Damyna the Musical, Trailer

Synopsis

Damyna is nearly sold to her father's moneylender but is bought and brought up by her mother's friend. To avoid problems with her son, Por Phiri, his mother makes him believe she is his real sister, but they love each other dearly. Trouble arrives when two attractive consultants, Kati Pault and Given Chansa, arrive at their farm to 'improve' their farming skills. Por falls in love with Kati; Given falls in love with Damyna, with the help of an itinerant witch doctor, who assumes Damyna and Por are blood brother and sister.

Later, they all meet in a fashionable coffee house in town. Before matters get out of hand, the witch doctor corrects his mistake but is nearly foiled by Damyna's adopted mother's husband, who also looks like the witch doctor, claiming to be the father of both Damyna and Por. Damyna's adoptive mother reveals her husband is not the father of her son, so Damyna and Por can now marry, while Damyna's high ranking and real father at the wedding also looks remarkably like the witch doctor.

This trailer needs some community translations.

Watch the full Movie here.

The Poster for Damyna the Musical

Watch the full Movie here.

Borderline DISCOP

I am attending DISCOP Johannesburg Film Market November 2-4 as a producer, to sell my film 'Damyna the Musical'. I have 17 meetings arranged and 24 non-responses so far, from 41 requests. I have mostly targeted individual TV stations, which are usually terrestrial here, English and French. Being a musical this means subtitles rather than dubbing. It is now a rush to get everything ready in time.

We will be doing the remaining photography for the poster this afternoon and hopefully it will be ready soon after. There is a real chance the trailer will be ready too. Both will be posted even though the trailer will be going for colour grading.  Interviews of the stars are complete and will form the backbone to a documentary on the making of Damyna the Musicial, probably TV hr, to go with the DVD version of the film and packaged with the film for direct sales to TV stations.

The script for Borderline, my next film, remains at its second iteration.

Facebook and IMDb

I have created a Facebook page for Damyna the Musical, and my data are now on IMDb. The website is here.

Sceenplays, Marketing and Musicals

Screenplay

The first iteration of my next screenplay is complete. Each scene is a story event where characters change in significant and appropriate ways, positive or negative - each scene is titled with speaking and non-speaking cast list; the story is consistent and with present tense action descriptions; dialogue is simple and short, with no lecturing; scene and shot headings, and character names, are consistent. I am now starting my second iteration, which will include: reviewing the beats; defining and balancing sequences into (probably) five acts; and sharpening the characters with better actions and motifs.

Marketing

My imposed deadline for Damyna, the Film Musical (working title) is end of November. I am a producer at DISCOP 2016, in Johannesburg between 2-4 November so I will be taking a couple of trailers and PR bits. I am describing the film as general entertainment, ethnic and arts & music. It is getting interest from TV stations. The flier is designed; the poster is designed but not complete, with studio photography on Friday, 23 September; the documentary is not started but star interviews will be also on Friday on studio greenscreen; the website is done except for trailers, which should be ready by month end, and of course there are no reviews yet! Facebook is on my list for today together with determining a list of appropriate festivals.

Musicals

My film is a musical. The narrative progresses through songs; there is some dialogue but there is no dancing. It does not use duality commonly found in musicals, two parallel often scenically similar narratives that combine at some point (Gigi). I find this simple idea very interesting.

peterlangmead.com has been updated

My website  has been updated to include my new film Damyna, the Film Musical (working title).

Damyna, the Film Musical (working title)

Damyna, the film musical (working title) is in late post production. Based on my opera Damyna Damyna, it is expected to be ready in time for DISCOP 2016 in Johannesburg.

Written, composed and directed by Peter Langmead

Synopsis

Josephine Kachiza plays Damyna.

Damyna is nearly sold to her father's moneylender but is bought and brought up by her mother's friend. To avoid problems with her real son, Por Phiri, his mother ensures he believes she is his real sister, but they love each other dearly. Trouble arrives when two attractive consultants, Kati Pault and Given Chansa, arrive at their farm to 'improve' their farming skills. Por falls in love with Kati; Given Chansa falls in love with Damyna, with the help of a drunken witch doctor, who assumes Damyna and Por are really brother and sister. They all meet in a fashionable coffee house in town. Before matters get out of hand, the witch doctor corrects his mistake but is nearly foiled by Damyna's adopted mother's husband, who also looks like the witch doctor, claiming to be the father of both Damyna and Por. Damyna's adopted mother reveals her husband is not the father of her son, so Damyna and Por can now marry, while Damyna's high ranking and uniformed real father at the wedding also looks remarkably like the witch doctor.

See my website for more details.

2nd unit shoot, dubbing Kati Pault and first iteration of first draft

So, 2nd Unit shoot: the leaves have gone from the trees; one large tree has been cut back; and spring is very much coming. I didn't go. Apparently, the shoot was okay. Lucky, the buildings hadn't been painted! Another dubbing session this morning, with Hilda dubbing Kati Pault and later with Dude doing Given Chansa in a duet. It is sounding good. Me? I am doing the first iteration of my first draft for my next musical.

Dubbing, 2nd unit shoot & first draft

Chongwe Chongwe chorus dubbing finished, possibly; 2nd unit shoot tomorrow, probably; the first draft of my next screenplay is finished, almost. Not a bad week, except I still think iPads are rubbish.