectly Programmed High-art Theme Park Ride That Spits You Out Into The Sunlight Feeling Palpably, Certainly, alive.”

Exeunt Magazine

SEANCE PREMIERED 2017 EDINBURGH FESTIVAL FRINGE

★★★★

Natasha Tripney, The Stage

‘It’s skin-tingling, breath-quickening stuff’

★★★★

Lauren Mooney, The Stage

‘Perfectly contained and completely absorbing, spine-tingling’

FLIGHT PREMIERED AT SUMMER 2018 AT LATITUDE AND THE EDINBURGH FESTIVAL FRINGE 

★★★★

Hannah Wright, The Wee Review

‘Outstanding…an all-consuming experience that takes you away from the busy streets of Edinburgh and into a different reality’

★★★★

Niki Boyle, The Scotsman

‘…Absolutely unsettling. The sound and production design are both excellent – in addition to the authentic interior, boarding passes and Kafkaesque safety cards are distributed, all of which enhance the creeping unease.’

COMA PREMIERED AT THE 2019 EDINBURGH FESTIVAL FRINGE 

★★★★

Fest Mag

’An immersive experience that takes audiences to another realm’

The Independent

‘If you’ve never experienced one of Darkfield’s shows, absolutely go: it is technically astonishing, completely uncanny, and deeply unnerving. You start to question your own senses. You may start to feel a rising panic. It’s not for faint-hearted.’

THE INVISIBLE

In 2020 DARKFIELD partnered with Universal Pictures to create ‘The Invisible’ – a bespoke experience in a container created to partner the  launch of Universal’s  ‘The Invisible Man’. The experience was sited at Universal Citywalk, Los Angeles, and gave audience members a unique experience inspired by the film.

Man Up!

by

The world’s biggest and most exciting DRAG KING battle comes to Edinburgh

2019 Man Up! Winner Louis FU C.K.

Man Up! Scotland Heat
22nd March @ Summerhall, Edinburgh
19:00 – 23:00

London’s legendary drag king battle Man Up is coming to Edinburgh this month! 

For the first time ever, Jonny Woo, creator of Man Up! and star of Fringe favourites A Night at the Musicals and All Star Brexit, is on the look-out for the next (drag) King of Scotland. 

Kings will battle it out at Summerhall this month for a place in the Grand Finale at the Glory in London on Thursday 9 April, where they’ll get a chance to win a cash prize and be introduced to London’s queer performance scene. 

This queer, trans, AFAB (assigned female at birth), female-led tournament is at the centre of East London’s unstoppable gender revolution, attracting over 100 contestants year on year, commanding an audience of 1000s and bringing together some of the capital’s best breakthrough female, trans, non-binary and intersex artists.

Kings entering have 4 minutes to impress the judges and can lip-sync, sing live, play with a band, do stand up, dance or a performance, this is a multidisciplinary tournament. Hosted by London drag legend Jonny Woo alongside local troublemakers Oasissy, and a judging panel of Scotland-based performers, journalists, Man Up alumni and celebs. 

JUDGES

Heather Marshall – multi award winning, socio political artist and writer, often for Creative Electric www.creative-electric.org/ (she/her)

Arusa Qureshi – Editor of The List www.list.co.uk/ @arusaqureshi (she/her)

Eli Buck – Edinburgh’s top Drag King extraordinaire @EliBuck82 (he/him)

Miriam Attwood – Director of Storytelling PR storytellingpr.com @miriamattwood (she/her)

Claricia Parinussa – artist, producer, House of Revlon @clariciakr

Jess Brough – writer, producer and psycholinguistics PhD student at the University of Edinburgh and founder of Fringe of Colour @Jessica_Brough @FringeofColour (they/them)

Oasissy – Drag clowns Biff and Cooper are the world’s first and only queer Oasis tribute act/cabaret hosts. “Madferrit monobrowed mayhem with a lairy twist”- The List 

Man Up! Scotland Heat
22nd March @ Summerhall, Edinburgh
19:00 – 23:00
Tickets; £5 www.summerhall.co.uk/event/man-up-scotland-heat/
FB event; www.facebook.com/events/224406298736479/ 

Images; https://drive.google.com/open?id=1-uiD9tJhkbyOKyA9MeObqcOS7DrsvwBt 

To take part, email drag@glory.co. 

Weekly heats; Feb 12th – April 1st @ The Glory, London
Grand Final 2020 – Thurs 9th April at EartH
£12 – £15, earthhackney.co.uk

www.theglory.co

https://www.facebook.com/TheGloryLondon
https://twitter.com/theglorylondon
https://www.instagram.com/thegloryldn/