Pretville Film #FlashbackFriday

Two years ago we were involved in the most colourful and vibrant Afrikaans musical feature film project called Pretville produced by Hartiwood Films. Hubby Ferdinand Gernandt was choreographer for the project, I acted as Assistant Choreographer and featured as a dancer in the film as well. Producers Paul Kruger (also DOP) and Emma Kruger, as well as Co-Producer and Director Linda Korsten, were so supportive and encouraging throughout the creative process, it was only a pleasure to create 'cinemagic' together.

We had so much fun shooting this project and creating the choreographic content for the lively musical numbers. The delightful lyrics and soundtrack was created by the talented arranger/composer Machiel Roets (@machielroets on Twitter), some of my favourite tracks being 'Skillie Skillie Skilpad', 'In die Maanlig', 'Is jy Verlief?', Skud, Skop en Hop' and 'Ek en Jy'. 

We had a week's worth of rehearsals with the amazing dance team, as well as the various characters prior to principal filming. And then we worked the final touches whilst preparing on set during the shoot days. Here are some beautiful and fun 'behind-the-scenes' shots of the rehearsals and other on set moments.

 

The challenging task of editing fell to the lovely Anel Stolp, the beautiful costume design was the work of Nerine Pienaar from The Wardrobe Studio and the magnificent art direction by Bathoni Robinson. It was a wonderful team of crew and cast; we really had such a fun time during production.

 I even have a wonderful cookbook at home called 'Proe Pretville' that was released along with the film which contains some of the most beautiful stills from behind-the-scenes of filming Pretville.

Fans can actually visit the little Pretville 'town' in Hartbeespoort Dam which functioned as the set for the film. It has now expanded to include memorabilia from other Hartiwood Productions, there's a functional 50's 'diner' where you can order yummy milkshakes, a quaint 'silver screen' bio-scope where you can watch the film Pretville (and several other Afrikaans or South African produced features) and you can also visit the Zaza Photographic Studio, take fun photographs in the little town and dress up in 50's wardrobe and accessories. It's a really fun family outing, so contact Emma on 083 283 1323 for movie tickets, times and info on the the Pretville 'dorpie'.

Hartiwood recently produced another feature film called 'French Toast' which is due for release in 2015, (I play a tiny cameo role as a nurse and loved every minute of it, read about it here) for which they built and created another magical 'set' in Hartbeespoort Dam - the lovely French Toast 'Koffiekafee' (Cafe).


It is now also open to the public, serving their customers french-inspired cappucinos, macarons and all styles of french toast.

A few of our FADCreationS Mentorship Students will also feature in this film, read this post on their behind-the-scenes experience.


Here is a trailer of the film Pretville which released in Nov 2012.

Here's to making movies in SA!
Chat soon peeps!

Skouspel Sun City #BehindTheScenes

Flashback to several weeks ago when we worked at the annual epic Sun City Huisgenoot Skouspel event. It was such awesome fun this year!

This year was our second time working on the Skouspel event, so we knew exactly what to expect and we were well prepared for a smooth-running rehearsal process and gorgeous performances. Earlier in the year, we had already run a similar program at the Cape Town Skouspel event at Grand West Casino in July (read more about that here), so we could further improve on and finesse the Sun City version.

It was great to work with all of the different and industry top artists again. It's such great fun with all of them backstage and there is certainly never a dull moment.

All the usual faces were in attendance Kurt, Laurika, Karen, Andriette, Snotkop, Heinz, Ray, Ricus, Chris, Nadine, Emo, Joe, Rouchelle, Adam, Heuwels Fantasties and several more. It was so fabulous to witness friend and Adam group newbie Kyle Grant perform his first Skouspel, as well as presenter friend and Afrikaans personality Nadia Beukes debuting in the most beautiful Vesselina Pentcheva gowns.
But the gorgeous trio Blackbyrd was my personal favourite this year, check out there latest album release HOME and listen to the single, 'I love you, I just simply do'.

 Here are some pics of our crazy backstage and 'behind the scenes' moments:

Frontline Productions have the Huisgenoot Skouspel ship sailing on smooth waters and are always such wonderful hosts. This year we stayed in the Sun City Cabana's and enjoyed a hearty buffet breakfast every morning. We even had some time for the pool, cocktails and sunshine on our first weekend there. Yay summer! And the 'after party' is always a blast!

The Skouspel dvd has just been made available in stores, but I'm already curious what the program and set list will look like for 2015!! In the words of Heuwels Fantasties..... Skouspel!!!

Chat soon,

Skouspel Cape Town 2014 #BehindTheScenes

Huisgenoot Skouspel! - an annual must-see on many Afrikaners' calenders and usually an event of epic proportions!

Earlier this month FADCreationS was in beautiful Cape Town for a whole week to work behind-the-scenes for the #Skouspel2014 event at the Grand West Casino.

Husband Ferdinand Gernandt is the Stage Director for the event and 'calls' each moment of the show's running order from the auditorium.
Myself and Roelien Prinsloo are the Assistant Stage Directors, who make sure it all runs smoothly in the wings on either side of the gorgeous Skouspel stage. (Unless we're working on our silly-selfies somewhere)

Check out the gorgeous stage...

 

 

Here are some pics of outside the Grand West casino and hotel.

It was lovely to catch up with the gorgeous Nadia Beukes at Skouspel and especially with it being her first time MC'ing for the big event. She looked incredibly beautiful in her Vesselina Pentcheva gowns, lucky girl!

Some of my favourite artists this year were Joshua Na Die Reen's Jacques (above), with his wonderfully gentle, soulful spirit; the fresh new ADAM trio with Kyle Grant added into the mix and the gorgeous newcomers - 3 glamorous girls of BlackByrd (Tarryn, Tammy and Axene).

Personally I also have huge respect for the great material, performance value and work ethic of Nadine, Emo Adams and Chris Chameleon.
One of my favourite numbers in the line up was a comical operatic number delivered by Emo, Chris and the wonderfully talented Louis Loock.
I won't give too much away!

The Heuwels Fantasties are just on a whole other level, I really dig their sound and love to listen to them live. Other big names were Kurt Darren, Laurika Rauch, Karen Zoid, Andriette Norman, Elvis Blue, Snotkop, Heinz Winkler and Joe Foster. Also Adam Tas, Ray Dylan, Ricus Nel, Manie Jackson, Belinda and Rouchelle were popular Afrikaans artists on the coveted Skouspel line-up.

It was especially special to see maestro Eddie Clayton again (we worked together on The King And I some years ago), who made his debut of conducting at Skouspel this year, having arranged and played for several Skouspel events in the past. Bravo Eddie!







A big congratulations and thank you to Frontline Productions for the highly efficient and streamline way they run the whole of Skouspel's operations, rehearsals, admin and performances and also for hosting us so wonderfully.
It is a privilege and a pleasure every time!!

I am really looking forward to the #Skouspel2014 Sun City weekends in October! Sun and Summer!


Hope to see many of you there!!

Speak soon,

#SCARS The Movie #ComingAttractions

Dreams are born with a seed of a thought and grown through countless steps of action and loads of passion, faith and belief. #SCARS was a seed, a thought, a concept and has grown to become the potential realisation of not one person's dream, but many.

Hashtag Scars (#SCARS) is a teenage adventure film, a story about four random teenagers pulled together by fate when they realise they have two things in common; superpowers and one sinister neighbourhood mom. It is a project that has been blessed from the very beginning with so many individuals willing to contribute and invest their time, skills, money or energy in helping the development of this dream.

(Read more about this project here.)

This incredibly exciting project is the brain child of my hubby, Ferdinand and has been in development for just over a year now. A major amount of legwork in the development phase has already been completed, including the filming of an exciting new teaser trailer. It gives you a great feel for what's to come...
#SCARS Teaser Trailer 

It is so incredible to watch something come alive from concept phase to the written word, to images and possible shots and locations..

Some of the teenage cast members have already been pencil booked and let me tell you, there are some truly incredible talents in this country and we strive to give them the creative platforms they deserve. I am truly excited for all the possibilities it may bring for the young stars who will make their debut with this project and dream of great careers within this industry. There are 4 great main characters who drive the story: Ariana, Chloé, Shane and Tshepo. Then there's the antagonist character, Vanessa - a wonderfully meaty role and I feel so privileged and excited to be playing her. I really hope I will do her justice when the time comes. I can't wait to be on set and see the story come alive.

We are now in the process of sourcing the final funding and investment for #SCARS, which some say can be the hardest part of producing a film. But we already have so much support, I just know that in no time we will be green lit and shooting the first scene of this remarkable project. We are also currently running a crowd-funding campaign on indiegogo, and would love for you to check it out.
Just follow this indiegogo link.

We are daily working on the #SCARS campaign and development and I can not wait to let you know when we're finally in production. So keep an eye out and watch this space!

BPSE 2014 Rehearsals #ComingAttractions

It's happening again! Our annual BPSE 2014 rehearsals are underway, and the talent we have pooled together this year is scary brilliant!

The Broadway Performance Showcase Experience is an annual workshop hosted by FADCreationS, where we take a group of industry hopefuls and give them a true experience of what it takes to put a full musical theatre production together - from the audition process, all the way through to the final performances.

Eben Liebenberg from PhotoElements has been capturing some wonderful behind-the scenes moments during rehearsals... Can you see the concentration, the focus... the creative chaos... we love it!!!

Our candidates receive all the show material before hand and undergo a real audition process for casting on Day 1 at BPSE. This year we are rehearsing at the beautiful Dance De Art studios in Centurion, where each candidate will also experience full studio recordings of all of the chorus vocal material of the production. They learn choreography from scratch, plot acting scenes and start piecing it all together. Later they put it all on stage and in costume, and all this in under 2 weeks. (We're mad right!)
But honestly, it is a life-changing experience for most young artists and many keep returning to us. It's not only the work, the exposure or the final show but rather the process, the experience and the family they gain and value most through it all. The candidates (and their parents) also get to meet and rub elbows with some high-profile industry experts during an enlightening Q and A session, as well as on the VIP show evening.

 

And same as last year, 2014's production called "96000", will be performed at the Atterbury Theatre in Lynnwood, Pretoria. There will be two performances: Friday 4 April at 7pm and Saturday 5 April at 3pm.

So if you live nearby or feel like coming through to support and check out the theatre stars of the future, please join us!



Tickets are R120 per person and available at Computicket, just follow the link...








Hope to see you all there!

Love,