New York, North Carolina & LA in twelve days … the USA adventure that was … Part One @NYCWebFest #webfest #digitalseries #usa #Shakespeare
What an epic month November has been! Republic members Sally McLean and Billy Smedley have been travelling around America these past two weeks for the Republic, as you may have seen from our social media updates, and now that the jetlag has worn off somewhat, we thought we should do a quick round-up because it’s been an action-packed trip and we want to share it with you as much as possible! So here’s a quick look at the Republic’s USA trip, straight from Creator/Director, Sally McLean … After three flights – Melbourne > Auckland > Los Angeles > New York – we landed in New York at 1am on Saturday…
Shakespeare Republic wins at Bilbao Seriesland! #webseries #digitalseries #shakespeare #lovethebard
So excited!!! It’s been a week since the news broke, but we’re still doing a happy dance about it here at the Republic! For those who may have missed our social media updates, we are DELIGHTED to let you know that Shakespeare Republic: #LoveTheBard (Season Two) won the Ensemble Amets Award (Best Ensemble) at Bilbao Seriesland on October 28th!! The above video is a grab from Bilbao’s live stream of the awards and shows the lovely and classy Warwick Holt accepting the award on our behalf, as we couldn’t attend in person. Huge thanks to Warwick for delivering Sally’s speech so beautifully and for bringing home the award for us…
The Story of Shakespeare Republic … so far … #shakespeare #digitalseries #webseries
With the Celtic New Year (otherwise known as Halloween) having just passed, we wanted to take a moment to reflect and acknowledge what an incredible year we have had here at Shakespeare Republic … actually, an incredible two and a half years, to be exact. HOW IT ALL BEGAN … When Republic creator, Sally McLean had the brainwave back in December 2014 to take her love of Shakespeare and her interest in the burgeoning world of web series and combine the two, little did she know where that would lead. A few phone calls later and she found herself at the helm of what she still fondly calls “The Experiment”.…
Speaking Daggers gets US festival premiere, more interviews & nominations! #webfest #webseries #shakespeare
October already!? So much has been going on! SPEAKING DAGGERS We are delighted to say that Speaking Daggers will have it’s US Film Festival premiere next month at the Peak City International Film Festival in North Carolina! We are so delighted to be able to bring our latest work back to the same festival that was the first one to award Shakespeare Republic, Season One last year with the Silver Gaddy Award for Best Mobisode or Web Short for Episode 6, “Sonnet 18”. Huge thanks to the judges and congrats to the Daggers’ team! SHAKESPEARE REPUBLIC Shakespeare Republic: #LoveTheBard (Season Two) has received a swathe of nominations over the past…
Listen to our 3RRR FM interview! Minnesota Web Fest Nominations! September is off with a bang! #Shakespeare #WebSeries #WebFest
Welcome to September! It’s been a busy week in the Incognita office with all the Shakespeare Republic festival official selections and nominations, as well as prepping to shoot the teaser for our next project ‘Till The Boys Come Home. More on that project in another update, but for now, we are delighted to announce (in case you missed it on our social media feeds) that Shakespeare Republic: #LoveTheBard has been nominated at the upcoming Minnesota WebFest for Best Drama AND Best Performance (for Christopher Kirby)! We are thrilled at these nominations and congratulate everyone in the team! Monday this week, Republic creator/director, Sally McLean headed into Triple R FM to…
Bilbao & Miami WebFest nominations & we’re No. 20 on the World Cup ladder! #Shakespeare #WebSeries
In case you missed it via our social media channels … We are thrilled to announce that Shakespeare Republic: #LoveTheBard (Season Two) has been nominated for BEST EDITING at Miami Web Fest! Congrats to Sally McLean (Director/Editor), Thanassi Panagiotaras (Editor/Colourist) & Tim McCormick (Sound Editing) for this nod and thank you to the judges! This marks the second nomination in this category for our editing team for Season Two and we couldn’t be prouder of them! And … we are so delighted to also announce that Shakespeare Republic: #LoveTheBard (Season Two) has also been nominated for BEST INTERNATIONAL CINEMATOGRAPHY at Miami Web Fest! Congrats to Shaun Herbertson (Cinematographer) for this acknowledgement and thank you to the judges!…
Speaking Daggers officially selected for the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust’s Shakespeare Film Festival in UK!
We are delighted to announce that the short film, Speaking Daggers, which grew out of the Shakespeare Republic universe, produced by Incognita Enterprises in conjunction with Independent Schools Victoria and released at the inaugural Arts Learning Festival at ACMI in May this year has received it’s first film festival official selection! The film will have it’s UK premiere at The Shakespeare Film Festival, run by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust as part of the Filming Shakespeare: Crossing Borders Short Film showcase in Stratford-upon-Avon on Saturday, September 23rd! Additionally, the film has received a “Highly Commended Finalist” from the Jury President, Sir Kenneth Branagh, and is a finalist in the “Films inspired…
Shakespeare Republic officially selected for the Festival de Cine de Fuengirola!
So delighted to announce that we have been officially selected for the Festival de Cine de Fuengirola as part of their inaugural Fuengirola Web Fest for 2017! Many thanks to the judges and organizers for including us in this fascinating line-up of series. Partnered with Vancouver Web Fest and BAWEBFEST, this first edition of the FWF will happen in September as part of the main International Film Festival taking place in this beautiful town on the Costa del Sol. Here is the official announcement: http://festivaldefuengirola.com/diez-webseries-internacionales-competiran-seccion-fuengirola-web-fest/ For those who don’t speak Spanish, here is the English translation of the linked article: “Ten international webseries will compete in the Fuengirola Web Fest section 11 / Agosto / 2017…
More Official Selections and two more awards for the Republic! #Shakespeare #Webseries
The results are in from Sicily Web Fest‘s Award ceremony and we are over-the-moon to announce that our brilliantly talented Shaun Herbertson has won us the Best Cinematography Award!!! Huge congratulations Shaun for this well-deserved win!! We were up against some impressive work in this category from all around the world and are just so thrilled with this accolade!! Acknowledgement also to our awesome Colourist & VFX Artist Thanassi Panagiotaras for all his wonderful work on the footage in post-production and our fabulous camera crew – Bashir Towdiee, Marcus Cropp, Cameron Green and Hamish MacGregor (and Tim McCormick, who is responsible for Sound, but has quite a knack for Gaffer and Drone…
Two more official selections for Shakespeare Republic: #LoveTheBard! #Shakespeare #WebSeries
So absolutely delighted to announce that Season Two has been officially selected for the Portugal International Film Festival in their Web Series Category! Huge thanks to Jose and the Jury for including us! The Bard now heads to Portugal in September! Dziękuję Portugalię! Niech żyje Bard! We are delighted to announce that Shakespeare Republic: #LoveTheBard (Season Two) has also been officially selected for the 2017 International Online Web Fest! Long Live The Bard! And finally, we have released a taste of our behind the scenes footage from Season Two of Shakespeare Republic, soon to be released as a full documentary. Interviews with cast and crew will be shot in the coming months…
#CINEGoldenEagleAward & #AustinWebFest wins, festival announcements & more! It’s all go at the Republic! #shakespeare #webseries
What a month we’ve just had!! So much has been going on here at the Republic and we have plenty of news to share! June saw Season Two officially selected for three more festivals – Baja WebFest (Mexico), Miami Web Fest (USA) and Tuscany WebFest (Italy) (who selected us from the official selections at Austin WebFest, which made us an “invited” series, which was awesome!). June 30-July 2 also saw us screen at Melbourne WebFest as an official selection and nominee for Best Australian Drama. We love this festival, not just because it’s in our home town! Not only is Melbourne Web Fest in our home town, but it also is…
Focus on Friends of the Republic: Howard Fine Acting Studio Australia #acting #training #friends
The work we do with Shakespeare Republic would not be possible without the support of a huge number of individuals and people in the wider community giving their support. From donating to our crowdfunding campaigns to sponsoring to just giving a helping hand when needed. With this in mind, we’d like to show our support for some of the businesses in particular who have so generously supported us in this journey so far, beginning with the fabulous Howard Fine Acting Studio in Melbourne. One of the questions we are asked again and again is “how do you select the actors you work with?”. The answer to that is pretty straightforward.…
“O Mistress Mine” by Jaron Natoli music video – from the original soundtrack of “Speaking Daggers” #shakespeare #film
Incognita Enterprises recently produced and launched the Shakespeare Republic short film, Speaking Daggers at the Arts Learning Festival at ACMI in conjunction with Independent Schools Victoria. While the film is doing the festival circuit, which means we can’t release it online just yet, we are delighted to share with you instead this music video for the song O Mistress Mine from the soundtrack of the film, composed and performed by award-winning Melbourne musician Jaron Natoli, who also played “The Troubadour” in the film. Featured in the music video are Speaking Daggers cast members Christopher Kirby as “Benedick”, Sally McLean as “Beatrice”, Scott Major as “Falstaff” and Billy Smedley as “Prince…
“The Arts – Who Needs It?” – Republic creator, Sally McLean’s speech from Independent Schools Victoria’s AGM #ArtsLearning #ArtsEducation
Earlier this month, Shakespeare Republic creator, Sally McLean was invited to address the Independent Schools Victoria AGM on a topic of her choosing. She chose the title “The Arts – Who Needs It?” (and yes, she knows this is grammatically incorrect – read the speech to find out how she came to this title), and spoke to the 211 assembled School Principals, the Shadow Minister for Education in Victoria and members of the Victorian Education Department, as well as ISV Board Members about Creativity, Innovation and the Arts and how we can all play a role in championing the Arts in schools and beyond. After delivering her speech, Independent Schools Victoria requested…
Shakespeare Republic: #LoveTheBard Season Two festival run has begun with a bang! #shakespeare #webseries
In case you haven’t been following our social media profiles, we thought we should post here on the site that we are absolutely delighted to share with you the exciting news of these official film festival and webfest selections for Shakespeare Republic Season Two! To date, we have been selected for Austin WebFest, Sicily WebFest and Melbourne Web Fest, where we have also been nominated for Best Australian Drama! We were also selected as part of the Academy Award Qualifying (for short film), festival – St Kilda Film Festival – as part of their “Australia’s Favourite Web Series” showcase, where we screened on May 21 alongside 9 other web series from…
New project for Shakespeare Republic: “Speaking Daggers” the #Shakespeare film!
We are so delighted to announce that since releasing the final episode of Shakespeare Republic: #LoveTheBard (Season Two), we have filmed and have nearly completed post-production on our first commissioned film project for the Republic universe: Speaking Daggers! Starring Michala Banas, Nadine Garner, Christopher Kirby, Sally McLean, Scott Major, Faran Martin, Jaron Natoli and Billy Smedley, Speaking Daggers tells the tale of eight Shakespeare characters from five different plays who meet in the one setting and has been produced by Incognita Enterprises in conjunction with Independent Schools Victoria. Speaking Daggers will premiere next week on May 3rd as part of the Arts Learning Festival in Melbourne at ACMI Federation Square,…
Shakespeare Republic on Book, Stage & Screen #interview #shakespeare #lovethebard
Shakespeare Republic creator/Director, Sally McLean and Executive Producer/Ensemble member, Billy Smedley were delighted to be invited into studio to be interviewed by the lovely Samantha and Gordon Napier on their wide-ranging Arts and Screen show, Book, Stage & Screen on WYN FM on February 16. Dealing with everything from how do we select the pieces, to the Shakespeare authorship question, to the history of the Elizabethan playwrights, to what can go wrong on set when filming, this interview became so epic (at 45 minutes long), that it became a two-parter! Both of which are available below from the Book, Stage & Screen YouTube Channel for your catch up listening enjoyment. Huge…
Alan Fletcher as a Silver Fox – S2E8 “Making Of” featuring Alan Fletcher & Nadine Garner #ShakespeareSunday #WebSeries
Come behind the scenes of Alan Fletcher’s episode as Jaques to see what happens on our only Sunday shoot (hint, we’re a little hysterical), how much fun a smoke machine is on set, how awesome both Alan Fletcher and Nadine Garner are to work with (as well as all our other cast and crew) and the emotional psychology behind the choices of some of the shots from Director, Sally McLean. Featuring Alan Fletcher, Nadine Garner, Falon Ryan, Billy Smedley, Jahran Schansemma and Troy Malcolm (Cast), Sally McLean, Shane Savage, Shaun Herbertson, Tim McCormick, Cassie de Colling, Jo Fletcher and Marg Woodlock-McLean (Crew). Filmed at The Courthouse Hotel, North Melbourne by…
Hamlet does backer shoutouts on sugar high – S2E7 “Making Of” featuring Michala Banas #ShakespeareSunday #WebSeries
Step behind the scenes of Episode Seven, Season Two to see how we put together the episode. See how we got that drone shot, what happens when you give Michala and Sally too many lollies on set and then ask them to do shout outs to our Indiegogo backers (yes, the much awaited perk delivery for those backers is included in this ep), how well behaved Ruby the Super Pup was on set and how, despite this being one of our more serious episodes, behind-the-scenes was constant laughter and silliness. Featuring Michala Banas, Shane Savage & Ruby the Dog (Cast) with Sally McLean, Shaun Herbertson, Bashir Towdiee, Billy Smedley, Tim…
Henry V does laser strike – S2E6 Behind-The-Scenes featuring Billy Smedley #Shakespeare #WebSeries
Step behind the scenes of Episode Six, Season Two to see how we put together the episode. See how we turn the peaceful surrounds of Lord Somers Camp into a battleground, just how much effort we go to in pursuit of the perfect audio, meet lead actor, Billy Smedley’s actual laser strike team (they exist and their team name is awesome!), and see the difference between RED camera raw footage and the magic created after colour grading. Featuring Billy Smedley, Jamie Hannah, Ethan Jackson, Amjinder Mann and Jahran Schansemma (Cast) with Sally McLean, Shaun Herbertson, Bashir Towdiee, Tim McCormick, Marg Woodlock-McLean and Falon Ryan (Crew) and Ahren Morris, Jamie Hannah,…
How do you make a crowd from 8 people? S2E5 Behind-The-Scenes featuring Wahibe Moussa #Shakespeare #WebSeries
Step behind the scenes of Episode Five, Season Two to see how we put together the episode. See how you can turn a group of 7-8 people into a crowd of 20, hear a little about the philosophy behind the season and the way we interpret these monologues, see some of the deleted scenes of this ep and witness the on screen debut of acclaimed Australian Director, Richard Sarell in his role as “Petruchio”. Featuring Wahibe Moussa, Richard Sarell, Jessica Martin, Taylah McLean, Sarah Penn and Marissa Tunks (Cast) with Sally McLean, Shaun Herbertson, Bashir Towdiee, Billy Smedley, Tim McCormick, Paulie King, Taryn Gionis, Joel Gionis and Falon Ryan. Filmed…
Shakespeare Republic: #LoveTheBard – S2E4 Behind-The-Scenes featuring Nadine Garner #Shakespeare #WebSeries
Step behind the scenes of Episode Four, Season Two to see how we put together the episode and get a taste of the fun and games of making an independent web series. In this video, we see how seriously Nadine takes making her fake whiskey for the ep, how we worked with the transformation of Nadine into a man, then into a woman again on set and the usual fun and games that go on among our cast and crew. Featuring Nadine Garner (Cast) with Sally McLean, Shaun Herbertson, Cam Green, Billy Smedley, Tim McCormick, Shane Savage and Perri Cummings. Filmed at The Courthouse Hotel, North Melbourne by Billy Smedley,…
Shakespeare Republic: #LoveTheBard – S2E3 Behind-The-Scenes featuring Christopher Kirby #Shakespeare #WebSeries
Step behind the scenes of Episode Three, Season Two to see how we put together the episode and get a taste of the fun and games of making an independent web series. Featuring Christopher Kirby, Faran Martin and Vuyo Loko (Cast) with Sally McLean, Shaun Herbertson, Cam Green, Billy Smedley, Abramo Peghini, Paulie King, Marg Woodlock-McLean, Taylah McLean and all our fabulous Additional Artists: Katrina Climie, Lyonel Draper, Robert Jackson, Pankaj Kashyap, Stephen Moore, Daniel Oakley, Jordanka Petkoff, Pauline Sherry, Vivian Smedley and Stephen Wyley. Filmed at St Catherine’s School, Toorak by Billy Smedley, Sally McLean and Taylah McLean.
Shakespeare Republic: #LoveTheBard – S2E2 Behind-The-Scenes featuring Falon Ryan #Shakespeare #WebSeries
Step behind the scenes of Episode Two, Season Two to see how we put together the episode and get a taste of the fun and games of making an independent web series. Things covered this week include the importance we place on sound during filming, as well as the usual shenanigans our cast and crew get up to. Huge thanks to St Catherine’s School, Toorak where this was filmed for their amazing support and for making it possible for us to film in their wonderful venue. Featuring Falon Ryan (Cast) with Sally McLean, Shaun Herbertson, Bashir Towdiee, Billy Smedley, Tim McCormick, Shane Savage, Marg Woodlock-McLean, Taylah McLean Filmed at St…
Shakespeare In Prison – showing how the Bard can change lives
The debate around whether Shakespeare is still relevant continues. But while the discussion could easily be all academic, the real proof is in taking the Bard off the page and bringing him back to the people – all the people – in performance. And not just as audience, but as participants. Which brings us to the point of today’s Discussion blog post. While browsing Facebook last week, the video below popped up on my feed (thank you Facebook algorithm), which was fascinating and showed just how useful Shakespeare can be to us humans still – but only if we get to perform his works, rather than just see them, or…
Shakespeare Republic: #LoveTheBard – S2E1 Behind-The-Scenes featuring Stephen Costan #Shakespeare #WebSeries
Step behind the scenes of Episode One, Season Two to see how we put together the episode and get a taste of the fun and games of making an independent web series. Here we show you how to build a feast in an Elizabethan-style hall with a despot and his two security guards – on a very limited budget! Huge thanks to Lord Somers Camp, where this was filmed for their amazing support and for making it possible for us to film in their wonderful venue. Featuring Stephen Costan (Cast) with Sally McLean, Shaun Herbertson, Bashir Towdiee, Billy Smedley, Abramo Peghini, Marg Woodlock-McLean, Phoebe Anne Taylor. Filmed at Lord Somers…
Shakespeare Republic: #LoveTheBard Launch Party & Live Show Video! #Shakespeare #Theatre #Webseries
Shakespeare Republic: #LoveTheBard (Season Two) has officially launched with a difference this year, with a live show element complementing the web series aspect. For one night only, members of our Season Two cast performed Shakespeare monologues live as part of a promenade theatre style show to promote the new season of the web series. We played to a sold out house, and had a lot of fun playing the works to a live audience. While it was hard to capture the true atmosphere of the evening on video, due to the nature of the live show setting, our intrepid cameraman, Paul Anthony Nelson, did an amazing job of getting around…
Shakespeare Republic: #LoveTheBard Official Trailer is here!
We’ve launched and our official trailer is now live on the interwebs! After a fantastic launch party and our first live performance of the work last Sunday, we can now reveal to the wide world our official trailer for Season Two! We had a fantastic event where this trailer was screened to our full house of guests in attendance and now, here it is for everyone to enjoy. More news coming soon, plus a video from our Launch event! Speak anon …
Welcome to our new Production Partner: Mr Moto! #SpotTheScreen #Shakespeare #LiveShow #LoveTheBard
We are so delighted to be able to officially welcome to the Republic team, our latest Production Partner – Mr Moto! The leading Melbourne Arts marketing distribution company, Mr Moto is primarily known for the distribution of printed postcards, posters and flyers around Melbourne theatres, cafes and tourist information points. But in recent years the company has branched out to the digital world and is now also responsible for over 70 digital screens around town, promoting a variety of theatre, music and live performance events. Mr Moto have been a core part of the Melbourne Arts scene promotional efforts since their founding in 1985 and we are so thrilled and grateful…
Shakespeare Republic #LoveTheBard Season Two Launch Tickets Released! #shakespeare #party
Well, it’s all happening over in the USA … as many have said, their election cycle has played out like a reality TV show … or a Shakespearean tragedy. But if you’d like to experience the real thing (Shakespeare, not an election), then here’s your chance! We are delighted to announce our official launch date and invite you to come along and celebrate the release of Season Two with us! Here are all the details: WHEN: Sunday, December 4th, 2016 @ 6PM WHERE: The Courthouse Hotel, 86-90 Errol Street, North Melbourne 3051 TICKETS: via TryBooking What can you expect? Join us as we take over the iconic Courthouse Hotel and turn…
