JASMINE’S JUICE-MTV BRAND NEW, ADIDAS CHRISTMAS, SNOWMAN AND ST PAUL’S ORCHESTRA, 007/ BELVEDERE VIP PARTY.

MTV BRAND NEW

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GEORGE THE POET IS ON MTV BRAND NEW’S LIST FOR 2015- HERE HE IS PERFORMING AT THEIR PARTY.

It’s the time of year when all the big brands put out their end of year lists. Lists of the most googled, best and worst dressed, films of the year and what to look for in 2015. This fortnight both the BBC and MTV released their ‘’ones to blow in 2015’’ lists. MTV launched their list with a party and performances at their annual Brand New party at Dstrkt in town.

KWABS
LAST YEAR’S MTV BRAND NEW NOMINEE KWABS SINGS AT THE PARTY.

Both last year’s nominee Kwabs and this year’s nominee George The Poet performed very powerful sets to rapturous applause. Personally I feel like George already blew this year as anyone and everyone has featured him on TV, radio, live shows and print press. MTV would’ve impressed me more if they’d have added new act Stomzy or similar. But all good. Georges profile so far has been national and hopefully MTV’s co-signing will lead to more international presence for this very talented young man and his fellow Brand New peers.

ADIDAS CHRISTMAS SOIREE

ADI GRP

Next Adidas threw a very small, intimate Christmas party at a real home on the south bank where their very close ambassadors enjoyed a very serene, warm, cosy house party style evening with food flowing from the kitchen, a giant Christmas tree and goody bags full of adidas superstars sneakers on exit. Attendees included comedian Eddie Kadi, film director Mo Ali, J2K, singers Shingai (Noisettes), Terri Walker, Roses Gabor, DJ Swerve, trainer Robert connoisseur Brooks, broadcaster Reg Yates and his lady beauty and fashion leader Tia Ward and many more.

TIA SHINGAI
MY NIECE TIA WARD AND NOISETTES SINGER SHINGAI HAVE THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT.

We were even given the chance to paint our very own sneaker in the hallway. Food was by Roberts dub plate kitchen and included ‘one drop balls’- rice and peas and spicy daal in a crispy crumb, fish deep fried in red stripe batter, gungo peas humus and plantain strips, curry goat and plantain burger, chocolate and Guinness cheesecake. Hot mulled sorrel got everyone wavy and in the Christmas spirit!

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SHINGAI AND JAS GET INTO THE FESTIVE FUN!.

THE SNOWMAN AT QUEEN ELIZABETH HALL

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THE SNOWMAN AT QUEEN ELIZABETH HALL ACCOMPANIED BY ST PAULS ORCHESTRA AND MY FAVOURITE CONDUCTOR- BEN PALMER!

Clearly all festive minds align at the South Bank….I was invited to Queen Elizabeth Hall , again, on the Southbank to watch The Snowman movie accompanied by St Paul’s orchestra and the story of Peter and the Wolf narrated to a family audience. It was fascinating to see toddlers as young as three and early teenagers et their first experiences of classical music in a theatre setting. It was fascinating to see after a Noisy restless start by the kids in the audience it only took a couple of minutes for the rowdiness to settle down and hypnotize the children into the experience. There were Family unit’s everywhere. Grandparents. Parents. Friends, godparents and more. A whole vast side of society that us yummy media types without kids never collide with.

Last week dame Janet Suzman caused uproar by suggesting that theatre audiences weren’t as racially diverse as theatre wasn’t a part of ethnic culture. I laughed as I heard that as so many theatres like Shepherds Bush Empire and Hackney Empire are packed to the rafters for black comedy and black theatre nights. However, I spotted only a handful of BAME faces at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, which made me, wonder why people of colour don’t seek out amazing experiences like this for their children more often.

The story of Peter and the Wolf was told magically with a velvet voiced female narrator and the animated conductor Ben Palmer, explaining the story via the musical instruments of the Orchestra of St Pauls. They explained to the young audience that the parts of different story characters, would be told by the instruments. For example, the Bird would be portrayed by the soaring notes of the flute, the Duck would be played by the waddling oboe, the Cat by the leaping, pouncing the clarinet, the Wolf by the menacing French horns and the main role of Peter by the inquisitive, playful strings. As a fun way of Introducing kids and toddlers to music and the theatrical experience it was over in a quick hour.

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BEN PALMER AND HIS ORCHESTRA TAKE A WELL DESERVED BOW!

In an age where music lovers often question why Classical music is not taught in schools as a priority anymore and pop stars like Laura Mvula and the BBC are collaborating to change this with projects like their Ten Pieces, which is ten pieces of music which will act as a gateway to children learning more about classical music and inspire them to use music as a stimulus for their own creativity. Ten Pieces is an ambitious initiative for primary schools, which aims to inspire a generation of children to get creative with classical music. With a range of online resources, UK-wide events and close collaboration with partners, every primary school across the UK will have the opportunity to take part. The ten pieces were announced at the launch of BBC Music, as the BBC renewed its commitment to music and announced a series of initiatives, including support for emerging talent, digital innovations, landmark programmes and live events.

Live events like The Snowman at Queen Elizabeth Hall are an excellent gateway to helping young people expand their horizons and start their cultural life early. Conductor Ben and his female narrator storyteller were like a rapper interacting with his DJ as they handed the story to and from one and other. It was also interesting watching that whilst the whole orchestra was lead by and controlled by Ben, his power was limited, as he was lead and controlled by the classic timing and narrative of the film projected on the giant screen.

MEDIA FAMILY DINNER

MM XMAS 2014

My nearest and dearest friends from the industry across a 20 year period and I had our quarterly dinner where we share show and tell as well as debate anything and everything on the radar to industry chat, wheels and deals, new acts, management changes, world social debates and more. Should certain music stars speak on political and social issues? Who is newly signed and dropped? Are the protests across the world relevant here? Where is the future of our music going? It gets very rowdy!

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BELVEDERE PARTY

JD BOTTLE
THE NEW LIMITED EDITION OO7 BELVEDERE VODKA BOTTLE.

JB TOPLINE

I finished my week at the Belvedere Party at the London Film Museum, where an exclusive party to celebrate the coming together of two truly iconic brands in what will be one of the most talked about partnerships of 2015 took place.

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JAMES BOND CAR WITH GUNS, ROCKETS, BELLS AND WHISTLES WERE ALL ON DISPLAY, MINGLING WITH THE A LIST!

BARTENDERS

You will already know that the 24th James Bond movie Spectre is coming next year. Well Belvedere have become a partner and so have made 100 limited edition vodka bottles lasered with 007 and the MI5 building on them. The bottle even glows!

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TINIE AND I CATCH UP.

In the house were supermodels like Lily Cole, DJing was Tinie Tempah and his uber manager Dumi, leaders of major brands and all the iconic James bond cars, planes and jet ski’s for us to fawn over and pose with.

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TINIE MAKES THE HNWI JUMP,JUMP!

JD CAR

JASMINE’S JUICE- THE GODFATHER AT ROYAL ALBERT HALL.

Ever since I can recall, the men I have been surrounded by from family, to friends to work colleagues, to random strangers, have cited The Godfather as being ‘one of the best films ever’.

godfather rah pic

I think it’s to do with the testosterone filled themes of loyalty, brotherhood, vengeance, manhood, and lawlessness and of course the bad boy swagger factor.

So when trying to get to grips with this movie from a female angle, the lure of viewing it on one of the biggest screens in the world, at one of the most stunning venues and accompanied by a live orchestra, the temptation was all too much.

The showing of The Godfather at the Royal Albert Hall accompanied by a live orchestra! Sounds dreamy right! The Godfather was the latest in a series of classic films with live orchestral accompaniment at the majestic venue.

I’m embarrassed to say I only recently came upon the fact that these film events happen at the venue, after living in west London my whole life. But now that I know, I’ve been raving about them and been a fan of the venues fabulous film events ever since. So far I’ve taken my mum (Gladiator), my Godchild (Frozen) and my partner (The Godfather)!

Mum and my other half had never been there before but the showing of many of the venues movie runs, like The Godfather live with orchestra, is a great example of something anyone from any background, class or culture would love. If you want to experience the Royal Albert Hall but aren’t sure if the events are for you this is the type of easy break-in event that would show you just how inclusive the venue is.

Only this week, after Asian actress Meera Syal appealed for theatres to look more to Asian audiences, all hell broke loose as One of Britain’s most distinguished actors dame Janet suzman, sparked controversy on Monday by claiming that “theatre is a white invention” and it is in the DNA of white people, but not of other people. “Theatre is a white invention, a European invention, and white people go to it. It’s in their DNA. It starts with Shakespeare,” Suzman said.

Before you could say Othello, talk radio and print press were up in arms, with the black community calling / writing in to state just how wrong Dame Suzman is.

There are many reasons London’s theatres aren’t filled with BAME audiences but this blog isn’t where I will address these issues aside from mentioning (cos I just can’t help myself) ….Often the content doesn’t speak to them. The tickets are pretty pricey. The plays aren’t promoted to these audiences. Audiences like to see themselves represented onstage too and so feel alienated when it’s a totally white cast. You only have to go to Hackney Empire or Shepherds Bush Empire on certain days to see the venues packed to the rafters for black comedy events by Alpo or Kojo, or plays by Angie Le Mar to see that there are huge ethnic audiences for theatre …but I digress!)

THE GODFATHER, released in 1972 to popular and critical acclaim, tells the story of the Corleones and their rivalry with other New York crime families between 1945 and 1955, as the title character (Marlon Brando) hands over the reins of power to his youngest son (Al Pacino). It also stars James Caan, John Cazale, Robert Duvall and Diane Keaton; the film won three Academy Awards – including Best Picture and Best Actor (Marlon Brando) – and established Coppola’s reputation as one of the exciting new breed of directors who revolutionised Hollywood from the late-1960s onwards.

The opening shot of the film is a long, slow pullback, starting with a close-up of Bonasera, a character who is petitioning Don Corleone, and ending with the Godfather, seen from behind, framing the picture. This move, which lasts for about three minutes, was shot with a computer-controlled zoom lens and is even more impressive from any seat at the Royal Albert Hall, where frankly there’s not a bad seat in the house.

In 2008, an Empire magazine vote saw The Godfather named as the greatest film ever made, a distinction also awarded it by Entertainment Weekly and Metacritic. It came second in Sight & Sound’s 2002 list and Time Out’s 2003 readers’ poll, and is currently ranked at number two in IMDb’s all-time list.

Seeing this dramatic action resurrected in this electrifying venue is an experience in itself, but watching Composer Nino Rota’s dark, looming, elegant music come to life in front of you is mesmerising. His music for The Godfather, including its immortal Love Theme, was ranked at #5 in the American Film Institute’s list of the greatest scores ever written.

Conductor Justin Freer lead a live orchestra performing Nino Rota’s immortal score and the audience gave them a deserved outstanding ovation at the end.
Justin told us: “It is with great excitement that we are able to bring this masterful score and film to the Royal Albert Hall. That we are able to preserve and present some of the most cherished music in the history of our craft is both exhilarating and humbling. “There is little film music as instantly recognisable as Nino Rota’s opening music played on trumpet, and only a handful of films as masterfully made as The Godfather. The marriage of these two masterpieces on stage live at Royal Albert Hall will be something to remember.”

I don’t think The Godfather has ever been seen, or heard, like this before. All in all it was dramatic, surreal, breath taking, romantic and a classic experience set in stone. Watching the Corleone family on a 100-foot tall screen certainly beats the 50-inch screen that my uncle brags about.

If you’ve never been to the Royal Albert Hall for whatever reason think again. Future events include similar screenings of Gladiator, JJ Abrams’s Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness, and West Side Story.

I’ve always been a great believer of gifting people experiences rather than materialistic things, and who isn’t into movies, music and gorgeously fab locations? It’s a triple threat winner!

JASMINE’S JUICE- MONTANA THE MOVIE!

December 11th see’s the release of the latest film by director Mo Ali titled Montana. I was lucky enough to attend the gala screening this past week.
(ALL MONTANA SET SHOTS COURTESY GARETH ROBERTS)

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JASMINE WITH DIRECTOR MO ALI AND ACTOR MCKELL DAVID AT THE GALA SCREENING OF MONTANA- OUT DECEMBER 11 IN CINEMAS.

The movie is based ‘In the mean streets of London’s East End’, where a former Serbian commando and a fourteen-year old boy plot revenge against a powerful crime lord and his ruthless lieutenants. As our heroes prepare to take on their enemies, the boy is mentored in the dark arts of assassination and learns the true meaning of friendship, honour and respect.

Shooting on Montana lasted for six weeks taking in locations all over London. Yes! Only six weeks! Four weeks pre production – six weeks shoot – incredible, no?
Director Mo Ali confided in me ‘’ we worked in the noisiest, coldest, sootiest places in London, Hackney, Poplar, Brick Lane, White Chapel and a sugar mill in Greenwich. But we had to shoot them at night-time, so for two weeks we would shoot 24 hours a day with two different crews, with different actors. The weather was freezing for the entire shoot, being one of the worst winters in memory. The grit and the grime that colours the film is genuine’’

montana poster

The film reminds me of early Guy Ritchie movies Snatch and Lock Stock with its action, thriller and cockney attitude- but for today’s generation, with todays pop culture influences and slanguage. Due to the fact that its directed by a black man and features a few well known BAME actors, no doubt this will be tagged an ‘’urban’’ film, but honestly, it sits in the genre of great grimy British movie too. Director Mo Ali isn’t phased by the urban label though ‘’ the Urban film brand, the word doesn’t bother me, the older generation sees it as negative, young kids love it, so I embrace it whatever’’.

Co-lead man McKell David is a very impressive young fourteen-year old, who plays the part of Montana. He’s a relative newcomer and also had smaller parts in My Brother the Devil, Black Mirror, but in Montana he discovers that the powerful crime lord and ruthless lieutenants, for whom he works, secretly killed his father.

At the same time Dimitrije (Lars Mikkelsen – The Killing, Borgen, Headhunter), a former Serbian commando, comes looking for the gangster in order to take revenge for the death of his wife and son. Realising that they share a bloody purpose, the commando now mentors the boy in the dark arts of assassination and relearns the value of life as he teaches the boy the true meaning of friendship, honour and respect.

lars: mckell
(ALL MONTANA SET SHOTS COURTESY GARETH ROBERTS)

You never know what you’ll get at screenings that haven’t had massive hype around them, billions poured into their marketing or the blessing of a massive picture house. So it was really refreshing that from the first few seconds into the movie until the very end, I was gripping my chair with emotions ranging from fear, anger, empathy, pain and laughter.

A thrilling and gritty revenge tale, MONTANA also stars multi-faceted Ashley Walters (Small Island, Hustle, Top Boy), Michelle Fairly (Game of Thrones, Philomena) and the erratic Adam Deacon (Babyon, Kidulthood, Adulthood). It’s directed by Mo Ali (Shank) and produced by Mark Foligno (Moon, The Kings Speech, The Rise).

I recall meeting Mo Ali many years ago when he was a music video director for urban music acts. He was a runner for a TV company before that and quickly leapt from music video director to feature film producer. From his infancy as a street kid in Saudi Arabia, to his childhood and adolescence on the estates of East London, he brings an understanding of the manner and language in which the youth communicate.

With his extreme drive and visual bravado, Mo has already directed over eighty music videos. Years ago, he could be found shooting free videos for independent and underground UK acts. He got his big break directing Lethal B’s “POW” video, as well as directed for acts including Tinchy Stryder, Chipmunk, Skepta, Jammer and many more.

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MO ALI ON SET DIRECTING.
(ALL MONTANA SET SHOTS COURTESY GARETH ROBERTS)

His music video director days also influenced his making of Montana ‘’ I used my music video background to inject some visual excitement into Montana and, in particular the fight sequences with a limited budget. I incorporated many highly visual action sequences that added adrenalin and energy. An example of this is the very first scene where Dimitrije is introduced, escaping from torture and certain death’’

He smiles with the relief of someone’s that put in the graft and paid their dues ‘’ I look at my progression from TV runner to music videos to feature films, I’m happy and hungry, nothing holds me back, I’m not afraid to try anything new’’.

And this is new. Yes, the film does reference back to age themes of old crime lords, drug dealers, youth and hints of romance, but what makes it really topical and relevant to today is its acknowledgment of the eastern European influence the country now has, as well as British black stars that all hail from the capital. The last movie Mo made was Shank- about a group of young people that lived in apocalyptic London.

With the cast, Mo has also juxtaposed old skool, new school, classical and unknowns in Montana. Montana’s straight laced female copper is played by Michelle Fairley , an Irish stage and screen actress famous, most notably for her excellent portrayal of Catelyn Stark in the immensely successful television series ‘Game Of Thrones’. Fairley has also starred opposite Nicole Kidman in ‘The Others’, appeared in ‘Harry Potter’ and most recently can be seen in Oscar nominated ‘Philomena’ and also The Invisible Woman. So to reiterate, there’s no need to brand this an urban movie but if you must, you will.

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MO WITH MCKELL ON SET FOR MONTANA.
(ALL MONTANA SET SHOTS COURTESY GARETH ROBERTS)

As a youngster growing up in poplar, east London, Mo was a huge film fan that daydreamed about being an action superhero and describes Montana as homage to Luc Besson’s iconic LEON as well as giving a nod to films such as Karate Kid.
This nod to his favourite movies is apparent as Montana has moments of Karate Kid, Gladiator and Kidulthood – all made by directors that he himself greatly admires.

Not only was Mo brought up in East London, but also passion for his roots run deeper than simply immortalising it on the big screen in his movie ‘’I grew up in Poplar; the opening scene is exactly where I grew up. That opening walk that Montana does is me as a kid. I used to hang out on that balcony and daydream about my future life’.

(This is such a common story- directors and producers showcasing parts of their own life via younger actors and storylines; like Benny Medinas story portrayed by Will Smith in Fresh Prince of Bel Air)

Montana is full of action, crime, violence and stunts. Oftentimes when witnessing this outside the big budget Hollywood blockbusters, mass gun and explosive action can seem amateur, awkward and comical, but Montana captures the tone and technique of Israeli martial art krav maga perfectly. Krav maga is a self defence system developed for the military in Israel that consists of a wide combination of techniques sourced from boxing, muay thai, wing chun, judo, jujitsu, wrestling and grappling alongside realistic fight training. Krav Maga is also known for its focus on real-world situations and extremely efficient and brutal counter-attacks so perfectly paired with Montana.

Mo tells me ‘‘as the film is so stunt heavy, we set up a four-week boot camp for McKell and Lars. They went through intensive weapons training with armorer Matthew Strange, and stunts and martial arts training with stunt coordinator/second unit director Peter Predrero. Lars went on a strict diet and training regime to physically condition himself, and by the time we began shooting he was by his own admission in the best physical shape of his life. When we came to shoot, the majority of the stunts were performed by McKell and Lars’’.

GUNS
(ALL MONTANA SET SHOTS COURTESY GARETH ROBERTS)

Mo is full of admiration for the stunt coordination team ‘’ we had a great stunt coordinator that’s done a lot of Hollywood films, my input was as a music video director I had visuals I wanted too, so we had to train two people to become assassins, a master killer and a trainee killer. This took a lot of choreography. We had SAS trainees teach them how to shoot guns and only two weeks to teach them the fight choreography, which is an insanely short period of time. Both Lars and Mckell picked it up with extreme focus and performed like seasoned pro’s that you took seriously’’

Mo explained to me, that in order to show the learning and support between the trained assassin and the trainee, all the moves were first taught to Lars, who then taught his young charge McKell AKA Montana, Lars is a versatile, unique and acclaimed actor, treading the boards in over forty plays, appearing in numerous films and featured in television series including a BBC’s popular ‘Sherlock’ and Danish series ‘Forbrydelsen’, released worldwide as ‘The Killing. Developing a taste for performance after learning juggling and fire breathing, the now well-lauded actor and two friends travelled Europe performing on the streets of cities such as Paris, Munich.

Mo’s concept and Jeremy’s script required a cast that could deliver convincingly on the physical action sequences but also portray the emotional complexity of the central relationships.

Seeing young McKell in action is quite something. Mo reveals

‘’As there are not many ‘stars’ of that age, and none that fitted the character, we had to cast the net wide. We did open castings, approached drama schools and after school clubs, martial arts clubs and of course an open call to agents. I auditioned hundreds of young actors, but from the first time I met McKell David, I knew I’d found my Montana. ‘’our casting director was incredible and scoured London’s streets for hundreds of young boys. This kid with a Mohican walked in, very calm and controlled, I thought this kid looks great, I hope he can talk well too, he could! Then I thought can he take direction, he did it well again. I wondered ‘what’s his improve like, he had it all! I asked if he could box…. he said ‘’yeah I come from this area so you know that’s a given…’Certain people told me a kid with a Mohican wouldn’t work. But I was determined that I wanted a black or mixed race kid to prove anyone can be a hero’’.

Mckell David is indeed a powerful co lead and delivers a powerful and explosive performance well beyond his years. Mckell’s clearly a born go-getter. Hard working and determined, at the age of just twelve McKell began broadcasting a hidden camera comedy show via his own You Tube channel, where he pranked members of the public. The show got him noticed and was the perfect platform to allow his cheeky, confident but charming self strut into the consciousness of the UK and the US. To date, McKell has received over a million views online and over 12,500 fans on Facebook, both numbers continuing to rise as his profile as a film actor grows. 2012 saw the release of two films for McKell, ‘My Brother The Devil’ where he played ‘Demon’s Boy’, and Illegal Activity as ‘Leeroy’. Following these was ‘Our Girl’, released soon after in 2013 where he played the part of ‘Dean’.

With Montana, McKell tells me…

‘’ it was really exciting for me to get this so early in my career. I was 15 when I did this, I had been on film sets before but nothing this big, this was huge for me, and also gave me an opportunity to showcase what I could do as It was a really physical project. I got the script, loved it. I wanted this role really badly. Working with Lars, the irony is that off-screen we had our own story- what I learnt from him was amazing, he helped me out with my script lines too.
Working with Mo, I had little experience of film sets before Mo, he’s very direct, he’s both hard-core and soft and nurturing as a director, he always knows exactly what the shot should be and helped me get them in. The stunt guys made me feel really comfortable-Pete Pedro/Chris king- they were all 6 foot and massive, I was only 5.5’’, but they made me feel confident- luckily I’m very sporty anyway so it was just about remembering getting the movements right so I’m really grateful to crew and cast ’’

Mo did look back and acknowledge that the old adage ‘never work with animals or kids;’ didn’t prove true in his experience. His experience with the two young actors was very positive. ‘This girl Sinaed (who plays teenager Jess), she’s incredible, and mature for her age….both these kids are under age- McKell was 14 at time of filming, so legally only allowed a certain time on set. Mckell had to learn his fight sequences, imagine the pressure on them knowing they’re learning and performing on set in front of whole crew and set. Sinead would ask to retake stuff cos she knew she could do better’’.

The Montana crew knew they wanted to cast a European actor to play Dimitrije, and being huge fans of the hit Danish TV series ‘The Killing’, they were excited to offer the role to Lars Mikkelsen. Lars responded positively to the script, but had concerns, as this would be his first major English language role. He met Mo to discuss the project and committed there and then.

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ASHLEY WALTERS SHINES AS USUAL.
(ALL MONTANA SET SHOTS COURTESY GARETH ROBERTS)

Mo reached out personally to Adam Deacon and Ashley Walters, both of whom he’d worked with before, and they both loved the script. Mo acknowledges ‘‘both deliver what I want on set. To get them is a privilege. Its good to have a part in keeping our cultural icons out there on screen. I would whisper ‘’Joe Pesci’’ in Adams ear. As long as he had a stack of red bull and Joe Pesci whispered in his ear he was good. He was buzzing from doing the fight sequence!’’. And Ashley is a laugh a minute, we had a scene where we were shooting a chasing sequence in a Est London cemetery at 4am and Ashley’s got them all singing R&B songs to stay warm!’’.

Young McKell even found working alongside Ashley and Adam mind blowing ‘I had watched their films before this, I was excited to work with them, I grew up listening to So Solid and Adam gave me so many banter moments in the middle of the night with him doing his Australian accent- it was good!’’.

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ADAM DEACON.
(ALL MONTANA SET SHOTS COURTESY GARETH ROBERTS)

I bring Mo and McKell back to the subject of being pigeon holed by labels like urban and diversity in the film industry. Mo explains it thus ‘‘They’’ only want us to do estate films, ‘’they’’ know who they are. Even British director Ridley Scott recently said that his biblical film Exodus wouldn’t be financed if the lead actor was called ‘Mohammad so-and-so’ . This film is a testament of not giving up. This will make kids from estates think if Mo Ali can do an action film so can I. To me it’s a father and son story with action, we don’t have father and mentor relationships anymore in the western world, were missing that, so that’s what Montana’s about’’

New about-to-blow star in the making McKell has the last word

‘’There’s so much competition out there; if you want it really badly the law of attraction will make it happen. In life you’ve got to breakdown barriers, the barriers like defining words like urban are here to stay. One of the new leads of Star Wars is a young black man from the UK. We’re all doing things!’’

JASMINE’S JUICE- CANNON IN THE CLUB, SHINGAI ON THE ROOF, GTP AND KWABS ON THE LIST, VS SUPERMODELS ON THE RUNWAY!

NICK CANNON DJ’S AT CIRQUE.

CIRQUE
JASMINE GETS HER FREAK ON AT CIRQUE NIGHTCLUB WITH NICK CANNON, KOJO AND FRIENDS.

A whirlwind of a week! I always think I’m the best multi-tasker I know, but Nick Cannon gives me a good run for my money! Both of us juggle TV, radio and more. Me mostly TV and print press, him mostly broadcast world and business!
This fortnight he was in town to promote his new dancehall artist Kreesha Turner as well as film his American tv special ‘’Lifestyle’s of the rich and famous’’.

Aside from taking him to the south London pattie shop- on his request, and knocking out lots of press and friends debates, he also had a stint at Cirque nightclub djing.

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NICK CANNON HITS THE SOUTH LONDON PATTY SHOP AND EXCITES THE LOCALS.

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NICK IS EXCITED THAT HIS ENGLISH MONEY MATCHES HIS VIOLET TIE AND SOCKS.

Capital Xtra’s breakfast show host Kojo took a few friends including his right hand man-DeJay Longers, his radio show co-host Jade Avia, and the rest of us all down to the club to support Nick whilst he spun the best in hip-hop and R&B on the decks.

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NICK WITH DEJAY LONGERS AND PALS.

The circus themed performers were all very fun and welcoming. So welcoming in fact that even my mortal fear of snakes didn’t stop me being encouraged to wear a snake around my neck-though I didn’t dare open my eyes to acknowledge that it was actually there! Eek! The performers also had us stroking their midgets -YES- and averting our eyes when the naked burlesque pole dancers became a little too risqué.

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SHINGAI SHONIWA AT MONDRIAN ROOFTOP- RUMPUS ROOM.
(ALL SHINGAI SHONIWA PICS COPYRIGHT Paul Hampartsoumian).

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SHINGAI PERFORMS AT RUMPUS ROOMS.

Next, man-about-town- or should I say the world- as he’s now head hunted globally- Pardeep Sall, returned to London town and invited us to see musician Shingai Shoniwa (Noisettes), perform her solo album set for her new album ‘’Tropical Metropolis’’, at Mondrian Hotel’s rooftop bar the Rumpus Room. Such a dramatically slick and sexy venue.

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The stage is set against the floor to ceiling glass wall, that faces the London skyline and St Paul’s cathedral. Stunning! Shingai came, saw and conquered the VERY trendy crowd that had packed out the venue in her honour.

SHINGAI

The songs were catchy, diverse and very classic. Shingai leapt from stage to tables and chairs in her bare feet, falling into the audience’s arms and having a whale of a time, which of course meant that we did too!

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MTV BRAND NEW PARTY.

MTV BN

Next, I was invited to join my surrogate old MTV family at DSTRKT Club for their annual MTV BRAND NEW party where they announced which ten music acts are the ones to watch next year. Last years nominee Kwabs performed a very soulful set and this year’s nominee George the poet had everyone mesmerised with his very strong poetry.

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GEORGE THE POET PERFORMS AT MTV’S BRAND NEW ACTS TO LOOK FOR IN 2015 PARTY.

At one point in time in the past decade, MTV and the BBC’S brands end of year lists were something to behold, but now I’d argue that most on the list annually are already known by their audiences and have been covered up front by other media brands already. For example VICE Magazines music branch NOISEY tens to be ahead of the game musically and always brings a new, refreshing angle to music stories, and huge national news shows like Channel 4 News make mini features introducing you to acts like Charli XCX and George the Poet way ahead of the BBC/MTV lists being made public.

KWABS
LAST YEARS MTV BRAND NEW NOMINEE KWABS PERFORMS AT THIS YEARS LAUNCH PARTY.

But on the other hand, theres clearly room for everyone and its still an honour for these acts to be associated with the big brands. I would only suggest that the big brands move ahead of the times, and formulate new ideas to move the conversation forwards with more edge, the way they once did.

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VICTORIA’S SECRET TAKES OVER LONDON TOWN WITH BRA’S BLING AND BUTTOCKS GALORE!.

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THE VICTORIAS SECRET STAGE A FEW HOURS BEFORE IT WAS COVERED WITH SUPERMODELS, ED SHEERAN, TAYLOR SWIFT AND ARIANNA GRANDE!.

Finally, All eyes were turned onto Earls Court Centre for the final big party before the legendary venue is knocked down. A-Listers and supermodels from all over the world were flying in for the annual Victoria’s Secret show.

Its one of the only times the shows been relocated from the USA and boy was it a big deal. Models took over central London as security teams tried desperately to protect their million dollar brassiere sets. Fake tan booths and hair extensions were aplenty and west London was locked down to host the blingiest bra bonanza in history!

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Now I’m getting it together to go check out my boy film director Mo Ali’s new film Montana! #TeamUK!

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