And the next stop for A4 to A3 is the Rhode Island International Film Festival, after the film received an early ‘official selection’.

“This early acceptance is a direct result of our enthusiasm for the project, which we are certain audiences will share in August. In granting this privilege, our hope is that A4 to A3 will be a highlight of the festival”.

Which is nice…

The film now has an official website which can be accessed right here at http://a4toa3movie.com/

Congrats, as always, to my musical co-writer, Simon Barlow, to Dean Codrington and to Joe Main.

It has been quite a journey for this little musical that Simon Barlow and I wrote over a series of very late nights, many, many years ago in a cramped, hot room — while the neighbors threw rocks at the tin roof to try and get us to shut up.

We withstood your rocks!

Then my brother-in-law moved into that room.

You must long for the days when the worst thing coming out of that room was a musical…

Anyway, best of luck to Director, Dean Codrington, and lead actor and producer, Joe Main, who are now on the red carpet in Newport Beach, California.

After several false starts, people using the play script to get funding, meetings with various producers, all sorts of promises, and even one time when I believe the whole thing was filmed but never edited, The Example looks like it really will be a film soon.

Dean Codrington and Bravada Films have optioned The Example for twelve months and have asked me to write the screenplay.  Dean was the director on A4 to A3, which is set for its world premiere at the Newport Beach Film Festival in California later this month.  He did a fantastic job with the film adaptation of the musical which Simon Barlow and I wrote and I am quietly confident that he and his team will do an equally great job with The Example.

This ‘little play that could’ has already won a number of awards, been produced in five countries and been adapted into a comic book of the same name.

Next up; The Example action figures!

That’s right.  The little musical I wrote with Simon Barlow has one of these logos attached to it now.

Producer/lead Joe Main and Director Dean Codrington are flying over to LA and heading to the Newport Beach Film Festival for the screening of this in April (I will be home with a newborn baby).  Here’s hoping it will be just the first of many words in leaves for this film.

Simon Barlow and I have been writing and performing music together for over a decade now.  A4 2 A3 is a short musical comedy about love in a photocopy store that Simon and I wrote a long time ago.   We wrote this whole thing in a few hours… over a few years.  The theatre version took home the People’s Choice Award in the inaugural Short, Sweet and Song festival, after which it was optioned by the lead actor in the musical, Joe Main.  Joe then asked me to write the screenplay for its film adaptation.

Joe Main, who is soon to appear in the feature films ‘Ektopos’ and ‘Centre Place‘, has poured a lot into this film.  No expense has been spared and the quality of the film surprised and delighted Simon and I when we saw it (yes, ‘delighted’… not sure I’ve ever used that word).  The director, Dean Codrington, has done an incredible job with the film, adding some great moments while also remaining faithful to the screenplay.

As a writer, my job entails pouring all of my heart and energy into something and then saying goodbye to it.  I’m well practiced at politely lying to people, while smiling through gritted teeth, about how much I enjoyed their butchering of my work… but I seriously couldn’t stop grinning when I saw this.  Thanks and congratulations to all involved.

A4 to A3 is hopefully about to start a fairly hectic film festival season.  I’m sure it will get a lot of those words inside leaves next to its name.