Under Over The Clouds

Sasha Stefanova is a Bulgarian filmmaker that has passion for both directing and cinematography. Furthermore, she enjoys expressing herself through painting, sculpture, and photography. Her directing experience includes music videos, experimental films, documentaries, and short features. In addition to co-writing the script and co-directing the piece with Brian Lavery, Sasha will be also co-ordinating the cinematography and art departments and will be working closely with the producers to promote the piece. Her latest passion is the current situation in Burma and she is co-producing and co-directing a documentary related to the subject.
You can find out more about her work at: prismheart.blogspot.com

Brian's experience spans numerous independent film and theatre projects in practically every type of crew role. He got involved in this project after various conversations with Nikolay about working on something together. As one of the directors Brian is focussing on nailing down a finished script, storyboarding the film and editing the finished piece. Aside from directing on this, Brian is also a producer currently working on a Lord of the Rings fan film http://www.hunt4gollum.com/ and works full-time at Tiger Aspect, a TV production company. Brian is really happy to have helped bring together such an impressive team.

www.myspace.com/microwavesounds

Micromattic a.k.a Microwave is the alias of Bulgarian born producer Nikolay Seizov also known to the electronic music addicts of his homeland as DJ Zizo.

He fell into music at the tender age of five when he picked up a violin, which he quickly dropped judging it to be too heavy. Instead he decided to make use of his pre-pubescent voice and spent his childhood in classical choir. But he was no angel. He spent endless hours immersing himself in prehistoric video-games, subliminally absorbing vast quantities of binary sounds, which would later influence both his music development and his unnatural attraction to minimal sounds.

Before starting out as a club DJ he had been involved in his hometown’s club scene where he took his first steps in writing abstract electronic music. In early 2000 producing was pushed to the sideline in favor of the more exciting (he thought) life of a DJ. From the chill rooms of underground dance events where he perfected his moving style he quickly mixed his way into residencies at some of the most influential electronic music clubs in Sofia. He was everywhere: underground and mainstream, outdoors and indoors, at home and abroad, sharing the stage with top international players.

In the busy times of 2003, while unleashing his skill on dancefloors of Europe and the USA and making regular radio appearances on Radio France International, DJ-ing began to lose its appeal being such a limited method to expression of musical creativity.

In 2005 Micromattic moved to Cambridge (UK) where he got busy cooking up sound waves in his bedroom again. The first accomplished track he produced accidentally got in to the hands of HorsePlay Records who immediately signed him and pressed a vinyl of his "The Sound Of No Good". The EP made waves on the globe's dancefloors landing on the playlists of Phil Kieran, Extrawelt, Mark-Henning, Alex Smoke, MrC, Ewan Pearson and Chloe Harris.

So here's the deal for 2008: you can expect to see Micromattic getting busy on stage showcasing his new live set across Europe as well as collaborating in the studio with critically acclaimed producers Vector Lovers, Chloe Harris and Holmes Ives. You'd better be excited!

You can find recordings from live performance sessions by Micromattic here:

Microwave - Exclusive Mix For ClubEvents.info
(Recorded@Rotherhite Studios April 2008)

Microwave - Spastic Surgery
(Recorded Live@Oswyth March 2008)

Ximena studied Cello and Ballet in Spain.When she was sixteen she won a United World Colleges scholarship to study International Baccalaureate in Waterford Kamhlaba, Swaziland. After two years in Africa she came to the UK to train as an actress.She graduated from Central School of Speech and Drama last year. This year she has been involved in a number of short films including The Escape Artist music video for The Revere. She will be performing at Edinburgh Theatre Festival this summer, in " The Space Between my Head and my Body" with the Gin in the Tea Company.

Click Here To Book Ximena

http://www.mattvenn.net/

Technology wizard, electronica artist, beatboxer, improviser, actor, martial artist, life coach, veganist, spiritual leader and we think quite possibly a human being Matt Venn joined the Under Over The Clouds project as an actor in the second part of our project.

Matt Venn's current projects:

www.experiment1.co.uk Experiment 1 is a South London-based arts & science collective, specialising in large-scale sensory installations, which fuse sculpture, music, science and performance art.an interactive arts community. Matthew Venn is currently the technical director for experiment1, and created the new control systems for the gas organ.

The gas organ: is an interactive sonic sculpture combining fire, glass tubes, and wiimote (gestural) controllers.

Wiimote interactivity: Matthew Venn uses his scientific and computer skills to allow more engagement with the crowd while performing, and to allow the crowd to influence lights and sounds through movement. Running workshops in improvising with computers, Matthew is keen to see this new technology used in more clubs and venues.

Live looping and special effects: Using his voice as a starting point, Matthew improvises beats, songs, textures, atmospheres. Wiimote controllers are used to control and effect the sound in realtime - promoting crowd interaction and participation.

Visit http://www.mattvenn.net/ for more info and contact details.

Emete started her career in the set construction and design industry, working as an Art department assistant on a Feature film called ‘Morvern Callar’, in 1998. Since then she has worked in Theatre, Film, Television, Commercials and Music productions, as part of the Art Department. She has also worked in Event design and Retail (display).

Emete has a diverse range of skills, of which include scenic painting, prop making, set dressing, model making, decorating and sewing.

Emete currently works full-time as an Art Technician in a High School, but plans to get back to freelancing as a Scenic Artist. She is looking forward to working on this project and sprinkling some creative dust back in to her life.

Lucy started her film and television career as a runner on live entertainment shows such as X-Factor and Ant and Dec’s Pokerface and has since worked on a variety of similar productions in various roles, going on to floor manage for virgin media. However her passion lies in the creative depths of film making and she has worked on a number of short and feature films in various roles including writing and directing her own small projects.

Lucy currently works as an art department assistant for a channel owned by virgin media where she designs and makes props and dresses sets. She is enjoying having a more creatively hands on input to the shows again and is excited to be able to continue bringing dreams to life in the stylised and fantastical ways of moving image; drawing on the surreal and imagined for inspiration in both her own projects and on under/over the clouds.

Jez Johnson is a photographer with a passion for the moving image and creative arts. Jez 's photographic experience includes advertising, travel and live performance. He has recently worked as the business development consultant for Getty Images Film and is now working on his own digital media projects. Jez is culminating his creative and business skills working as Producer for this latest project, conceptualized and directed by Brian and Sasha with music by Microwave.

Jonathan Smith’s journey first began with his mother, forcing him into an amateur dramatics group at the tender age of 12 to keep him out from under her feet. There he found the key to his enjoyment, starring in many productions at Watermans Theatre, possessing a unique talent for stand up comedy. During his College and University years he became embroiled in the antics behind the camera, producing and directing a number of short films and documentaries. Finishing University with a 2.1 BA in Film and Broadcast Production, he joined one of the world’s elite off-line editing companies, The Quarry, who’s roster includes the most renowned editors in the commercials industry creating such prolific adverts such as Levi ‘Twist’, Sony ‘Paint’, Sony ‘Playdoh’, Stella Artois ‘Skating Priests’, and BBC ‘Rushhour’ to name a few.

There he forged a friendship with Director Supremo Tom Carty who offered some very generous words of advice on directing and life in general. Jonathan is now exercising that guidance and is currently looking forward to directing two short films slated for this summer and a feature for next year. Jonathan Smith is a producer at newly started Production Company, The Creative Engineers.

Monika’s background is PR and production in mass media. Since she came to London she has joined New Producers Alliance and worked on developing her film producing skills. Monika has been working on several short film productions and is currently developing a couple of short films and a feature film.

Elias Millward’s first foray into feature production was on the 2005 French feature drama, Ma Vie En L’air, directed by Remy Benzacon and starring Oscar-winning actress, Marion Cotillard. He has since been involved in numerous feature projects, notably the Emmy-nominated (“Outstanding Investigative Journalism”) documentary, Hacking Democracy (2006). He also spent two years as the assistant to filmmaker, Sally Potter (Orlando, The Tango Lesson, Yes), working at all stages of the filmmaking process, from development to production, on the forthcoming feature drama, Rage (starring Judi Dench and Lily Cole), and the opera, Carmen, which sold out to audiences at the English National Opera last year.

Elias is presently working at Paramount Pictures on several projects including Steven Spielberg’s Indiana Jones & The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull (2008) and Jon Favreau’s Iron Man (2008).

Away from his involvement in feature projects, Elias has produced numerous short films of his own including A Dog Named Emily (2006), and a documentary on the topic of “hybrid space” where he interviewed Mobile Clubbing and Pillow Fight Club founder, Ben Cummins.

Tanja/Kühl is a critically acclaimed contemporary clothing fashion label operating in London and Berlin. Their clothing and juwellery line is a proposition based on organic structures, combined with new graphic symbols, mixing natural materials with functional and new fabrics. They are certainly not in the business of making simple pretty clothes that will please the triffle and bow brigade. Their collections have the aim of combining simple elegance with an edgy urban feeling and a sense of humor.

Tanja/Kühl will be designing a bespoke clothing collection for Under Over The Clouds Project. You can check their work at: http://www.myspace.com/tanja_and_kuehl

Currently a second year BA Make-up and Prosthetics student at London College of Fashion, Theresa Carey previously studied for a Diploma in Art and Design at Chelsea College, specialising in Fine Art. Her love for the performance world was inspired as a child by her passion for ballet, jazz and contemporary dance. Taking part in amateur dance performances and competitions heightened her awareness of the creative processes involved in pre-production, and fuelled her desire to develop a range of skills (equipping her to create more complex make-up designs) for working in the film, television and theatre industries.

Theresa's experience as a make-up artist ranges from work on student films and photography shoots for the London College of Communication and the London College of Fashion, to creating make-up for the designer Ioannis Dimitrousis for London Fashion week and 'horror' make-up for the halloween edition of Time Out London.

Georgi Christov is a Bulgarian born graphic and motion designer, now living in the tropical paradise country of Venezuela. Along with his professional experience in both static and moving pictures he has also a warm attraction for music and sound design creation, producing his own tracks and playing live sets. Participant and organiser of various events, festivals and performance on local and international level - Portugal, Greece, Turkey, Kosova, Serbia, Bulgaria, Venezuela among others. Right now is the creative director for one of the top Venezuelan advertising agencies but remains his free spirit working on many independent projects - for example as the main animator for Metropolis - the biggest party promoter in Bulgaria, visualising the sets of Carl Cox, Adam Beyer, Steve Lawer, Sharam, Mauro Picotto, Fergie and others.

You can see some of his works at http://www.coroflot.com/Christov

More info coming soon!

Yagama is one of Bulgaria’s most sought after fresh talent, multiplatform artist creating in a wide spectrum of visual disciplines ranging from video, painting, sculpture, art installations and most recently performing improvised live visuals through movement with Nintendo Wii Remotes.

www.myspace.com/yagama

Yagama joined Under Over The Clouds team for our pre-premiere event at The Ginglik and created a special VJ set blending footage and images from our video.

In the short period of time since she launched her career as a VJ, Yagama had a remarkable success and quickly established herself as one of the top visual artists in the country. She quickly worked her way in the local electronic music scene and for the mere 9 months of work as a VJ she managed to share a stage with the cream of native and foreign music talent, such as Marco Carola, Banco De Gaia, Trans Global Underground, DJ Koze, Luke Abbott, Skitz, Astrix to name but a few.

As a founder and artist of the Uga Buga Art Collective Yagama, carried out a number of art projects such as the development the entire visual concept including VJing, decoration, creation of art installations and fire performance choreography at Earthdance 2007, Existence 2007 and Artmopsheric 2008 Festivals. She has exhibited her paintings all over the world from Sofia to New York and the Carribean and most recently was commissioned to design and build a labyrinth herb garden in a central park in Sofia which is a unique project in her country.

Her live work as a VJ is multilayered, diverse and driven by two core principles: to present an entirely new set of visuals for each individual performance, to create vision that interacts, reflect and exists in total integration with both music and audience. She sees her art as a narrative and perceives story telling as an essential aspect of her work. This is why her performances are always an ever-changing visual journey, abstract and diverse but yet connected to form coherent worlds. Yagama aims to positively affect the audience and interact with it. In her quest to increase the level of interaction between crowd and performer she started experimenting with Nintendo Wii remotes to control visuals, bringing the work of the VJ to a next level and to the front of the stage.

You can see recent examples of her work as a Wii VJ here:

Cathedral (Watch Video)
Ping Pong (Watch Video)
DJ Koze (Watch Video)
Space Monkey (Watch Video)