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Whitstabubble Feature - Glen Laker

I'm in the blue jumper, second from right.

“The Painting”

“The Painting” is my [local Whitstable resident and lover Glen Laker's] third short film as writer-director-editor. It is six minutes long and was shot during one weekend in September 2010, at locations just east of Reculver Towers and on the beach in front of the Continental Hotel in Whitstable. Post production on the film was completed at the end of May 2011 and the film is currently starting its festival run.

What’s it about?

It’s about a painter on a remote beach and the woman who intrudes into the view he is painting. Saying anything more would give too much away.

Whitstable and The Film

“The Painting” has a few strong links to Whitstable. As well as the shooting locations and the fact that I live locally, we were lucky to attract two local actors to play the lead roles. When we were in pre-production, we contacted local actor, Alex Kelly - who had previously worked with my producer - to ask if she knew of any actors in Whitstable who might be interested in reading the script. She kindly put us in contact with Simon Paisley Day, who read the script and loved it. Simon then talked his good friend and fellow Whitstable-dweller, Lesley Vickerage, into playing the female lead. They were both incredibly supportive of the film and a joy to work with, even when the shoot required them to get very cold and wet for long periods!

I'm in the green coat with headphones on. To the left of me is Lesley Vickerage. By the painting, in the brown jacket, with his back to camera, is Simon Paisley Day.

Whitstable and Me

After living and working in London for fourteen years, I moved to Whitstable in 2005. I was born and raised in Canterbury and during the 70s and 80s, I spent my summer holidays in my granddad’s Whitstable beach hut or cutting the soles of my feet on Seasalter’s old razor-sharp shell-covered beaches (before they scooped it all into the sea), so coming back here felt like returning home. My one regret is that my granddad sold his beach hut in 1995 for £400! I would love to use that as a writing retreat; instead, I work out of my shed office. From here, I balance my writing and filmmaking, with managing The Whitstable Computer Company, a local enterprise I recently set up to troubleshoot and support local PC and Apple users (www.whitstablecomputer.com).

Other Projects

As for other projects, I wrote another short film, The Boy In The Oak, which has recently been completed. It has Jude Law supplying the narration and Damon Albarn composing the music, so I hope those two will help it get some good exposure. In 2010, I sold a feature-length screenplay, “Bluebird”, to a Hollywood production company and as well as working on rewrites for that, I’m developing another short film - this time, a sci-fi - which I hope to shoot on location in Kent later this year, if we can find somewhere to park the spaceship.

The Painting Trailer

There is a trailer for “The Painting” on the official website - www.thepainting.co.uk. Once the film has finished its festival run, I’ll put the complete film up to watch online. Until then, it is available to watch on DVD by request. If any film festival programmers or local film societies would like to screen it, please get in touch!