CAUTION, WET PAINT/BOLD PLANS

Wondering about the future of guerrilla filmmaking in the years to come? This new comedy short shot in East London could well be the trailblazer, and not merely because it was made for less than £100 yet has won a slot at the Cannes Film Festival.

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These two achievements are only the beginning. For it seems that the short, now with a trailer on YouTube, has been re-titled What Really Happened At The Bus Stop, and is the basis for something much longer, built up from Webisodes.

These Webisodes in turn have their own trailer, again on YouTube. and have played on TV worldwide.

Oh, and there is a computer game in the works, to boot.

The story line for the films is simple, even invisible: just a light hearted look at the quirks of society in one of London’s more diverse neighbourhoods, Poplar, in London’s East End, taking in everything from the goings on of Kung Fu pizza delivery boys to the emotional journey of two likely lads, Jay and Kay, at a bus stop.

The director behind the fun is Charles Michel Duke describes Caution Wet Paint as a multi-platform comedy that has been designed for the increasing opportunities in today’s digital world.

And he is understandably reveling in his success, given that he is entirely self-taught.

He graduated from University of London in 2003 – in Archaeology, no less – and has since made several successful films, including, in 2006, another short, The Fight, and his first feature, An East End Tale, made on a budget of under US$10,000 and with a total of only fifteen people.

Caution, Wet Paint in produced by The Babarouge.

Posted April 28, 2008.