Physical Media Storm

Here’s what we’ve been up to —

There’s the Sid Furie box set I’ve told you about — all the films are good but it’d be worth buying for THE BOYS IN COMPANY C alone. I’ve written two video essays for this release, one on Furie’s politics in these films, particularly sexual politics. This was my first time working for Imprint and it could not have gone more smoothly.

Less smooth was my first job for Radiance, but it turned out fine in the end. The essay is on Damiani’s HOW TO KILL A JUDGE and the Damiano Damiani-Franco Nero set comes out next month, which leaves me wondering why we were slaving on it over Christmas for a January delivery date. But such is the business.

And semi-finally there’s Buster Keaton’s THREE AGES, coming soon from Masters of Cinema. This one exploded from a single piece into four, as Fiona became a full-on Keaton obsessive so her part of the work grew to be as big as mine, and then we came across a charming essay Keaton wrote, or dictated, in 1924, and then actor friend Steven McNicoll put us in touch with Keaton devotee Ian Lavender, of Dad’s Army fame, and I interviewed him and that became another piece. All huge fun to think about and do.

We’re now in the thinking stage for the next one — there IS a thinking stage, I swear. Can’t tell you about it but it’s a classic — fair to say it sits higher up the cinephile hit parade than any of the films mentioned above.

All these projects were done with a new collaborator, Laura Wiggett, a recent graduate from the film course I teach on, and a joy to work with. She’s immediately been offered more work by Radiance, which is nice to see.

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