Danielle (2nd left) as Tia on the run from aliens in South London!
We’re supposed to be taking time out on development right now, but it’s all kicking off this spring. East End and Tribeca Film Festivals are over, but the excitement continues.
The big news is the long awaited (for us) release of Joe Cornish’s Attack The Block featuring our very own Danielle Vitalis who played Queen B in L8R and was part of the project’s editorial team. Danielle is also one of our most valuable spokes people representing Hi8us South at key events. Danielle plays the character Tia in what’s already shaping up to be one of the biggest British cinema releases of the year. Check out the trailer – some great one liners – and check back later this week for an interview with Danielle to coincide with the national cinema release of the film. Not one to rest on her laurels she’s also in a new play, Every Coin, opening at Soho Theatre this week.
Coincidentally (possibly spookily) the Cannes Film Festival opens on the same day as the cinema release of Attack The Block. Why does that matter you may ask. It matters to us because David “Hu5ky” Nwikpo, another Hi8us alumni, will be there with a film on which he worked as camera man, Chris Brown’s She Don’t Look Back selected by the Cannes jury for Short Film Corner.
From spitting bars on the street corners of Bow to representing at Cannes, this is a remarkable journey, but like Danielle, only the start of a promising career. 21 year old Hu5ky first worked with Hi8us at the age of 15 when we supported his crew “Wreckless Soldiers” to make their music video In da Manor – check it out and, given his nick name, see if you can guess which one’s him! Hu5ky went on to become part of the production team on UK Sound TV and directed the popular Age Is Nuffin music video. Now a fully fledged professional, he’s one of our regular facilitators and collaborates with fellow Hi8us alumni Ashton John and Lee McKarkiel who together have a Channel 4 3minute Wonder under their belt.
At this point we could start chest beating and ranting about the value of our work. Ooop, did I go there?!