THUNDERBIRDS 1965: NEW EPISODES FROM 1960s RECORDINGS

Our Latest Endeavour
about 5 years ago – Mon, Feb 18, 2019 at 01:13:42 AM

Hello Everyone!

Our aim with this Kickstarter was not just to produce three new episodes of Thunderbirds, but to ressurect Supermarionation as an art-form and to bring it back into the public consciousness. Tonight we were able to bring Supermarionation to a prime-time audience in tonight's episode of ITV's successful drama series Endeavour. 

For the episode, which was partly set in a fictional Century 21-like studio, we produced sections of a 'fake' Supermarionation series entitled Moon Rangers - starring Major Rock Renton. You can view the bits we produced here:

And you can read about the production in this Radio Times Article 

The puppet sections seem to have gone down particularly well - with lots of people asking if there's anymore Supermarionation to come. Which isn't a question we can answer now... But, to quote Scott Tracy - "Keep this frequency clear."

More information about the production and a list of credits can be found on our website  Century 21 Films 

You can also view a little footage from behind the scenes here:

Aside from Endeavour and Supermarionation of the future, we've been making good progress on our documentary about Supermarionation-past. Our film Century 21 Slough, about the studios where Thunderbirds, Stingray, Captain Scarlet etc were made is now available to pre-order on blu-ray and DVD on our website  https://www.century21films.co.uk/store 

Finally, we have some very sad news to report. Richard Gregory, who was a huge part of Thunderbirds 1965, has died.

Richard's sudden death has been a huge shock to us. It would not be exaggerating to say that he was in many ways the core of our operation. His enormous experience combined with his exceptional ability and desire to share his knowledge meant that he was adored and admired by our crew in equal measure. He was also popular on our studio tour days where he was delighted to share with our supporters the magic of classic film-making techniques.

His credits included Star Wars, James Bond and Batman, so we couldn't believe our luck that he wanted to join our crew. However, he was a huge believer in Supermarionation - and he adored Gerry. He hoped as much as we did that our hard work would spark a revival of practical filmmaking.

Any success we've had in the field of Supermarionation to date owes a huge amount to Richard. And for that, we will always be grateful. 

Thank you for everything Richard. You were FAB.

Century 21 Slough
about 5 years ago – Mon, Feb 11, 2019 at 01:18:23 AM

Hello everyone - and Happy New Year!

A brief update today that may be of interest to our backers. Last update, we posted about the online release of our documentary Century 21 Slough. Today we're writing to let you know that we're now producing a DVD / Blu-ray release of the film!

Full details of the release, and its extras, can be found on our store page on the Century 21 Films website here:  https://www.century21films.co.uk/store/ 

In addition to the main feature, there will also be an exclusive interview with designer Mike Trim, who discusses his work at A.P. Films and Century 21.

Also, Justin T. Lee has produced this rather fun menu video for the disc:

And the opening titles edited by Elliot Pavelin can be seen here:

Each pre-order will also come with a set of commemorative Century 21 Slough postcards.

Away from the documentary, our work in Supermarionation continues - more news of which we'll bring you soon.

In the meantime, keep an eye out for the second episode of ITV's drama series Endeavour next week. It looks like it might be of interest to Supermarionation fans...

Stand by for action...!

Century 21 Slough - Now Available to Buy Online!
over 5 years ago – Wed, Oct 17, 2018 at 01:19:45 AM

Fifty-five years ago, a set of factories on Stirling Road Slough became home to a series of ground-breaking television series. Stingray, Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet, Joe 90, Dopelgänger, The Secret Service and UFO were all entirely, or partly filmed in this unlikely location.

The studios closed in the early 70s. But, three years ago - in 2015 - there was one last hurrah for Stirling Road when we produced the three new episodes of Thunderbirds there, plus sections of the Halifax advert campaign. Sadly, the buildings were finally demolished in 2017. But before they went Slough Trading Estate gave us the chance to take some of the original crew back to remember the golden days they spent there, and even to turn the cameras on one last bit of Supermarionation.

The result of these visits is our short film, Century 21 Slough - which is now available to buy and rent on Vimeo here https://vimeo.com/ondemand/century21slough

We have been been asked about the chance of doing a DVD or Blu-ray release, but for the moment the costs are sadly prohibitive - it has already cost us a great deal to produce the film. However, if the film does well on Vimeo, then we may reconsider in the future.

In the meantime, we hope you enjoy this - the final chapter in the story of Stirling Road and Supermarionation.

It's not the end of the line for Supermarionation though; other projects are in the pipeline - including an appearance from this new character who will appear on television screens next year:

Century 21
about 6 years ago – Tue, Mar 13, 2018 at 10:11:55 PM

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2018 is GO!
about 6 years ago – Tue, Feb 13, 2018 at 08:11:51 AM

This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.