business development

Expanding on The Foreboding: Fractured

We are always happy to talk to filmmakers and actors who take the leap and create their own projects and The Foreboding: Fractured is one of those films that captured attention from the poster, and of course the various interviews we are lucky to be able to speak to Alexander who was part of the trio behind the creation of the film.

You were a major part of the creation of The Foreboding: Fractured as both the  writer & of course the final film production, what was the thinking behind this  horror project?  

I suppose it would depend on what stage we are talking about. At the very beginning the  main focus was how we could make a teen horror flick without it being cliché or exactly  the same as the others. Then hearing the timeframe we had made me have one thought  “Let’s do it.” If we’re talking two weeks in then I was more thinking about the SAG AFTRA strike & whether continuing the film was a good idea since the strike was  something I supported. The answer became keep the film going due to the fact we don’t  have a big corporation behind us, it was myself, Peter & Kemal with a very dedicated  team. Honestly there were so many thoughts that went through my head throughout the  course of the project. Some were purely down to the script & the story, the others came  down to my acting. 

As a writer & creator, which part of the process do you feel you most enjoy? In  front of the camera? Behind the camera? Writing the stories? Or a combination of  these?  

I mean first & foremost I’m an actor, so playing Connor was something I really enjoyed &  also quite unexpected. In front of the camera it was a joy being able to work alongside  Eve Kathryn Oliver & Olivia Bennett. Obviously there’s Peter as well but I feel like that’s  kind of a given. Myself & Peter have been wanting to act alongside one another for a  while so finally being able to do it was brilliant. It just felt right. I loved coming up with  the stories, the characters & how the world intertwines with all of it. Having Kemal come  on & really embracing the world that the story is set in made the project that much  easier & he had such an amazing understanding of it. It got to the point where even  though I created this world, it felt like Kemal & Peter had a far better understanding of it  than I did in the end. I feel like they definitely know all my little tricks now. 

You & the team are currently working on PR for your project including interviews  & festival planning. What do you feel will be the next phase after this project & the  marketing?  

Well Myself, Kemal & Peter have been talking about the future of the world that’s been  created & if we were to return to it, how we’d go about it. We love this world, we love the  characters. We’ve spoken about making a feature however it is all up in the air. If the audience likes the film & wants to see what I would consider the true perspective, then chances are it’ll be made.  

What advice do you have for people who are starting out or looking to start their  own projects?  

I think the best advice I could possibly give is throw yourself into it. If you have an idea,  run with it as best as you can. You’ve got to be a little bit risky & you have to be okay  with the idea of not running through a wall but finding a way over it. On sets big & small  there are always issues, very very rarely is it smooth sailing & believe it or not that is  quite possibly the best part about it.

To learn more about the film see:

IMDB The Foreboding: Fractured.

Horror Scream Video Vault Interview.

Blazing Minds Interview.

Podcast Interview.





Frustrations Within Casting

casting woes

Being an actor or working in the creative arts has always been something of a passion led career path with many feeling they cannot get a foot in the door thanks in part to the ability to gain parts, an agent, or that elusive and somewhat necessary profile with the #1 casting directory. This has come to a head now and people are feeling pushed out with the system being called elitist, we at the lost creatives wanted to share some insights and options that are gaining ground and opening doors to people with a few added options that even at the lowest budgets, can make the dream become a reality with strategic work and a little planning.

As regular readers will know, we advocate for indie film and the creative talent behind it from the cast to the crew with our own allegiances being openly stated.

We are happy to endorse creative and commercial avenues of filmmaking with companies such as New Village Video and HOD TV being two of our favoured routes,

*It is worth noting that HOD TV has parameters that you need to match to get through their vetting process, we have this in a document and will share with those who require it through email.

In casting terms, it is not quite as simple, there are certain sites and companies that have all but cornered the market and are seen as the gold standard, this however, has been changing slowly and we want to talk about 2 of those options and are open to hearing from new services that may appear or alternative options at any time.

vShowcards: a game changing paid for service with a dedicated team who not only help and support their members with advice, but a multi-faceted company that takes on actors and crew giving them a manageable route to showcase themselves and promote their skills to multiple audiences and welcome new and established talent because the site was built by actors, there is more understanding of the challenges out there.

Casting Callback: a free at point of use service for the UK, I personally checked out the layout and actors pages to see how it works and I am impressed, the company ethos is simple, they want to the creative arts to be open to all backgrounds making it one of the best of the free services for its open platform and honest approach to the industry.

With just these 2 options under your belt, it offers up scope in particular to new entrants, and with the media market slowly getting back on its feet with global financial concerns, it shows that no matter what your background, no matter your financial status as an actor or filmmaker, there is a means to promote and market yourself and fortunately, in this content hungry age, platforms available to sell your work.

Lost Creatives will be using these platforms both for casting and for promotion over the next year and focusing on opportunities outside the mainstream with digital TV and film being our goal and of course, supporting creatives across the spectrum with the blog being open to those who need support to promote their projects.

We will be talking in our next blog about commercial avenues for short films and touching on team building for projects with small budget.

Indie Film Thoughts

There is a lot of concern at the moment with the BBC daytime drama Doctors being cancelled, it was a mainstream way for people to gain a foothold in the industry and seen as a staple of daytime TV for many. People are naturally, wondering what this means for those entering the media market from the cast side to crew.

Changes to the market are always difficult to navigate and people are now looking for alternative avenues within the mainstream but overlooking the potential of commercializing ideas in the indie sector and utilizing avenues that are already in place such as HOD TV and the fantastic New Village Video whose platform is focused on the indies and the classic old school “straight to video” movies or the more familiar “streaming service original.”

Talks are underway for collective motion to pull new and emerging talent into pools and building something fresh. What this means is the indie scene has an opportunity to build a new network, a new platform and create.

With this in mind The Lost Creatives is willing to support and to start we want to share the books and sites we feel will be a major benefit to this:

Distribution and sales avenues.

HOD TV submissions a specialist in horror and thriller, the terms are fair and commercialization is possible, a full breakdown of the requirements is available, just drop us an email and we can share the details.

New Village Video, a friendly, open minded team who accept all genres of film and advocate for the indie scene while supporting and selling projects with success.

Books

Don’t F*ck Up Your No Budget Movie by Ivan Peric, a fantastic and personal insight into creating a feature film with a low budget, Ivan talks about the perils and offers up his own tried and tested path to creating a film and getting it sold by planning strategically. A real must read and a part of the lost library of books.

Opening Doors For Working Class Actors by Patricia Jones, a wonderful and open insight into the world of an actor giving you a clear and honest way to start out as an actor. Patricia Jones is a wonderful lady who talks honestly about her journey and gives pointers to those who would otherwise feel they cannot make the leap into the arts.

Cast and Crew

vShowcards, an alternative to the main networking and actors/crew sites, vshowcards is actor run and supported by various casting agents, production houses across the world, and offers a cohesive platform for you to market yourself to the media landscape.

Over the next few weeks we will be exploring avenues of marketing and other elements of the creative industry with a view to showcasing the potential for the indie scene.

The House of iKons September Show 2023

London fashion week is the social event of the fashion calendar with House of iKons standing high in the field with good reason, this top 6 show worldwide has become the go to event for buyers, designers and creatives of all stripes to showcase their talents to an audience that spans the globe.

“From the simple to the sublime, House of iKons has new reached new heights with The CEO of the Company Savita Kaye was honoured to receive a prestigious award from the Government of Thailand on behalf of Her Majesty Queen Sirkit of Thailand. Making this show and CEO Savita Kaye Herself an iKon of regal proportions.”

From the catwalk to the big screen, there are no limits to the range of the House of iKons show as this September has shown, there are no limits to creativity and each season they continue to outdo the last and leave the audience (in person and online) in awe.

Sponsored by Girl Meets Brush & The Fashion Life Tour.

Segment One Show

  • Grand Opening: Jhay Layson 

  • CLC Couture 

  • Fantasma 

  • Grand Finale: Love Collection 

Segment Two Show

  • Grand Opening: Celebration of Thai Arts & Culture by Bangkok Event Management Co Ltd

  • Kat Couture 

  • D’BPHOR represented by The Fashion Life Tour 

  • Jennifer Younger 

  • La Petite Wardrobe 

  • Hafanana represented by The Fashion Life Tour

  • Postcode Fashion

  • Anvi Couture represented by The Fashion Life Tour 

  • AU10TIC

  • Grand Finale: Stephan Russell

Segment Three Show

  • Grand Opening: Zaira Christa

  • TSafari

  • Wanda Beauchamp

  • Perry Jones represented by The Fashion Life Tour

  • TAMTA

  • Saima Chaudhry represented by The Fashion Life Tour

  • Adrianna Ostrowska

  • TUVZA represented by B20 Events 

  • Shameless Opinion represented by The Fashion Life Tour

  • Grand Finale: Andre Soriano

    Image credits: 

    London Show: Ram Eagle

    New York Show: Johnny Jones


    For further information on The House of iKons or opportunities to get involved in the show see:

    House of iKons Website.

    House of iKons Facebook.

    House of iKons Instagram.


Tea and Business With Nepal Film Productions

Something I and the rest of the team at Lost Creatives are incredibly proud of is our ties to Nepal Film Productions as a consultant, our founder and creative director JamesC works closely with the team to discuss a wide range of subjects and catch up on the latest business news from our partners in Nepal.

Our most recent discussions were done as always virtually, with JamesC taking coffee at his favourite spot and working with the team at Nepal Film Productions on some smaller concept project details with a little personal news into the bargain.

Leaders in various fields, it is always a pleasure to hear about the clientele and projects that they are involved in and offer up new options such as introductions to our own contacts such as Sons of Adonis, and New Village Video, giving the makeup artists and fellow filmmakers of Nepal access to new resources and avenues in both makeup and of course, distribution for indie film.

Nepal Film Productions are currently working a slate of exciting projects with new and regular clients ranging from the premium end of the market (Netflix and Warner Bros to name but two), as well as indie film and collaborating with film festivals to showcase new talent.

Very soon we will be working on a series of blogs with Nepal Film Production on a wide range of subjects that affect the industry and offering a deeper insight into a country that is the jewel in the crown of South Asia, a beautiful country with a fascinating history, the endless potential of Nepal is something we are always happy to showcase and in conjunction with our partners at Nepal Film Production, look at things from a different perspective than the standard vision of the country.

To learn more about the company and Nepal or what they can offer to film and TV see:

Nepal Film Production Website.

Source: https://nepalfilmproduction.com/

New Village Video

As we are all aware there are major changes in motion in the mainstream market of film and TV, which is leading to the question “can the indies step in and entertain us?”  Happily the answer is yes, and sites like New Village Video are stepping up to the plate with gusto and bringing old school values and entertainment back to the market.

Focused on the best and brightest of the indie, art, and grindhouse movie scene, New Village Video is about the charms of a video store combined with the best of the digital age. 

Indie film is the heart of much of their work and their films have that “straight to video” feel that is somewhere between nostalgic and innovative, offering you the chance to support new and emerging talents, filmmakers and artists in a way that is entertainingly quirky.

What this means is there Is an option for us out there who have lower budget visuals and tongue in cheek chic films that are about pure entertainment, getting films out there and opening the door to genre based films that focus on the popcorn chucking entertainment, and scares that a good movie should.  From a filmmaking perspective New Village Video is the modern version of the VHS for hire route that gave us cult/underground movies that went from backyard films to schoolyard legend without the need for a PR team.  

Giving power to the indies is just a small part of what this offers, New Village Video is set to become the digital film archive for those who just want to entertain.  Worthy of checking out on all fronts: from consumer to artiste, the potential to showcase your work, make money on your investment, and have your film seen is enough to tip the scales in their favour and as someone who appreciates movies, and has a set of goals that include schlock horror, this will be top of the list for me to showcase my own films and with their commission rates in the favour of the filmmaker, it is without question a good time to be an indie filmmaker in a fluctuating market. 

To learn more about New Village Video or to discuss submissions see:

New Village Video.

Submissions at New Village Video.





Source: https://newvillagevideo.com/

Talking Business with Lukey Lukey

Something we find fascinating is the desire and passion behind brands, Lukey Lukey is a great example of this with the line already gathering attention we wanted to find out more about the beginnings and future of this eye-catching collection.

Lukey Lukey is a curated, yet all encompassing color range that has really grabbed people's attention. Can you tell us more about the line and how it all started?   

 It all started for me during the lockdown. I had been working in the beauty industry as a stylist, colourist and educator for well over a decade, and I had just started a new career as a freelance beauty editor. It was a nice change of pace from the type of work I had been doing for the longest time. I always felt like there was something missing from my career. Whenever I achieved what I set out to do, I wanted to move on to the next thing immediately. I never felt fully content with what I was doing. Finally, it just hit me: I need to start my own brand. Once I had that "Aha moment", everything just became really clear to me. I was grateful to be working fully remotely at the time because it gave me enough time to research everything that I’d need to know to start my own business. The hard work started there, but my vision was crystal clear, so to me the hardest part was already complete. 

When you were designing the Lukey Lukey range what was the driving force behind the look?   

 Lukey Lukey, it’s branding and everything about the aesthetic is like something that’s been trapped inside my head that’s always been yearning to break out. I can’t explain how easy it all came to me. It didn’t even “come” to me, I just let it all out. I knew exactly how I wanted everything to look, how I wanted the logo to be styled, the type of models I wanted to use, everything just flowed very easily. Getting to be creative and design all of this was a dream for me. My mother is an artist and she painted the original artwork, with me instructing how I wanted it to look. It’s such a fond memory of the brand's creation. 

You chose to lead with a cream blusher collection for your brand, is there more planned for the future and can you share with us your plans?   

“ Yes! Blush is very near and dear to me and my journey in beauty! I was always self-conscious of blushing and having rosy cheeks, so it was me taking back my power!”

Trying to celebrate our insecurities – as difficult as that may be at times. I also find blush interesting in terms of colour theory; colour has always been my passion, in every avenue of my life. I have so many plans for future launches and where I want the brand to go. A collection takes such a long time to create, I started planning the second collection before Dream Cheeks – my first collection – even launched! 

Is there any advice you can offer to aspiring entrepreneurs entering into the beauty industry? 

 It’s competitive, so you need to have a very clear idea of what you want to create. Once you know what you want and you are confident in your choices, trust your instinct. Nobody knows what you want to achieve as clearly as you do. It’s great to have a few people to bounce ideas off, but once you make a decision you need to have the confidence to stand behind it. Running a business is difficult enough without doubting yourself, you need to be sure of yourself, always. 

To learn more about the brand or to purchase see:

Lukey Lukey Website.

Lukey Lukey Instagram.

Lukey Lukey Facebook.

Lukey Lukey TikTok.

Source: https://lukeylukey.com/

Lukey Lukey Cream Blush Revolution

As many will know, JamesC has an obsession with blush, so when he came across the debut collection from Lukey Lukey of 4 universal shades of cream blush it was a match made in heaven.  

Luke Nolan the founder behind the colour collection has developed this to be a consumer dream and an artist must, from the chic blue packaging to the carefully curated cream colours, this brand is designed to meet artistic standards and colour theory methods while enhancing beauty with minimal fuss and maximum impact.

From a purely artistic point of view this range has the hallmarks of a bridal staple, a film/TV artist must, and an editorial plus when it comes to a working kit and throw in the potential to sell the product in your salon Lukey Lukey Blush is set to be a go-to across the spectrum.

Produced in Europe, the range may be small but has the potential to make a big impact and has the support of The Lost Creatives team as well as our own JamesC who is already plotting out looks for this spectacular blush. 

To learn more about the collection or to purchase see:

Lukey Lukey Website.

Lukey Lukey Instagram.

Lukey Lukey Facebook.

Lukey Lukey TikTok.

Source: https://lukeylukey.com/

Timeline Updates

While the blog and other elements have been very quiet of late, we do apologize for this, it does not mean we have been idle. In fact it is the opposite with so much in the works we have had to set deadlines for projects and new launches before time really ran away and we lost track of what is being done.

Some of the domains we own are now due for renewal and we are using that as the baseline for soft launching websites and taking down some of the older work to make things as clean as possible.

With a wedding under our belt, in what will be a two-part package, there is some really beautiful images coming from that which will showcase our creative director and founder working as well as our beautiful bride.

Lost Creatives is going to be changed dramatically as well with new galleries being worked out to match the upcoming Lost Project Media site that will be the home of our video and print work, a mix of editorial and commercial campaigns, more on this later.

James will be launching a fresh new site which as a makeup artist he wanted to be a whole set of new work all tailored to the lost identity and brand and completely different from his previous site with a focus on the commercial.

In the next week we will be doing a very interesting set of blogs piece about indie brands that popped up on our radar and will be playing a part in the working kit of our house artist. Both of which are interesting and will offer very different perspectives on a makeup kit as well as product usage and placement.

With an end goal of updating not just the websites but our other networking sites such as Vshowcards, by August we will be well on our way to the whole new look and entirely different brand identity than when we started and it is truly exciting to see how things have developed from where we began.

Time For a Change

The last few weeks have been really hard, a combination of ill health and just general contract negotiations have meant that we really haven’t had the time to update the website. However, this has been a positive overall and allowed us to really prioritize the future of the Lost as a concept.

One of the biggest things to come out of this has been our creative director JamesC has made the decision to close his current portfolio website, we have maintained control of the domain name, and will be starting from scratch with a new fresh work in conjunction with a select number of very good photographers hand picked from a list of contacts and sources, the images from which will be submitted to publications.

We are also looking at reshuffling all the domains we own and bringing a more mixed media focus to our work with films of varying lengths and commercial status being worked on to change the very restricted state we are in.

Over the next month there will be more updates and galleries showcasing fresh work and taking the whole Lost concept back to basics and putting the energy where we want it to be as a whole with a focused print/digital fashion portfolio and a slate of smaller video projects that have been carefully researched and plotted around our requirements for festivals.

More updates will be released soon.