Drawing: Sandra Bullock

Posted on October 11, 2013 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Sandra Bullock is considered to be the biggest star of modern Hollywood, replacing Julia Roberts and Angelina Jolie as the highest paid actress with $56million.

Her films have grossed over 3.1billion dollars worldwide. She has the distinction of being name ‘best’ and ‘worst’ actress in the same year. Two days before winning the Academy Award for The Blind Side, Sandra collected two Razzies for All About Steve. She attended both ceremonies – a real trooper.

Sandra signed my sketch at the Gala Screening of Gravity on the second night of the BFI London Film Festival at the Odeon Cinema in Leicester Square.

For her role as an emotionally charged astronaut lost in space she is being tipped to win her second Oscar, or at the very least receive a Best Actress nomination.

Drawing: Helen Mirren

Posted on September 21, 2013 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Dame Helen Mirren is a great signer. Depending on the usual equation – the demand divided by the time allocation – she either signs her quickies, which are “H Mirren”, or, if you’re lucky, you get the full “Helen Mirren”.

Over the years she has signed a number of my sketches. On this occasion it was the European Premiere of Graham Greene’s classic crime thriller Brighton Rock at the Odeon West End in February 2011.

My previous drawing of Helen Mirren in theatre as the Queen is here.

Caricature: Billy Connolly

Posted on September 19, 2013 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Billy Connolly has made numerous trips to New Zealand, with sell out stand up shows, recorded a TV series entitled A World Tour of New Zealand and roles in films such as The Last Samurai, and a dwarf in The Hobbit series. In spite of recent cancer surgery and being treated for the early stages of Parkinson’s disease, Billy plans to undertake an extensive theatrical tour of the country next year.

I drew this caricature in the early 90’s which he signed after one of his shows. See my previous Billy Connolly post here.

Drawing: Amanda Seyfried

Posted on September 17, 2013 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Actress Amanda Seyfried was in London recently to promote her new film, the biopic Lovelace. She spoke at the Apple Store and attended the film’s gala screening at the Mayfair Hotel. On both occasions I missed her, mainly because I didn’t go to the venues! Instead, I mailed my sketch to her and received it back ASAP.

In 201 she made People Magazine’s Most Beautiful With No Make Up list, moving up to Most Beautiful at Any Age list in 2012. She also has a taxidermy collection that includes a baby horse, fox, owl, moose and two butterflies

Animation: The Fish and The Factory

Posted on September 1, 2013 by Mark Winter / Chicane

The Fish and The Factory is a short animated film I made in 1992. It’s an ‘environmental fable’ about the grim relationship between a fish and a polluting factory that dumps its toxic waste into a river. The idea came to me while sitting through endless hours of resource consents submissions as a Southland Regional Council member in New Zealand (now known as Environment Southland).

It won the Chris Award at the 40th Columbus Film Festival in Ohio in 1992 and was selected for a number of film competitions world wide.

Drawing: Mike Leigh

Posted on August 26, 2013 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Acclaimed British Theatre and Film director Mike Leigh begins his projects without a script, but a basic premise that is developed through improvisation by the actors who are fully liberated in the creative process. He works with them one-on-one to develop a character and after months of rehearsal he writes a brief shooting script, which is constantly refined during the production.

His vision is to depict ordinary life. Mike was influenced in the 1960s by films such as John Cassavete’s Shadows – an improvised cast of unknown observed ‘living, loving and bickering’ on the streets of New York and plays that included Harold Pinter’s The Caretaker. During the 70s and 80s he divided his time directing theatre and making TV films described as ‘kitchen sink realism’. He also wrote a number of plays, including Abigail’s Party.

He has been nominated for the Academy Award seven times and won the Best Director award at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival for Naked. In 1996 his film Secrets and Lies won the Palm d’or, the Best Film BAFTA and an Oscar nomination.

In 2010, at the 54th BFI London Film Festival, his film Another Year was featured. He received his latest Oscar nomination for writing the original screenplay. Mike signed my sketch for me at the screening.

Drawing: Emma Thompson in Sense and Sensibility

Posted on August 25, 2013 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Emma Thompson has won two Academy Awards and apparently keeps both in her downstairs bathroom because she’s embarrassed to place them in a more prominent place.

She is the only person to have won an Oscar in the acting and writing categories. After winning the Best Actress in Howard’s End (1992) she won again for Best Adapted Screenplay for Sense and Sensibility (1995).

Producer Lindsay Doran spent ten years looking for a suitable writer to adapt Jane Austen’s 1811 romance novel into a screenplay. After reading some of Emma’s earlier comedy skits, she hired her, stating that she had the right balance between satire and romance.

“It’s a story of love and money – some people need one more than the other,” Emma said. She spent four years writing it and continued to refine during actual production.

This was Emma’s first screenplay, and a risk for any studio. The selection of Taiwanese director Ang Lee to helm his first major film was also a surprise. Initially not considered for an acting role, Emma was convinced to join Kate Winslet to play the Dashwood sisters. Both received Oscar nominations for their performances. Any concerns proved unfounded as Sense and Sensibility went on to become a major commercial and critical success, cited as the best adaption of Austen’s work, garnering seven Oscar and twelve BAFTA nominations amongst a myriad of other awards.

An interesting anecdote occurred when Emma was a guest on the TV quiz show QI, hosted by her friend Stephen Fry. It was revealed that Stephen had saved her Sense and Sensibility script when her computer malfunctioned and turned her writing into hieroglyphics.

After 7 hours the script was restored. Fellow participant Alan Davis questioned Stephen’s technical skills and suggested he probably rewrote it. Emma candidly agreed to that possibility and said she would drop the Oscar around to his home.

Emma signed my sketch at her London office in 1996.

Drawing: Chiwetel Ejiofor

Posted on August 12, 2013 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Many say Chiwetel Ejiofor is “one of the best British actors of his generation”.

He has been recognised by the British Academy and Hollywood’s Foreign Press with BAFTA and Golden Globe nominations. Word is he may ad an Oscar nod to that impressive collection.

He had to leave his studies at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts after one year for a role in Stephen Spielberg’s Amistad. Not a bad foundation to launch a career that includes Love Actually, American Gangster and Dirty Pretty Things. Rumour has it he even turned down the role of Dr Who, with Matt Smith becoming the 11th Time Lord in 2009.

He is currently headlining Joe Wright’s sold out production of Aimé Cesaire’s A Season in the Congo at London’s Young Vic. He plays Patrice Lumumba – “a beer salesman who became the first democratically elected Prime Minister of the Congo in June 1960. Seven days later the country gains independence from Belgian colonial rule. By January 1961. Lumumba was dead – executed in murky circumstances, involving Congolese dissenters and foreign powers. It’s a “decolonisation drama”chronicling a vibrant nation’s turbulent first years of freedom.

It marks Chiwetel’s return to the boards since he reprised his role as Othello (previously at the Bloomsbury Theatre in 1995) at the Donmar Warehouse with Ewan McGregor as Iago in 2007. Chiwetel won the Olivier Award for his performance.

His latest film 12 Years A Slave has attracted Oscar buzz. The historical drama, directed by Steve McQueen, is based on the autobiography of Solomon Northup, a free black man who was kidnapped in Washington DC in 1841 and sold into slavery for 12 years. Brad Pitt plays his part as well – producing and acting in the film.

Chiwetel signed my sketch at the Young Vic last Thursday before the evening performance.

Drawing: Charlton Heston

Posted on August 7, 2013 by Mark Winter / Chicane

With his larger-than-life roles in The Ten Commandments and Ben Hur, Charlton Heston became identified with Biblical epics more than most actors. The Hollywood legend made over 100 films over a sixty year career, winning the 1959 Best Actor Oscar for his title role in Ben Hur – a role originally turned down by Marlon Brando, Burt Lancaster, and Rock Hudson.

Born John Charles Carter, ‘Chuck’ (as most called him, except his wife of 64 years who always used the moniker ‘Charlie’) chose his stage name from the surname of his mother (Charlton) and his stepfathers surname (Heston).

In 1996 he made a flying stop tour of New Zealand’s three main cities to promote his autobiography In The Arena. I found out late that he would be signing copies at Whitcoulls in central Christchurch for 30 minutes.

The book didn’t interest me, but Chuck’s siggy did. I went to the local public library, flicked through a few more publications and found the iconic image Charlton as Moses in The Ten Commandments and quickly sketched it on an A4 sheet of paper. In my haste I wrote his name as ‘Charllton’.

Now to get it signed, in person, without buying a copy of the book looked unlikely, so I needed some assistance from the big man above… not in the biblical sense, the Whitcoulls store manager, whose office was situated above the store. I did try and ask a shop assistant if she could get Charlton to sign it, but she referred me to the boss. Fair enough. Nothing to lose. I put my request to him, he said he would mention it to the minders, and if ‘Moses’ wanted to sign and had the time, so be it. It was in the lap of the gods.

In due course, Charlton arrived, took up his position, signed copies for the crowded congregation and headed to the door and my holding position. I wasn’t alone. Non-buying ‘graphers had gathered. Moses moved quickly, but I managed to stop him with the sketch. He looked at it, turned it sideways, took out his pen and corrected the spelling. Oops. He turned it back and signed it, then into the car and away.

Got him. Next time, remember one of the Ten Commandments – thou shalt spell the celeb’s name correctly.

Drawing: Windsor Davies

Posted on July 31, 2013 by Mark Winter / Chicane

I’ve had the good fortune to meet Windsor Davies on two occasions, both in Invercargill, New Zealand.

In 1986 , he performed at the city’s Civic Theatre in Ray Cooney’s Run For Your Wife with Robin Askwith and Geoffrey Hughes. He returned in 1994 with the Cinderella production in 1994.

On both occasions the cast attended mayoral functions after the opening nights. I drew this quick sketch of Windsor as his character, Baron Hardup at the latter. He signed it, referencing our previous meeting, in typical Batter Sergeant Major Williams ‘speak’ from TV’s It Ain’t Half Hot Mum with one of his classic statements. You can imagine his deep, distinctive Welsh voice saying it.