Visiting Smithsonian Fellow Surveys Welsh Cultural Resources; Folklorist in Residence

Pictured above:The Castle at Twilight, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

(Photos can be purchased from Scott L. Robertson Photography)

A Curator from the Smithsonian Institution’s Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage will be spending the autumn term as a Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Glamorgan’s new ATRiuM Cardiff campus, which opens this year.

Folklorist Dr Betty Belanus will be in residence at the Centre for the Study of Media and Culture in Small Nations to complete a survey of resources from past and current projects in cultural research and representation done on Wales which she has been working on with the collaboration of specialists in Wales over the past two years.

Dr Belanus said, “I am looking forward to having this very appropriate base at a research centre at the University of Glamorgan. Housed in the new Faculty of Creative and Cultural Industries, it should be a good place to learn more about the range of work done by the media, universities, industry, museums, heritage organizations and community groups throughout Wales in recent years.

“I hope that in exchange I can share some of my experience in planning large cultural events with colleagues and students at Glamorgan and around the country.”

The research project supports a planned programme on Welsh culture for the 2009 Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, D.C., and a period of active fieldwork and consultative planning visits around Wales will begin with her extended stay. During this time she will have a chance to build on work developed over several years with a University of Glamorgan based collaborator, Dr. Teri Brewer, as well as colleagues in several other Welsh universities and the National Museum of Wales.

The Centre for the Study of Media and Culture in Small Nations will host a special symposium on issues in the representation of Welsh identity abroad in November 2007 to coincide with the formal opening of the University’s new Cardiff campus. This symposium will be closely linked to work for the planned festival project and will be led by Centre Director Dr. David Barlow, with Dr. Belanus and Dr. Brewer.

Centre Director Dr. David Barlow said, “I am delighted that the Smithsonian will be working so closely with the Centre. Dr Belanus has a wealth of experience which will make this a very rewarding joint project.”

Smithsonian Institution’s Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage

The Smithsonian Folklife Festival, which celebrates its 41st year this summer, presents the culture of different countries and regions of the world together with programmes from different American states and regions in a 10 day period on the National Mall in Washington D.C. This event typically attracts more than two million visitors each year.

Glamorgan postgraduate student Aparna Sharma was recently awarded an internship developed in collaboration between the University of Glamorgan and the Smithsonian.

Sharma, who recently completed her PhD, is a documentary filmmaker and journalist with a particular interest in the visual representation of minority cultures and national and cultural identities. She is working with Dr. Belanus on Welsh materials and festival planning processes at the Smithsonian and in Library of Congress this spring.

Cardiff School of Creative & Cultural Industries

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© 2007 Mark Leslie Woods

FREE ADMISSION Limited Seating ONE NIGHT ONLY Glamorgan Musical Theatre Wed 6 pm 30 May

Musical Theatre in the Rhondda -- It's outrageous, it's over-the-top camp, it's funny, beautiful music --it's Judy Garland, and more!

Wednesday 30 May 2007 6 pm
One Performance Only -- Admission is FREE
Call now for information -- Limited Seating
Theatr y Bont, Forest Grove, Treforest

A stunning new production of the acclaimed one woman musical play. Starring the beautiful and sexy musical comedianne Alex Alderton, winner of the Theatre in Wales's Best Female Perfomer Award (2006).

It's 1969: Alice Dell is rehearsing her Judy Garland 'tribute' cabaret act. Alice is the look-alike, who has spent her whole career waiting for a chance to impersonate Garland -- a chance that only comes with her death!

"A tribute to the lady, but one that does not shy away from the pain, the pills and the shattered marriages . . . the glory of Garland at her best." (The TIMES)

'Someone Else's Rainbow' just closed to sold-out audiences at Neath Little Theatre, but through special arrangement with the Faculty of CCI, you can see Alex Alderton one more time!

Call Cardiff School of Creative & Cultural Industries (CCI) Now, for directions and information -- Theatr y Bont:

01443 480 480

Wednesday 30 May 2007 6 pm
One Performance Only -- Admission is FREE
Call now for information -- Limited Seating
Theatr y Bont, Forest Grove, Treforest

About the writer of 'Someone Else's Rainbow', Sam Boardman-Jacobs and Found Reality Theatre Company:

Sam has won awards for both design & direction . He was a founder member of the London Fringe designing for the Bush, Soho, Gate, Warehouse, Hampstead & Kings Head Theatres as well as designing for the Habima & Cameri Theatres of Israel, the Scottish Ballet, the Royal Court London, Teatro Modernes Munich, Theater am Goetheplatz Bremen and the Teatro Espanol Madrid.

He has directed his own plays, Play Federico for me & Passion for the Impossible, at the Sherman Theatre Cardiff. Play Federico was translated and published in Catalan and was selected as part of the official centenary celebrations for the birth of Federico Garcia Lorca. He worked for several years with Manchester Youth Theatre creating a series of award winning Holocaust Dramas including Sobol’s Ghetto, And “Fiddler” a radical reworking of Fiddler on the Roof, the European premiere of Paul Simon’s Capeman and co-devising Asylum at Manchester Royal Exchange with Laura Haughey.

Also with Laura he directed Julia Pascal’s The Dybbuk first at Chapter Arts in Cardiff then by invitation at the Huddersfield Festival of European Plays and then at the Edinburgh Festival.

Found Reality Theatre Company

Cardiff School of Creative & Cultural Industries

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© 2007 Mark Leslie Woods

"One day, you'll win the Ohio Welsh Eisteddfod!" my Grandma shouted.

Pictured to the right, Salvation Army Cadet Wilma Jean Poorman Woods, the 'Heralds' class of 1947.

As the third day of January snow silently fell on the grey steel mill stacks in the valley below our wood-frame house in Youngstown, Ohio, out of my bedside transistor radio roared the rock band, Three Dog Night singing, ‘Joy to the World, All the boys and girls!’

It was 1971. I was a pimply and awkward adolescent with a high IQ and thick, industrial-strength geek glasses. Can you say ‘bully-target?’

My mother, the stern, under-nourished Salvation Army Officer, showed up at PTA meetings in a red cape and heels, looking like a character out of Guys and Dolls.

My older brother traded in his uniform and trumpet for leadership of the ghetto gang, the same year I decided it was safer in my family and neighbourhood to stay ‘in the closet’ for a few more years.

My plan was simple: I would wear nothing but hippie ‘Earth Shoes’ and blue jeans and get a macho, racing bike, to prove I was not a piano-playing, slide rule pushing gay-boy freak. I dropped subtle hints to my Mom, who was scrubbing floors by day and going to college by night, when she wasn’t leading prayer meetings.

The wintry day had arrived, my 12th birthday — I was sure I would get my bike. My Mom lead me into the tattered but immaculate, lace-covered living room, where my Welsh Grandma sat, next to the matriarchal sewing machine and family Bibles, to unveil my gift.

What’s this? Not an athletic, pump me up and make me butch bike? There, beside Grandma’s cane sat the Polish neighbour lady, Mrs. Szlowkowsky, sipping my Mom’s strong coffee, while smiling and extending her hand.

My church lady Mom and Mrs. Szlowkowsky waved their pasty white hands, like angels guarding the Biblical Arc of the Covenant, over a large, scratched case with broken brass snaps.

Barely breathing, I popped the snaps and caught a vivid vision of my inevitable years of coming persecution: A refurbished, 12-Bass ‘Festival’ Accordion.

The smell of musty billows and mouldy leather made me choke.

“Mrs. Szlowkowsky has agreed to give you lessons, if you agree to help her clean the choir loft at Saint Stanislaw’s Catholic Church on the corner of our street, once a week,” my mother said.

Mrs. Szlowkowsky smiled and offered me a plate of sliced walnut ‘placek’ (Polish coffee cake).

“It’s a ‘festival’ accordion; you’ll like that!” my Grandma said, as I thought to myself, “Whatever ‘festival’ means . . .”

"One day, you'll win the Ohio Welsh Eisteddfod!" my Grandma shouted.

“Thank you, Mrs. Szlowkowsky,” I heard myself saying, as I drifted away, not knowing this quirky, portable polka-playing keyboard was about to doom me to an adult life suspended somewhere between John Candy’s Rustbelt humour and Liberace’s Las Vegas tastes.

And since I mentioned ‘Candy’, have I told how I once knew this girl . . .

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© 2007 Mark Leslie Woods

Your Last Chance to see the Welsh One Woman Tour-de-Force Live on Stage: Alex Alderton is winner of Theatre in Wales Best Female Performer

Pictured Alex Alderton, Winner of Theatre in Wales' Best Female Performer, photograph courtesy

Equity Oriel Cardiff

Musical Theatre in the Rhondda -- It's outrageous, it's over-the-top camp, it's funny, beautiful music --it's Judy Garland, and more!

Wednesday 30 May 2007 6 pm
One Performance Only -- Admission is FREE
Call now for information -- Limited Seating
Theatr y Bont, Forest Grove, Treforest

A stunning new production of the acclaimed one woman musical play. Starring the beautiful and sexy musical comedianne Alex Alderton, winner of the Theatre in Wales's Best Female Perfomer Award (2006).

It's 1969: Alice Dell is rehearsing her Judy Garland 'tribute' cabaret act. Alice is the look-alike, who has spent her whole career waiting for a chance to impersonate Garland -- a chance that only comes with her death!

"A tribute to the lady, but one that does not shy away from the pain, the pills and the shattered marriages . . . the glory of Garland at her best." (The TIMES)

'Someone Else's Rainbow' just closed to sold-out audiences at Neath Little Theatre, but through special arrangement with the Faculty of CCI, you can see Alex Alderton one more time!

Call Cardiff School of Creative & Cultural Industries (CCI) Now, for directions and information -- Theatr y Bont:

01443 480 480

Wednesday 30 May 2007 6 pm
One Performance Only -- Admission is FREE
Call now for information -- Limited Seating
Theatr y Bont, Forest Grove, Treforest

About the writer of 'Someone Else's Rainbow', Sam Boardman-Jacobs and Found Reality Theatre Company:

Sam has won awards for both design & direction . He was a founder member of the London Fringe designing for the Bush, Soho, Gate, Warehouse, Hampstead & Kings Head Theatres as well as designing for the Habima & Cameri Theatres of Israel, the Scottish Ballet, the Royal Court London, Teatro Modernes Munich, Theater am Goetheplatz Bremen and the Teatro Espanol Madrid.

He has directed his own plays, Play Federico for me & Passion for the Impossible, at the Sherman Theatre Cardiff. Play Federico was translated and published in Catalan and was selected as part of the official centenary celebrations for the birth of Federico Garcia Lorca. He worked for several years with Manchester Youth Theatre creating a series of award winning Holocaust Dramas including Sobol’s Ghetto, And “Fiddler” a radical reworking of Fiddler on the Roof, the European premiere of Paul Simon’s Capeman and co-devising Asylum at Manchester Royal Exchange with Laura Haughey.

Also with Laura he directed Julia Pascal’s The Dybbuk first at Chapter Arts in Cardiff then by invitation at the Huddersfield Festival of European Plays and then at the Edinburgh Festival.

Found Reality Theatre Company

Cardiff School of Creative & Cultural Industries

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Mordechai Razing Ziggurats, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Celtic Cult Cinema on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Mordechai's Post-Evangelical-Granola on the World Wide Web.

© 2007 Mark Leslie Woods

JMW Turner's Welsh Landscapes in New American Film about famed 'Painter of Light'

Pictured above: Caernarvon Castle circa 1798, painted with oil by Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775-1851.

According to the BBC:

US gallery films Turner locations

Parts of Wales painted by great landscape artist JMW Turner are being filmed for an exhibition about his work in the United States later this year.

The National Gallery of Art in Washington DC is shooting a documentary in Turner locations including Tintern Abbey, in Monmouthshire, this week.

Turner painted the abbey in 1794, during a decade which saw him regularly visit areas throughout Wales.

His collection extends to 350 oil paintings and 20,000 works on paper.

Carroll Moore, who is producing, writing and directing the documentary, has already filmed inside Ewenny Priory in Bridgend, which Turner painted in 1797.

Since 1998, Carroll Moore has produced and directed films for the National Gallery of Art in Washington. After studying history at the University of Washington in Seattle, he began his career with the BBC in London.

National Gallery of Art

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© 2007 Mark Leslie Woods

Film4's Irish movie "Garage" premiering in Canne's Director's Fortnight

The last time Film Four was operating at peak, Welsh filmmaker Karl Francis and others made numerous films about life in Wales. Will there be money for Welsh films, again, this time?

According to Variety Magazine:

Film4 back to business
Company has films screening at Cannes, $65 mil deal
By ADAM DAWTREY

Five years after U.K. pubcaster Channel 4 cut its movie arm back to basics, Film4 is finally firing on all cylinders again.

The company is advancing on all fronts, with Lenny Abrahamson's tiny Irish movie "Garage" premiering in Director's Fortnight, Harmony Korine's "Mister Lonely" in Un Certain Regard, the $25 million Gotham satire "How to Lose Friends and Alienate People" pre-selling strongly in the market, and a $65 million deal just closed with DreamWorks for its biggest ever project, Peter Jackson's "The Lovely Bones."

"Peter Carlton, Film4's senior production exec under Ross, believes the banner is moving into a more cosmopolitan phase. "We were very, very British-centred in the first few years, but now we're recognizing that some stories merit an outside eye," he says."

"There's a strong international flavor to many of Film4's upcoming projects -- whether that involves U.K. filmmakers looking abroad for stories, or foreign directors casting their eye upon Britain."

"Film4 is working with Danny Boyle on his next project, "Slumdog Millionaire," based on a novel about an Indian streetkid who wins the local version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire."

British Film4

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© 2007 Mark Leslie Woods

Rhaid I Bopeth Newid - Everything Must Change: New Vision of a post-National Wales?

Everything Must Change is Grahame Davies's new novel -- launched last night at the Gate in Roath, Cardiff.

A stellar crowd was present at a cozy book launch at the Gate in Roath, Cardiff, last night. The new novel in English first released in Welsh last year, but has been translated and a lot of folks are saying that this is 'going to be an important novel'.
Some recent comments:

"Philosophically weighty… it reminds me of Jean-Paul Sartre’s 1940s trilogy, The Paths of Liberty. Here… is set out the Welsh post-nationalistic choice. This is the first post-national novel." Lord DAFYDD ELIS-THOMAS

"… a compelling glimpse of a compelling personality [Simone Weil]. The book is pertinent, provocative and entertaining – rich nourishment for anybody interested in the way culture and identity inform the lives we make." OWEN MARTELL

This poignant first novel is about social conscience and radical activism in the modern world. It intercuts the story of twentieth century French philosopher and radical activist, Simone Weil, with a fictional twenty-first century Welsh language campaigner, Meinwen Jones.

The self-denying, ascetic lives of both women are portrayed with gentle clarity, and the novel travels between the humanising of dissent and the cold politics of acute social conscience.

With Simone, Davies probes the experiences and philosophies beneath the cult radical and intellectual exterior which lead to her often shockingly self-destructive actions.

Set against the tramping feet of fascism and communism in inter-war Europe, he shows us the little girl refusing sugar out of solidarity with first world war soldiers, the physically fragile woman enlisting for the Spanish civil war and eventually more or less starving herself to death in wartime London.

Against this historical narrative is the actions of Meinwen and her contemporaries, through whom Davies examines the fate of radical conscience in post-devolution Wales. There are hard questions not just for the enemies of the Welsh language, but for its friends, for politicians and campaigners.

The often uncomfortable political realities for a culture fighting for the survival of a Welsh identity are depicted from the inside and the harsh choices facing its long-time defenders explored unflinchingly. In a prison cell, Meinwen finds herself on the verge of following Simone's passionate asceticism to its logical conclusion.

This is a translation of "Rhaid i Bopeth Newydd", which was longlisted for the Welsh Book of the Year in 2004.

Order your copy at Amazon.co.uk

Grahame Davies: Poet, editor and literary critic.

All about Simone Weil.

Buy Everything Must Change from Seren Books

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© 2007 Mark Leslie Woods

Llwyddiant Myfyriwr Ffilm Prifysgol Morgannwg Gwyl Cannes -- University of Glamorgan Film Student's Cannes Film Success

Great news for one of our post-graduate M A Moving Image students, Catherine Cole, her film 'Hen House' has been accepted into the Cannes film festival in the Kodak Straight 8 competition.

Llongyfarchiau! Congratulations!

Festival de Cannes

The film was selected as one of ten films to be screened out of 130 entries.

Cardiff School of Creative & Cultural Industries

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© 2007 Mark Leslie Woods

11 days of networking, air kissing, dealmaking and backstabbing in the sun-kissed Riviera resort

Cannes film festival hits 60

Bon chance a tous les uns!

Cannes Film Festival turns 60 this year, and the diamond milestone means a long line of stars jostling with lesser-known names of arthouse cinema for media attention and fans' adoration on the famed red carpet.

The opening film gives a taste of both worlds, with respected Chinese director Wong Kar Wai presenting his English-language movie "My Blueberry Nights" featuring singer Norah Jones, Jude Law and Natalie Portman.

The glamourous Wednesday evening gala screening is the start of 11 days of networking, air kissing, dealmaking and backstabbing in the sun-kissed Riviera resort, host to the grande dame of the world's film festivals.

Formidable, n'est-ce pas?

Read About it Here, Reuters NEWS

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© 2007 Mark Leslie Woods

Film Agency Wales Signals New Cooperation with Welsh Film Scholars and Industry Experts

Pictured above Professor Elan Closs Stephens CBE, photo courtesy S4C.

The appointment to the Board of Film Agency Wales of Professor Elan Closs Stephens signals a new willingness by the Welsh film agency to recognize the key role played by Welsh film scholars in small nations, including Wales.

Small nations are historically deprived of full participation in the international audiovisual industry, for various reasons. Those who seek to participate, must overcome historic obstacles, and must transcend prejudices, blocking their inclusion in the global marketplace.

One way for small nations to overcome their disproportionate disadvantage to larger, better funded nations, is to 'leverage' the talents and energies of their scholars. Scholars who wear 'two hats' of educator and film critic, for example, maximise limited resources for small nations.

Film scholars provide a low-cost 'bridge' between the study of film and the film industry, through their knowledge and business contacts. Many small nations overlook this valuable resource, and neglect or ignore the potential of utilizing the talents of these scholars.

For example, film scholars valuate films as they study them, similar to the valuation of films that occurs by newspaper film critics and judges at international film festivals. These critical valuations contribute to the 'marketing copy' and 'promotion verbage' which can be used to promote and advertise films. Historically, Wales has neglected this valuable resource.

Film scholars also interview and regularly are in close contact with industry 'players' and celebrities, and can facilitate the funding of new films, and the employment of film school students.

Canada, Ireland, and Scotland have benefitted from the contributions of film scholars, i.e., Canada's scholars have been pivotal in elevating the worldwide visibility of the Toronto International Film Festival; Ireland's film scholars have created research which may have helped to create key partenrships with Irish-American Disapora film producers, who in turn are funding new films in Ireland.

According to Film Agency Wales's press reports:

"Elan Closs Stephens CBE has joined the Board of the Film Agency for Wales and used the first meeting of the new Film Education Forum, hosted by the Film Agency, to encourage the various factions of the education sector to work together to realise the benefits that film education can bring to all aspects of society."

In every other industry, scholars are tapped for knowledge and innovation, but in the fledgling film industries of many small nations, film scholars are mostly an after-thought. We believe Stephens will have a unifying effect for the nurturing of a film culture in Wales.

This is one very bright development, in a contested and politicized history of film agency management and film policy in Wales. The fact that Peter Edwards and his team are even establishing this committee is an indicator that someone in Wales is actually thinking.

The question is, will Stephens's committee consider the successes of other small nations, or will Wales once again try to 're-invent the wheel'? We ask this, because, it's one thing to establish a committee which 'in theory' listens to scholars; it's another thing to actually entertain and implement policy based upon a diversity of opinion, both domestically-trained and external.

Furthermore, previous incarnations of film agencies in Wales have failed to consider the political advantage of 'bringing on board' the expertise and goodwill of this small nation's critical minds (especially a linguistically balanced group of consultants), and this has been to their detriment, if not their eventual demise.

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© 2007 Mark Leslie Woods

By Tens of Thousands More Now Learn Ancestral Language for 'Heritage' Reasons in the U.S.

A trend is spreading across the U.S. with second language acquisition. Most are learning the language of their immigrant grandparents, a language their parents might have ceased to speak. But these students say they do it for 'heritage' reasons:

'Students Search for the Words to Go With Their Cultural Pride'

According New York Times reporter Fernanda Santos,

“I wanted to fit in so badly,” she said. “I figured if I practiced English, if I spoke English well, I’d be an American, like the other kids in my school.”

"But during her sophomore year at Drew University, a small liberal arts college not far from here, Ms. Harfouche signed up for a class in classic Arabic in a quest to become fully literate in her mother tongue. It’s a move that many immigrants who came to the United States as children and those who were born here to immigrant parents have been making, said language experts, who refer to such students as “heritage speakers.”

“As more and larger immigration groups are represented in the United States, what we’re seeing is sort of a renewed sense of ethnic pride taking hold among the younger generations,” said Kathleen E. Dillon, associate director of the National Heritage Language Resource Center at the University of California, Los Angeles.

"The U.C.L.A. center, with financing from the United States Education Department, is conducting the first national count of college programs geared toward heritage students, most of whom grew up speaking a language other than English at home."

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© 2007 Mark Leslie Woods

Singled-handedly Arizonan Raises Worldwide Welsh Visability

Everyone is talking about how successful Carwyn Edwards has been, raising the visibility of the Welsh worldwide!

Have you read the latest newsletter from Carwyn?

'Latest News from Wales and All over the world!'

From the most recent newsletter, Carwyn refers North American Welsh folks to learn more about the Welsh elections and the Welsh Assembly Government:

Wales election, Thursday 3 May 2007

Carwyn's news article is read by 1000s, and appears in many blogs and portals on the worldwide web, including the Celtic Cafe and All Things Welsh

Celtic Cafe

All Things Welsh

If you are a member of the Welsh Diaspora, Welsh-descended, Welsh Ex-Pat, of Welsh Ancestry, or interested in Welsh and Celtic genealogy, heritage studies and modern Welsh culture in Wales and around the globe, then contact Carwyn to learn more:

Carwyn Edwards carwynedwards993@hotmail.com
1109 E Del Rio Street
Gilbert, Arizona 85296 USA

Welsh League of Arizona

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© 2007 Mark Leslie Woods

If British film industry loses its incentive, can low-budget Welsh film production still prevail?

Photo from BBC Film Network

Pictured above: The Baker (2007) filmed on location in Cardiff, South Glamorgan, Grosmont, Abergavenny, Gwent, and the South Wales Valleys, Wales, UK, directed by Gareth Lewis and starring Damian Lewis.

London-based productions tend to be bigger films that need 'gap financing' to get made -- many Welsh film productions are 'low-budget' and have 'limited pre-sales potential' (although we believe expanded marketing imagination, investment capital, and persistance could change this . . . )

So the question is, while larger London productions are sitting around waiting for funds, can the 'lean and mean' Welsh Indie Film Production cadres slip ahead of the British pack, this year?

Adam Dawtrey writes in the London Eye Feature Article for Variety:

"But even in a good year, the British film industry doesn't generate anywhere close to $400 million of indie production. And 2007 is not shaping up to be a good year."

"Word on the Soho street is that production activity is grinding to a halt, as the effects of the end of sale-and-leaseback kick in. Other factors in the slowdown include the transition to the tax credit, the weak dollar, and the double clampdown in March on GAAP equity funds and Enterprise Investment Schemes."

"Limelight would have to scoop up every single film made in Blighty this year, and then some, to reach anywhere near its target. And while its terms certainly look attractive for some projects -- notably low-budget films with limited pre-sales potential -- bigger movies needing gap finance might find other deals more competitive."

A coalition of Welsh Indie production groups seem poised to seize the opportunity, should financing for 'low budget films' be the only level of funding in Britain, for the time being.

AC (Teledwyr Annibynnol Cymru/Welsh Independent Producers) and Pact, the trade bodies representing the interests of the independent television sector in Wales and UK respectively, have announced in December 2006, the approval of joint heads of agreement to move towards a formal merger.

Dafydd Rhys Chairman of TAC TAC/ says of the merger of TAC Welsh Indie Producer's Group with PACT:

Dafydd Rhys, Chairman of TAC, said, “This is very good news for the future development of a vibrant independent sector in Wales. TAC, which was established in 1984, currently represents some 70 businesses primarily involved in the production of programmes and content for Welsh based broadcasters and other providers of audio visual services.

TAC (Teledwyr Annibynnol Cymru/Welsh Independent Producers)

PACT

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© 2007 Mark Leslie Woods

Welshman Russell T. Davies Tops List -- 'Most Influential Gay in the UK'

The Independent reports:

"They are out and they are proud, and their success is key to British life.
Among them are actors, authors and, yes, even business people too."

It's the UK Pink List 2007!

"1. (18) Russell T Davies, Screenwriter"

"They said Doctor Who could never be revived but Davies made it witty, sexy, slick and scary - and made Saturday evening telly compulsory again. He made his name with the ground-breaking Channel 4 drama Queer As Folk, but proof that the 44-year-old has taken over the mainstream came when he was named Industry Player of the Year at the Edinburgh International Television Festival. Populist and clever, this genius was the overwhelming choice of our panel."

Read the Entire UK Pink List 2007 here:

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© 2007 Mark Leslie Woods

'Ty Siamas' Canolfan Cenedlaethol Cerdd Welsh Folk Music Center Opens with First Gig

Neuadd Idris, Dolgellau - Cartref ty Siamas / The home of Ty Siamas

01 Jun 2007, 20:00 Sesiwn Siamas - Delyth Jenkins & Huw Dylan

Gig cyntaf Ty Siamas - Canolfan Cenedlaethol Cerddoriaeth Gwerin Cymru. £5, a dim ond lle i 82. Cysylltwch am docyn.

Ty Siamas - the National Centre for Folk Music's first ever gig. £5 with only 82 places. Contact for tickets.

Y perfformiad cyntaf yn Nhy Siamas gyda Delyth Jenkins a Huw Dylan!

Noson anhygoel yn awditoriwm newydd Ty Siamas, Canolfan Cenedlaethol Cerddoriaeth Gwerin Cymru.

£5 Dim ond lle i 82. Sicrhewch eich tocyn ar gyfer y gig hanesyddol yma drwy ffonio 01341 421800 neu e-bostio mabon@tyisamas.com

The inaugural performance at Ty Siamas with Delyth Jenkins and Huw Dylan!

A fantastic evening at the brand new auditorium in Ty Siamas the National Centre for folk music.

£5 There are only 82 tickets. Secure your ticket by phoning 01341 421800 or emailing mabon@tysiamas.com

Hwyl fawr i bawb / Joy to all!

Cenedlaethol Cerddoriaeth Gwerin Cymru / National Centre For Welsh Folk Music

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© 2007 Mark Leslie Woods

Mae S4C Digidol yn byw ar Band Eang -- Welsh TV S4C Digital live on broadband

LIVE streaming of S4C's daily digital service S4C digidol has begun on broadband this week.

According to the Western Mail:

"Subject to clearance screening, many live sporting events will also be streamed as part of the new service. Individual S4C programmes have been available to view on the web on demand for over a year, as well as streamed coverage of all Wales’ major cultural events. S4C digidol is also available outside Wales on Sky."

The move means that viewers across the UK can tune into the channel free-to-air on their PCs from www.s4c.co.uk

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Mordechai Razing Ziggurats, on the World Wide Web.

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© 2007 Mark Leslie Woods

Variety reports BBC, ITV to take shows online

Variety reports:

BBC, ITV to take shows online
Broadcasters all in for on-demand technology

"We are combining the best of TV with the best of the Web to create a service unrivaled by any other commercial broadcaster, anywhere in the world," says ITV executive chairman Michael Grade. "Some (broadcasters) are already streaming their channels, some are providing catchup and some are building their archive, but ITV.com will provide all three."

BBC new media topper Ashley Highfield described the iPlayer as a milestone in the Beeb's long evolution.

"This is a critical part of the BBC's strategy to maintain impact and relevance in a world where viewing and listening habits are shifting from linear to nonlinear," he says.

Highfield needs no reminding that for the Beeb to remain relevant in an on-demand world, it must continue to embrace new media vigorously.

If not, the BBC's claim on the public purse via the license fee levied on all U.K. homes with a TV set will become tenuous -- and quickly so. By 2012, 10% of TV viewing will occur online, predicts the BBC, a view supported by most industry think tanks.

British webheads, reeling from a tough advertising market and audience fragmentation, have witnessed what has happened to the music industry and the shift of ad revenue from print to the Web, and are determined to be up to the challenge.

Says Matthew Horsman, co-founder of London consultancy Mediatique: "Broadcasters have no choice but to launch these services. In the U.S., platforms are driving this, but in the U.K., it is content providers. Print is having its lunch eaten by online, but broadcasting isn't."

Read the article here:

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© 2007 Mark Leslie Woods

Llongyfarchiadau i bawb! Screen Academy Wales Student Scores Big BAFTA Win for Short Film

The first Screen Academy Wales student co-production clinched the Best Short Film Award at the 16th Annual BAFTA Cymru Awards Ceremony, which was held on Saturday 28 April in the Cardiff International Arena.

Mummy's Boy, by Oskari Korenius, Nick Davies, Steve Jones, Josh Cowdry and Joe Naftalin (IFSW) and Ed Casey (Film Academy) won in the competition, competing against Scratching by Matt Brown and This Mortal Coil by Wyndham Price.

The film, which was a 15minute graduation project by the International Film School Wales third year BA Film and Video students and Ed, who was completing the MA Film Producing at the Film Academy, University of Glamorgan, was shot over a week at Treowen House in Monmouth during the summer of 2006, and cost £5,000. The film also involved crew members from IFSW and the Film Academy and one of the lead roles was undertaken by Liz Barnett, IFSW BA Performing Arts student.

"As young, ambitious film-makers winning a major industry award like a BAFTA Cymru Award is a dream come true," said Ed Casey.

"We are all very proud of this achievement and very excited about the opportunities such an award brings. It has been a tremendous amount of hard work but it has been worth every minute. Also, we could not have made this film without all of the support we received from our cast, crew, family, friends, Skillset Screen Academy Wales and everyone else who gave us their help when we needed it most. We would like to thank everyone for that support, we surely wouldn't have got to this stage without it!"

The film has garnered international interest with screenings worldwide including Montreal Film Festival and has won awards including the 2007 Best of Festival Award at the Ffresh Student Moving Image Festival. The film will now go on to be featured at the Short Film Corner in Cannes 2007.

The filmmakers have gone on to work in the industry both in the UK, in Finland (Oskari Korenius) and in Africa (Nick Davies has been working with Welsh director Karl Francis) and Ed Casey has been selected by SSAW to attend the MEDIA Funded Wajda Film School in 2007 and is developing a slate of projects.

Read more about Screen Academy Wales here.

Visit BAFTA Cymru

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© 2007 Mark Leslie Woods

Welsh Director Russell T Davies wins 2007 Siân Phillips BAFTA Cymru award

According to the BBC:

"Doctor Who has won five awards at the Bafta Cymru awards in Cardiff. The hit TV series, made by BBC Wales, was shortlisted in 14 separate categories in the TV and film awards.

"It won the prizes for best drama series and best drama director, as well as awards for costume, make-up and photography direction.

"Producer Steve Robinson competed against himself with three nominations for best documentary - including Iolo Williams Flying with Kites, which won.

"Doctor Who's lead writer and executive producer Russell T Davies also won the Siân Phillips award for his outstanding contribution to network television.

"Christopher Eccleston, who starred in the first Doctor Who series to be produced for 16 years, and co-star Billie Piper were nominated in the best actor and actress categories.

"The series - now into its second run with the new Doctor David Tennant - has also been nominated as best drama in the Bafta awards, which will be held on 7 May in London.

""We are thrilled that the spectacular contribution made by Russell T Davies to television over the past few years has won him such a very special award,"" said BBC Wales head of English programmes Clare Hudson.

"As well as Doctor Who, Davies' writing credits include Casanova and Queer As Folk."

Read more about Russell Davies at BBC here

Visit BAFTA Cymru

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© 2007 Mark Leslie Woods