Spud

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Enthusiastic Sunday Times readers populated la Brasserie restaurant to listen to Spud author John van de Ruit, producer Ross Garland and director Donovan Marsh of Spud the Movie  talk about the upcoming movie due for release in November this year. Ross and John have had a long standing relationship that began in high school to their present one of working on Spud the Movie together. Ross told of how he had set about acquiring the movie rights from John after first reading Spud and the realising of that dream in Spud the Movie.

Donovan Marsh highlighted meeting and working with legendary actor John Cleese who is cast as the Guv as well as the extenuous casting process in finding the right match of actors to bring the characters to life. The attentive audience was then treated to a two minute teaser of the upcoming movie. Later this year Ross and John will also be releasing a Behind the Scenes book detailing the experience of creating Spud the Movie.

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THE POTATO MOVIE AND OTHER MUSINGS.

It’s been a while since I last indulged in a spot of blogging – 2009 in fact. I trust you all had a spankingly good holiday – although no doubt the memory of which has long receded in the mind.  My festive season was a chaotic affair, mainly due to the fact that Jules and I moved into a new house. It was sad to leave Wombat’s flat and Wombat’s ghost behind, but neither seemed to take offence at our hasty exit. Wombat’s flat (as it is now known) is where I have done much of my Spud writing and it still has Catch 22 pasted to the wall of the study. Now faded and yellow and yet still brilliant.

Three days after moving into the new house, I received the screamworthy news that John Cleese had officially signed on the dotted line to play The Guv. Five days after that, and following months of torture, I learned that the financing had finally been secured and the film was green-lit to begin shooting in March. After years of uncertainty and one step forward, two steps back, Spud the Movie has galloped past the point of no return. A 100% privately financed film in South Africa is a rarity, and my endless thanks and gratitude go out to those who have taken the risk in the name of faith, hope and Spud. I wish for your investment to be returned tenfold.  Now, for those of you who aren’t that well versed in the lingo of film, being privately financed means that creative control and all creative decisions remain in the hands of the producers rather than film studio execs, or even worse, a pushy financier who once starred in a house play at school. That means we live or die by the creative decisions we are making right now, and will continue to make for months.  That all adds up to more excitement, less sleep and less fingernails.

Speaking of choices, final casting for the teen roles is imminent, although I can officially announce that the role of Spud will be played by the phenomenally talented Troye Sivan, star of Wolverine X-Men Origins.  But returning to the search for the teen characters – what an intriguing process it has been. It evolved into a nationwide talent search that opened the door of possibility to many who would never have had a shot at auditioning for a film before. To call the process thorough would be an understatement and I thank you all for your patience and courage in giving it a shot.  I could not tell you how many audition tapes we have watched and re-watched. Debates and discussions have zigzagged between Cape Town, Jo’burg and Durban as we gradually filed the actors down to the shortlist for each character. For those that are cast, congratulations and break a leg, to those that got so close, my commiserations  – take strength in the knowledge that you got this far and the creative spirit resides in you all.

As you can imagine with all the film tumult, I have had little time to cast my mind forward to the final book in the series. I’m often asked when the final Spud might magically appear in a bookstore round the corner – unfortunately I cannot answer that yet. Rest assured, as soon as I know, I’ll let you know.

Be chilled, and be happy.
John

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To read further click here   http://www.spud.penguinbooks.co.za/

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All at Penguin were treated with a visit from two of Penguin’s best loved authors. First was sunny Adele Parks author of Love, Lies who stopped in to say hello and chat to the Penguin SA staff on her way to the Cape Town Book Fair. Later on in the morning a charming as ever John van de Ruit strolled into the Penguin SA Rosebank office to sign limited edition hardback Spud- learning to Fly copies for all at the Penguin colony.

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The intimate Golden Ticket event was followed by the main Pre- Publication launch which was kicked off by the music band Wonderboom, who kept the crowd entertained while John began his limited edition book signing for the snaking que of people waving their way around Melrose Boulevard block. The enthusiastic crowd braved the winter chill in support of their favourite author and were rewarded by a smiling and engaging John who took time to thank everyone for coming out to support the book inspite of the cold weather.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 All in all the event went superbly, the fans were smiling, John van de Ruit was beaming- well done to the Penguin ‘colony’ and Exclusive Books for pulling off a wonderful event.

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This may surprise you, but the over riding feeling i have after returning home to Durban after two months in Asia, is one of order. Now order isn’t a word one usually associates with South Africa – but there you have it. I am once again struck by the degree to which afro-pessimism frames so many people’s views when compartmentalizing our country. The other thing I have noticed since returning home, is the level of hype and anticipation about Learning To Fly. I expected a storm but this is looking more and more like a category 5 hurricane with a chip on its shoulder. This is the part of the job that always sounds the most glamorous to people, but can in some ways be more daunting than writing the book in the first place. The pre-publication launch, exactly a week from now shapes up to be a monumental event with my publishers determined to set a new record for a book launch in South Africa. I have warned them about the possibility of me developing an arthritic writing paw due to excessive book signing and hand shaking but it seems they thought i was joking. Now you may think this is a laughing matter (and it probably is) but Marian Keyes scared the death out of me at the Cape Town book fair in 2007 when she said that her arm had become mangled and deformed due to signing a million or so books too many. She was using a personalised stamp which made her seem like a fiery Irish librarian checking out books. I’ll do my best to avoid the stamp on the Learning To Fly book tour except of course for those of you who have an unnatural fetish for stationery.

 

And now for some apologies:

 

I apologise to the good people of Gauteng for the unseemly Spud, Learning to fly billboard that has been erected on the Ben Schoeman Highway between Johannesburg and Pretoria. This is just the sort of grandiose prank that the Penguins are famous for – particularly when I’m away. A traffic jam is bad enough without having local literature rammed down your throat as you sit trapped and gridlocked between a minibus, another minibus, and certain death. An apology too for those readers who have to squeeze past grotesque columns of Spud books in bookstores on their way to more edifying literature. I say blame Harry Potter, he started all this boarding school craziness in the first place.

 

So the first copies of Learning to Fly were waiting for me upon arrival. Unfortunately my father was overcome with curiosity over what he might or might not have done in his recent past, tore open the envelope, and became the first citizen to read the new book. The good news is that his review was favourable, the bad news is that my father couldn’t exactly say it was a pile of brown- – at least without breaking my heart. It was a surreal experience to open the book and feel its pages between my fingers. So many words, and so much time spent on those exact words. It was the moment when Spud – Learning To Fly no longer was the subject of my life, but the object of my labours. That switch from subject to object is enough to short circuit a brain as small as my own.

 

I began reading and everything was at once familiar, every line set off a “ping” of recollection in my head. I’m not going to tell you what i think of the book because that’s immaterial and probably wrong. What you, the reader think is everything, despite the fact that every reader probably thinks differently.

 

So here it is, the big countdown to launch. Every day takes us closer and the excitement and edginess is everywhere around me.

 

As David Bowie sings in a marvellous song quoted by Spud Milton on his way to school for the beginning of his third year:

 

Ground Control to major Tom

Ground Control to Major Tom

Take your protein pills and put your helmet on.

 

See you on the road

Johnny

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