Monday, 31 December 2012

Look Back... And Dare!

New Year's Eve is finally upon us and having been so busy and unable to blog the last couple of months I thought I'd take the opportunity to take a brief look back over the last 12 months of what I've achieved and re-vist my own personal highlights.

First and foremost I think my greatest personal achievement and accomplishment of which I'm most proud this year was the Charity Calendar I developed, project managed, cast, graphic designed and modelled for on behalf of 'Save The Children UK' in just one month! It was an almighty task of which I could not of accomplished without the kind support of everyone involved. I was truly overwhelmed and endeared by the many photographers, models, make-up artists, hair stylists, printers and assistants that came together to make it such an overwhelming success. Some campaigns never even get off the ground as they proceed to fade without a trace after being launched. I am proud to say not only did we achieve what we set out to do from the start within a very tight deadline of just 30 days from concept to completion, we delivered a quality product that got featured in the press, sold as far afield as the USA and Brazil, Been entered into 'Best Calendar Design' and 'Best Charity Calendar' categories by The UK Calendar Distrbutor '8 Days a Week' and has so far raised over £1,000 for this worthwhile cause! I am continuing to sell the last few remaining copies in order to raise proceeds further before donating them to 'Save the Children UK' in the New Year.


If you would like to help, you can still purchase a copy for yourself or friends by donating to pledge@MAprofile.com via the 'Send Money' option on PayPal.

Prices: £15 (UK Delivered) / $30 (US Delivered) / ROW £18 Delivered.

Thank you to all who have purchased a copy so far and a big THANK YOU to the following for all their help and creative contributions; Debbie and Steve Underhill of TipTop Photography, Paul Silver, Birmingham Fotography, Clare Louise, Nick Reynolds, Adam Davies of DeadGoodUndies, Safeer Ahmed, John Chapman, Chris Sinnett, Simon Montrose Taylor, Heather Stringer, Anita - Exstasy Queen - Model, Aria Davis, Terri Hope, Anita Coleman, Tetiana Darling, Tanya Mihailovic, Jackie Wood, Pascale Recher, Adele Coxon, Make-up by Danni, Chayya Udani, Gaynor Morse of 'Secondskin', Tamara Joseph, Doctor Agamemmnon When, 8 Days A Week Print and last but certainly not least the invaluable Rajeeta Rani for helping to co-ordinate it all.




My next highlight of 2012 without question was my life changing trip to the USA shortly after the calendar completed. It's unfair for me to even compare these 2 experiences as they could not be any more different if they tried and both have an equal place in my heart for very different reasons. This trip simply came about by way of a messaged recieved via 'Star Now' on the 1st August from awesome US musician Jane Train! I was contacted and asked if I would like to play the 'love interest' in her music video when she came over to the UK? Of course I would and after finding we already had a friend in common - Ginger Wildheart - and bonding further over months of Skype calls it seemed to make more sense for me to just go to the US and film the video with her in LA whilst pursuing other career  opportunities I had there too. Simply put I fell in love with the positivity and vibe of the people there and met a wealth of true friends and industry contacts in addition to getting representation by a New York acting agency and shooting for a Pennsylvania editorial. After 3 weeks there I simply did not want to leave and now plan on leaving the UK and relocating to LA next summer to pursue my acting career if all goes to plan.






The next accomplishments for which I'm most proud are a combination of my acting achievements so far which include me completing my Intensive Course at Birmingham School of Acting, featuring in the commercial for 'Billy Boy UK' and The Loyalties 'Til The Death...' music video (out next year), a featured role in Sean Forj's Indie film '17 Spleens', an upcoming role in 2013's 'Thorned Hands', plus working on Hollywood movies 'The Councillor' with Ridley Scott and Penelope Cruz and 'Fast 6' with the very friendly Vin Diesel and Michelle Rodriguez who I was fortunate enough to talk at length with and gain some valuable advice from. I hope one day our paths cross again when I have made my name and can thank them very much and so they can see first hand the positive effect their time for me made.







On from that I again got to model at this years 'Elton John Wig Party' as a Terminator Barbie (above) which was a privilege indeed and also feature as a Bodypaint model on ITV 'This Morning' with Phillip and Holly courtesy of my awesome friend and body featured artist Sarah Attwell (video above). In addition to this I have also been fortunate to work with an array of incredible photographers throughout the year on some amazing modelling shoots of which I have gained some incredible additions to my portfolio. A particular dream come true was working with the lovely and always inspiring John Farrar who as a rule doesn't generally shoot males. A privilidge indeed.  I have also again worked with the award winning Clare Louise and Paul Silver amongst many new faces who have all produced some of my favourite images this year...






























So that brings my look back at personal highlights of 2012 to a close and leaves me very excited and full of big dreams and plans for 2013. I have many amazing projects already in the pipeline which I am anxious to share with you and see where they will take me personally. I hope you all have a great New Year and will see you on the other side where I hope you'll continue to follow my exciting and unpredictable journey...

Monday, 8 October 2012

Please Pledge Your Support...




On Monday 1st October I launched my 2013 Calendar project in aid of 'Save the Children UK' inviting photographers, make-up artists, hair stylists and models to volunteer time and funds to help make a difference to children come Christmas and the New Year. I have been overwhelmed by the response from those wishing to get involved and make such a valuable and positive difference for such a worthwhile cause. 

Using my talents as both a model and Graphic Designer, I will be designing and producing a calendar of 12 new images featuring myself and 6 female models. With help from 12 different photographers, each page will have its own unique style and look which will adorn your walls during the year of 2013. Also involved in the project are Make-Up Artists Pascale Recher, Adele Coxon and Amber Ghalib and on hair duty Baddesley International. This is of course all possible courtesy of the kindly donated studio time from Tip-Top Photography studio, Birmingham.


The shoots will be taking place throughout the course of October, with design and production of the calendar happening in November, ready for despatch to customers in December in time for 2013.  

So please PLEDGE TODAY via PayPal and help make this project as big a success as possible. 
________________________________________________________________________________

Prices are as follows;

Calendar delivered within UK - £15
Calendar delievered to USA - $30 / ROW - £18

Where your money goes...
Production £5... Postage, Packing & PayPal Fees... £5 /$10 / £8... 'Save the Children UK' Charity £5...

Please click the banner below to pledge your support and pre-order a calendar... You will receive a confirmation email of your order which you shall then recieve during December.  This cannot happen without your support so please PLEDGE NOW :)

________________________________________________________________________________



Thank you xxx

Saturday, 15 September 2012

Granny Bashing...





It's been a couple of months since I last had chance to put fingers to keyboard and update my blog in which time I have been very busy with a variety of projects. All of which I aim to share with you very shortly, so look out for some further updates very soon! First of all though, I felt it fitting to share the recent launch of my first commercial with you. This all started back in June when I was aproached and auditioned for a role in the new Billy Boy UK viral. Upon brief I spent the weekend learning a german accent that I was told my character may need. This was a challenge I willingly undertook and I'm pleased to say mastered with fairly satisfying results. I attended the audition where I was briefed further on what was required of me... There were to be 3 possible endings, 2 of which I performed for the casting Director before leaving. One of which was the surreal moment of singing of 'Nelly The Elephant' in a German accent (Well I had practiced my tongue! LOL) half naked! I left the audition feeling a little uncertain of just how (well/bad) that had actually gone. As usual, friends and family called to ask me how I did and I answered honestly. "I don't have a clue!" - LOL. I felt the team clearly had an eye for what they were after and in my eyes dependant on the look they required any one of the candidates were suitable in their own unique way, but felt assured I had given my best regardless. 


About a week later I was on holiday when I received the news I had got the part and was overjoyed despite wondering just what had clinched it for me. Was my singing really that good?! LOL.? Cut to July and the filming of the commercial at a secret location in London. I turned up bright and early and met a wonderful team of cast and crew including actor Rory Nolan of Sky 1's 'Trollied' and legendary music video director Dan Sully. We started with the filming of the exterior shots which included my main scene (which I'm thankful to say didn't end up being a 'Nelly The Elephan't moment - Sorry Peeps!) and worked our way through a series of set ups throughout the day capturing every angle and manner required to achieve the final advert you will see. I thoroughly enjoyed being on set as both an actor and creative as it allowed me to part of the complete process with a supremely talented team of artists. Special Thanks to Dan Sully for fully encouraging input from everyone to create the overall vision and approaches used.





I could not wish to of worked with a nicer set of people or had a better experience on the day. I walked away proud and fulfilled that I had played my role as required, learnt a wealth of valuable information and made some wonderful new friends in the process. Thank you to everyone on the production for making this possible and please enjoy the fruits of our labour via the link below...






Thursday, 12 July 2012

How you been? It's been a while...


It's been a while since I last blogged due to being so busy with castings, auditions, modelling shoots and acting work this past few months which has included working on CBBC Fit with David Walliams, filming for The Loyalties music video which should be on your tellybox soon and a featured role in a commercial for 'Billy Billy Boy condoms' with Rory Nolan (of Trollied fame) which should bring you much pleasure soon! LOL
So I thought it time to take a moment between all the madness of planning my next shoot and upcoming audition for Thor 2 to share a few of my favourite images with you from recent shoots I have done this last few months.
First of all I had the pleasure of working with the wonderful Clare Louise and Iain Burton Legge again on a project for Hasselblad which took us very much back to nature on a beautiful property with a herd of Bison none-the-less. I got to work with the wonderful Miriam Sounni for the first time (and certainly not the last) and Laura Polson some 6 months since we fronted the Elton John Wig Party together and produced some particularly beautiful images which you can see below.
Image
Image
Next it was back to wiltshire for a location shoot with the wonderful Binkography whilst we still had some of the British Summertime left.  The images were very natural and back to basics which I loved... The first of which a 'Test Shot' I immideately came to hold dear as a favourite. I always enjoy working with Madame Bink as she has such a wonderful eye and talent for all she does.
Image
Image
Following that was a shoot with good friend and photographer Kumar Chan to produce some fashion based shots given my look has evolved so much since I last put some clothes on.  I went with a very open mind and produced a series of images very different to normal and which I was very pleased with.  A couple of my favourites certainly give a nod to the look and style of James Bond, which you can see below. You can view the full set of images over on my Facebook 'Like' Page.
Image
Image
I
Newcastle was my next stop to work with the lovely Emily Cromarty where we produced a selection of both location and studio images with a very soft and natural look, different to my usual results which I very much like and feel suited me. You can see a full selection over at the album on my 'Like' page.


Finally, I did my 3rd and most recent shoot with Adam Davies of Dead Good Undies, which saw me model some 60 pairs of underwear of various brands. There were certainly some interesting ranges on show! LOL


So that pretty much brings you unto speed with my last fees months activity... I hope you enjoy the images and will be back soon with full reports of my recent 'Tarzan' shoot and upcoming 'Comic Book' shoot which I am very excited about! Til then... Lets hope for more sunshine! :D