Tuesday 24th July - France

There simply are not enough hours in the day. Who decided to only have 24?! (Actually wasn't it the ancient Egyptians who divided the day into 12 hours day and 12 hours night on the basis of how long a soldier can stand watch? Hmm, I wonder). 


Anyway, I, for one, simply can't get everything done in a day - especially when the Spanish are playing the beautiful game in the Euros, Bradley Wiggens is becoming an absolute hero and poor old Alan Scott crumbles on the last four holes of the Open. To make matters worse, my wife gave me the DVD set of Homeland - which is not-put-downable.... (trailer for series 1 below) 

Somewhere, outside of the wee hours of the night, I've been reading about the Papacy in the 15th century, the life of Chopin and the history of the piano.... And, just for fun, the terrible, awful history of the Battle of the Atlantic in World War Two. Some, not all, of the above is for work and that remains the same as ever. Choose subjects you are interested in and then just crack on.


The world of broadcasting becomes harder and harder. Deals are broken, invoices unpaid. One European broadcaster has yet to pay us for THE BOY MIR two years after delivery. It's not a lot of money but it's the principle - or lack of - that irks me. But what to do? It's a game of three-dimensional chess and from time to time you have to sacrifice a pawn to stay in the game. But it's a tough world now - it's not about public service any more, it's about commerce. Look at SKY: one moment on top of the world, the next BT come along and almost steal the rights to premier league football. BT apparently had a purse of £2billion to bid for those games. They didn't get what they wanted but they got some and the price per game has, I believe, risen from a staggering £4m/game to over £6m/game. Yep, you read that right! £6 million quid. Per game.  Of football.   Now, as a Man City fan, I know and love football and know all about the impact of money but £6m/game is way off the scale.  Along comes little ol' me talking public service and culture and asking for £50,000 a show or whatever and you can see why I have battles....  As I said, three-dimensional chess.


On the other hand, when and if we can bring more EXHIBITION shows to the cinema, or IN SEARCH OF CHOPIN or PIANO NOTES - THE UTTERLY PARTIAL HISTORY OF THE PIANO WITH RONALD BRAUTIGAM we'll have done something really worthwhile. It's not in the same league as winning the Tour or a Major in golf but, to us, crossing the finish line is always a victory.

Friday 29th June

A busy week ends. We've been editing two super projects: PIANO NOTES - THE UTTERLY PARTIAL HISTORY OF THE PIANO WITH RONALD BRAUTIGAM (we're after the longest title award at the next BAFTAs) and the pilot for my film THE PIANIST AND BEETHOVEN (which stars Leif Ove Andsnes). What a thrill, to be working with two of the best pianists in the world. Ronald's series of shorts will eventually comprise of 26 shorts from Scarlati and Bach right up to the modern day. We've shot the first 13 epsiodes and, even if I do say so myself!, they look and sound great. It's not me that makes them work; it's the wonderful pianism of Ronald and the wonderful editing of my editor Phil Reynolds. I do have a personal way I like to shoot but it would be nothing without them. Above all, it's the genius (an over-used word but suitable at this juncture) of the composers themselves. Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Schuman, Schubert and more. Really pleased with these films - and they'll be finished and on air later this year.

The project with Leif Ove is also one to get any music fan tingling... Leif Ove is playing and recording the five Beethoven piano concerti over the next three years and he is allowing me full access to follow his journey. Really, filming his performances with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra would be enough but to also look at how he approaches this works of great art, what does he discover about Beethoven and, at the same time, what can we learn about one of the top 10 pianists in the world as he travels from Japan to the USA to Germany to the UK, and so on. You don't often get to see behind-the-scenes in the kind of detail we are already capturing. If I can make it as fascinating to watch as it is to film, I'll be happy. I filmed him performing and recording in Prague and Bergen - it was a little strenuous but worth it when I watched the rushes with Phil the editor. We've put together a pilot and now we need to raise the budget....watch this space.

Edvard Munch 'The Girls on the Bridge', 1901
(c) National Museum, Oslo, Norway 2012

Another project to watch is TIM MARLOW ON… EDVARD MUNCH: THE MODERN EYE. We shoot it Tuesday for TX on SkyArts next Saturday (7th July). Ben Harding is directing and I know it's a great exhibition so it'll make a great film. Take a look.