Note to friends of Merlin:
Dear friends,
Thanks to Joyce Bowen in California, I've now finally (after 4 years) just
screened a video copy of MERLIN: THE MAGIC BEGINS which aired on US channels
in the fall of 1998. And guess what? It's pretty good! I still hate the
trite new scenes with Morgana shot in Canada a year later (with which I was
not involved) but I'm really proud of the final outcome. Having seen a few
"versions" of the nearly finished film over the last few years, I was pretty
down -- but thankfully, gone is the original awful temp music, replaced with
some pretty good incidental music that has the regal flair of the original
promo video (if you can remember that far back). The editing is much
tighter, and much of our dark humour seems to have survived all the cuts and
recuts. It honestly looks like a much bigger budget, well-filmed little
adventure. And my good friends Graham (Rengal) and Jason (as Merlin) steal
the show. What I'm remembering most is the great people of Peebles, Scotland
and how alot of them ended up acting in the film and doing an amazingly good
job. The small crew worked so hard giving their hearts to this project and
my hope is they get to see it and celebrate in its success. Hopefully soon
it might be available on video or DVD -- keeps your eyes open for the
release. In any event congratulations to all! After a memorably grueling
experience; it's a film we can finally celebrate. And not bad work for 16
days in Scotland and no money. Take care of yourselves and please forward
this far and wide to anyone else who may care.
all the best,
David
www.davidwinning.com
Los Angeles
September 2001
((Guess who linked him with Joyce))
Back to Merlin The Magic Begins
Last updated on 07th of October 2001.