Wishbone - Annual Report 2022
Registered Charity number - 1170527
Contact details – karen@wishbonetheatre.co.uk or paul@wishbonetheatre.co.uk
Public address – 2[nd] Floor Flat, 30 Duncan Terrace, London N1 8BS
Aims and activities
Wishbone is a theatre company that creates original new theatre and also educates the public in artistic process and in the themes of the artwork.
What the charity does
Artistic work/education
Who the charity helps
The general public, and also specifically audiences who are socially excluded or marginalised.
How the charity helps
Provides audiences with original theatre productions of new work, and provides workshops and talks to emerging artists, students and the broader community on the artistic process and social themes explored in the artwork.
Charitable objects
To advance public appreciation of the arts and education in the arts in particular by staging performances of original new theatre and artworks using film, still photography and audio recording, and by providing workshops that explore themes and creative practice.
Governing document
Foundation Model Constitution, (whose only voting members are its charity’s Trustees)
Organisation type
Charitable Incorporated Organisation
Income and spending – please see Financial Report
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Activity summary
Belongings – film project
Wishbone have now almost completed the project.
In March 2022, Paul and Karen held a rough-cut screening of Belongings for Conor O’B (our musical collaborator for Mountain High Valley Low) and Sebastian Sharples (who was not previously familiar with Wishbone’s work, and is a former videographer for Tracy Emin). The feedback included compliments on the cinematography and useful suggestions about developing the story, especially around giving more weight to the character of Louise.
Trustee Gemma Dempsey also watched the rough cut online and provided useful suggestions about developing the story (also related to the character development of Louise) and for upcoming choices about choosing a musical collaborator. The issue of the running length was discussed. Belongings fits within the new category of “medium-length feature”.
In April, Karen and Paul travelled to Ramsgate to shoot some extra footage to flesh out Louise’s story. Gemma Dempsey generously gave permission for a couple of pick-ups to be filmed in her kitchen again. In London, they shot extra surreal, metaphorical elements experimenting with greenscreen techniques.
The final cut, bar a few tweaks, was completed, and ready for a music score to be laid on. Karen and Paul put a call out for composers via Mandy, and selected Taichi Imanishi, with an initial meeting in April 2022.
In May, Karen and Paul re-shot some woodland scenes in Dulwich Woods with the assistance of Ben Taggart.
In June, Paul and Karen recorded a voiceover for a sequence at the end of the film with Conor O’B in his studio.
The collaboration with Taichi began in earnest in July 2022. The work continued remotely with Taichi’s departure to Japan in the autumn. While Paul and Karen were impressed by Taichi’s talent, the collaboration became fraught because of conflicting working styles, and the need for careful communication as a consequence. Without these difficulties, the project would have likely been completed by mid-2022. We ultimately did manage the relationship effectively enough to get a full score and the rights to use the music as we wanted in the film. The final score was delivered in January 2023.
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Lessons learned: how to write a brief for a composer, the necessity of taking more robust steps to ascertain creative rapport before embarking on a collaboration, and how write a contract for a composer.
For 2023, the next step was to master the soundtrack, improve the foley in some scenes, and over-dub some dialogue with poor quality sound. Following Gemma Dempsey’s recommendation, Karen and Paul connected with Eli Thompson at Olbys Creative Hub in Margate.
FINANCIAL REPORT
The amount of £1869 was carried over from 2021
Expenditure was made on equipment to film the next Stage of Belongings using greenscreen techniques.
Expenditure on our website hosting was deemed to be excessive, and the hosts Ionos agreed to us paying a sixth of their monthly fee for the same service going forward in 2023.
Signed
Paul Murray
Artistic Director, Wishbone
Confirmed by Trustees:
Gemma Dempsey………… Juliet Prague………………… Mark Rodbert…………………….
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