It’s been a summer of media and arts and video work for me, particularly of late, and Ross Costigan is no different. Having released his special fx test shoot / short The Game earlier in the summer, he’s gone and produced another one entitled Turn Around featuring himself and Dave Minogue.
If you like what you see, let him know by leaving a comment at YouTube.
So, the Janine Drew Agency has opened its doors, the wee junior detective looking to make her stamp on the industry by competing with the likes of VPI and the Pinkertons. She’s even on Bebo.
The above is the Janine Drew trailer, a precursor to Vultures episode six which should see a release within the next fortnight. After that, there’s only one left. So if you’ve got problems with people robbing your bike, saying stuff about you or shams throwing things at you, Janine is your woman.
A special FX test shoot that turned itself into a mini short, by good friend and partner-in-crime at Kilkenny Music and My Music, Ross Costigan and featuring another partner-in-crime, Alan Dawson.
Hopefully some of those scripts he talks about come to light soon. Better be a part in there for me. Or you’re fired.
Go enjoy The Game.
Saturday night was spent in the company of the Vultures cast and crew in Kilkenny as a select bunch of us hit one of Kilkenny’s taverns for the premiere of the latest installment of the Vultures webcom, The Adventure of The Hidden Microfilm. Watch it above via Blip.tv or check out VulturesPI.com.
The Pinkertons are closing in on the increasingly frazzled and paranoid detectives of V.P.I. when a mysterious fugitive shows up on their door. The fugitive has stolen a microfilm from the Pinkertons. This fugitive is in possession of a secret microfilm belonging to the rival Pinkerton agency. Except he doesn’t know exactly where he put it. Although he suspects it might be inside him. And it could be a floppy disk or a USB key either. He’s really not sure. Can V.P.I. strike a blow to the Pinkertons before they’ve even opened? How do they get the microfilm from the fugitive? And really, who is this Natalie Blaise we keep hearing about?
Vultures, written & directed by John Morton & Paddy Dunne, is the story of three private detectives who run a small scale private investigation agency in small town Ireland. The moderately successful business is called Vulture Private Investigations and specialises in dealing with divorce cases, fraud, missing persons, animals and plants and occasionally, just occasionally, they’ll be served up something that approximates a mystery.
Ross, as director, has more here.
This one was screened before the Vultures Episode 5 premiere last night in Kilkenny… it can only mean one thing – the next installment of Vultures hits the web later today. Keep an eye on VulturesPI.com for the release of what is quite possibly the funniest episode to date. Bless that Noah Hennessy.
One of my alter egos is involved in the running of The Devious Theatre Company in Kilkenny. We write new works, produce and direct in house, run a great rotation system on all of our productions since our launch in 2006 and this weekend we’re getting set to announce the first part of our 2009 program of theatre.
When things go right, they go very right. When things go wrong, they’re usually followed by “the C word”. At least that used to be the case. The word has lost all meaning and is now a total Devious Theatre term of affection.
We’ve been plugging a string of videos from a production of Trainspotting we did last year (one of three productions of 2008) over on DeviousTheatre.com and we’ve just released the final video aka The Cunt Cut.
Needless to say, it was a very popular word in Trainspotting… can you count how many are there?
The Vultures series, produced and recorded here in Kilkenny is almost to a close. Filming wrapped at the start March, the final episodes are almost done in post production and as a teaser to the release of episode five on June 7th, here’s a light-hearted trailer for your viewing pleasure.
Don’t forget to check out the series by visiting VulturesPI.com or check Vultures on Blip TV for previous episodes.
Go Mobile, Not Broke. You’ve got to love the tagline. And you’ve got to love the fact that an Irish company keeps getting bigger and broader. The mail this morning brings news that Cubic Telecom in Cork have followed their already existing partnerships with Dopplr, GetCover Insurance, Big Red Book and others to partner up with Qik.com. It was the likes of Pat Phelan (Cubic) and Bernie Goldbach that got me into using Qik to stream videos from my N95, a practice I’ll admit I don’t get to do all that often but when I do, they seem to make a good impression, traffic-wise.
The blurb…
The partnership with Cubic Telecom will see Qik give its users the opportunity to purchase Qik-branded SIM cards enabling them to stream video live from all corners of the planet – without coming home to an astronomical phone bill. The Qik SIM also provides massive savings on voice calls, email, web browsing and texting while they travel. Under the tagline “Go mobile, not broke,” Qik is offering its users a simple, inexpensive way to share live video no matter where they are. The Qik pre-paid SIM cards with full voice and data can be purchased from http://qik.com/roam. This is also where customers can manage their accounts.
“Travelers can now share their world journeys with videos, photos, text, and calls from their mobile device without it costing the earth.” said Pat Phelan, Cubic Telecom CEO “We’ve heard of the horror stories of travelers returning from a trip abroad to cell phone bills in the thousands of euros. The Qik SIM eliminates this worry for our customers.”
“We are excited to partner with Cubic Telecom to offer Qik SIM cards to our users,†said Ramu Sunkara, Qik CEO. “With the Qik pre-paid SIM cards, Qikkers across the world can now share their moments when they are traveling without having to worry about voice or data roaming costs. It’s like sending a live video postcard to your friends and family from wherever you are.â€
Post-blurb…
I gave an outline of the Qik service to a potential client last week as a means of using live video streaming and interacting with an audience during a presentation, which got me to thinking why am I not Qikking the gigs that I’m involved in running in Kilkenny and elsewhere. For those not on any kind of stellar data plan or those operating outside of a wifi area, the partnership with Qik and Cubic Telecom, particularly when roaming out and about, could well breed a whole new line of Qik.com users.
I’ve got plenty of trips lined up this year where I would like the opportunity to stream from my handset without blowing an incredible hole in my wallet – Amsterdam, Belfast, Portugal, Dubai… where do I sign up?
I’ve been enjoying some downtime since Friday afternoon and until Wednesday I’m on self-imposed exile from the office, something that doesn’t come along or take place all that often. I endured a long drive to Sligo on Friday, sang my head off at a gig on Saturday, listening to all the Premier League action on Newstalk on the drive home on Sunday and today has been spent dedicating some much-needed time to extending the arms of Kilkenny Music.
There’s a lot coming up for KKM in the coming weeks and months, including the launch of a busking competition we’re running, with over €3,000 in cash up for grabs. Before the weekend, the One Take Sessions kicked off for 2009 and while the first of the videos hit YouTube from a McDonalds at the Kilmartin N6 centre outside Athlone on Friday, today saw some tinkering with Muzu.tv.
I’ve been doing a lot of viewing on the site, in terms of videos, but have only now gotten around to shifting content onto Muzu. I must upload the videos in a higher quality (mental note) next time around but I’m liking it so far and hope to use it as another strong portal for the artists and acts we’re putting through the ‘Sessions for 2009. Also, you won’t have any problem watching “official” music videos on Muzu, unlike the news hanging over Youtube in the last few days.
By the way, if you’re looking for some free music from some great independent Irish acts in April, join us in Cleere’s Theatre in Kilkenny on Thursday April 2nd at 9:30pm.
Ever since I picked up the iPod Touch at Christmas I’ve been ducking in and out of the App Store to see what’s new, what’s popular, what applications are out there. One I was directed to this morning is the new Ustream.tv app, now available for iPhone / iPod and can be downloaded (thankfully) for free using an Irish Apple Store ID.
Ustream isn’t strange territory for me. It was one of the first streaming video platforms to be used (and is still used in some cases) for Irish barcamp events. Conn is / was a regular streamer via Edgecast while Tom Raftery is also streaming for the GreenMonk Engery and Sustainability Show on Monday afternoons, the video of which I was able to pick up on through the app.
The download is quick and painless through the App Store and when logging in you’re given the option to watch live shows, check upcoming shows or view archived material (how I found Tom’s clip). Current top live channel is the Museum of the American Indian Inauguration Cam which is one of the sources that will be hit today (currently 1400+ viewers) to track the inauguration of Barack Obama later today. It’s also a great way to get some good quality streaming audio and video onto the iPod, a device which is rapidly taking over my tweeting, reading and everything else at home in the evening.
Download the app here (iTunes link) or use the App Store link on your iPod / iPhone and search for Ustream.
First came the podcast of The War Of The Worlds, now we’ve started to release clips from our production of Trainspotting in Kilkenny in 2008.
We put a lot of effort into the visual side of our productions. We hire a great video team for each show who will come in and do a two or three camera shoot. We also had a documentary produced a few months ago giving a fly-on-the-wall look at one of the nights of Trainspotting. However, we also understand and appreciate the power and the reach of the web for the arts and as such I’m expecting 2009 to be a great online year for The Devious Theatre Company.
To the end of December and into January and February (our quiet real-world months) we’re going to be releasing clips from our shows (recorded in HD), the documentary and much more.
To start with, here’s the first clip, as mentioned above it’s the opening scene from the Friday night of Trainspotting in Kilkenny. The crowd were already on their feet before the curtain opened – won’t be forgetting that feeling in a hurry.
On Saturday night I went along to the premiere screening of The Mystery Of The Night Time Refuse, the latest episode in the current series of Vultures. I almost laughed my ass off in parts (seriously) and the lads have done another great job in producing this episode, something which couldn’t be done without the terrific assistance from the Kilkenny County Council Arts Office who also support the activities of The Devious Theatre Company and KilkennyMusic.com.
While I’ve been cast to appear in episode six there’s a possibility I’ll be making a third cameo in four episodes when shooting resumes for episode four later this month.
Filmed and produced entirely on location in Kilkenny (well, sort-of, for this episode), you can now watch or download the third episode for free online. Visit VulturesPI.com or start playing the video above.
On Saturday night I made my way to the premiere of Vultures epsiode 2: The Scarlet Lady Vanishes held in my home away from home of Cleere’s Theatre in Kilkenny.
Vultures is the flagship production of fledgling film company, Mycrofilms, based in Kilkenny and engineered by three great friends of mine. Like ourselves at KilkennyMusic.com, Mycrofilms have just received some arts office funding for 2008 which will enable them to complete the series, production wrapping on the sixth episode by next summer.
While I enjoyed the first episode immensely, the guys have raised the bar for the second episode which was extremely well received on the night. Even if it’s just for the music video montage early in the show, do, give The Scarlet Lady Vanishes a look.
Running time on this one is a bit shorter at around the half hour mark (compared to the TV hour of the first episode).
For more on the show, check out VulturesPI.com.