THUNDERBIRDS 1965: NEW EPISODES FROM 1960s RECORDINGS

Welcome to the new A.P. Films
about 9 years ago – Sat, Aug 29, 2015 at 12:10:06 AM

Thunderbirds has returned home. Less than a month after our Kickstarter was successfully funded, sets, puppets, costumes, lights and cameras are flooding into the studio. This weekend, we shall be shooting the first new scene from Thunderbirds in nearly five decades.

This is a very busy time for us, so please forgive the sporadic updates. However, we'd like to reassure you that everything is in hand and running smoothly. Backers will be receiving their surveys very soon. As we mentioned before, preparation of the surveys has been a bit of a long process as we have customised each one by hand. At the time of writing, we hope to send these out within a week.

In the meantime, we hope you enjoy these pictures of A.P. Films, reborn, fifty years on.

There's No Place Like Home
about 9 years ago – Mon, Aug 24, 2015 at 11:55:55 PM

It's another busy week on Thunderbirds 1965. Courtesy of SEGRO we are now moving into our unit on the Slough Trading Estate which we are transforming into A.P. Films 2015. Pictures as soon as the work is complete!

This project, like the original series, is only possible because of a huge amount of team work. Experts in individual fields coming together and working their magic to bring Classic Thunderbirds back to life one last time to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the series.

This week, we are delighted to announce that composer and audio-restoration genius Mark Ayres has joined us. Mark is known not only for his work with the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, but also for his incredible work restoring Doctor Who soundtracks. We say incredible because, due to the archival state of the show, Mark has often been faced with less than ideal sources to work with - including some soundtracks that only survive courtesy of half-century old recordings made by children in the 60s who placed microphones next to their televisions!

Mark is currently restoring the 50-year-old scratchy mini-album recordings to their former glory. We've heard some of the work in progress and already it's clear that these are the best versions of these albums ever heard. We're very pleased Mark has been able to undertake this work for us because we can confidently say that there is no better person for the job.

We'll be bringing you more updates soon. For now though, we'll leave you with this sneak-preview image of our soon-to-be-completed new Tracy Lounge built by Andy Rolfe and David Mason.

Surveying The Production
over 9 years ago – Wed, Aug 19, 2015 at 09:14:22 PM

Thanks to your help, Thunderbirds 1965 is now well and truly underway with puppets, models, costumes, props, and sets being constructed in a number of top-secret locations around the globe. It's taken a while to get everything ready for shooting as almost every single item has to be constructed by hand.

We haven't forgotten our multitude of generous backers and in a week or two, you will all be receiving a survey that will allow you to confirm your reward selection and customise your items. 

We will also be getting in touch with those of you who have pledged towards Set Visits or the Thunderbirds 1965 Experience. We will be offering a selection of dates for you to choose from to ensure that you don't miss out.

Our survey is being customised for each backer and this is a time consuming process, so please bear with us as we prepare. In the meantime, here are some pictures of the work in progress to keep your appetites whetted.

Updates from WETA
over 9 years ago – Sun, Aug 16, 2015 at 02:54:41 PM

We're very lucky to have David Tremont and his colleagues at WETA Workshop assisting us on this project. Here are some of the things they are building for us to bring the three mini albums to life.

Two Weeks Before Shooting Commences!
over 9 years ago – Sat, Aug 15, 2015 at 03:48:43 PM

It's all (Thunderbirds Are) Go here at TB1965 HQ. We are soon to move into our Slough base where all our weeks of planning and preparation will come together in readiness for shooting.

There's still a while to go yet before you'll be receiving your discs, so until then we'll do our best to keep you updated with shots from the production.

Before we sign off we'd like to remind everyone to check that their pledges have gone through. Currently, we still have several thousand in failed pledges. Backers have only a couple more days to fix these errors before their payment is marked as 'failed'.

We'll be bringing you more updates soon! Stand by for action...