Sunday 6th November - Leonardo Live

Back in the UK (after a very nice screening at the Smithsonian in Washington DC) in an edit suite in London. Preparing some short documentary inserts for Tuesday’s big event: LEONARDO LIVE. I can’t honestly say it has been as much fun getting this far as making MIR or HAYDN – it’s a helluva lot easier working in a small team whereas Leonardo Live has about 100 folk involved. But the team I’ve employed to do the live production – Leopard Films – are doing a fine job and it should be a great night. I always knew there’d be an audience in the cinemas and just about all 40 cinemas that are taking it live have sold out! And I hope SkyArts get a good audience too (they are showing it live as well). Above all, the paintings – all 9 of them – will be shown in HD on big and small screens throughout the country. And soon the world. Wonderful. Mind you, I say all this two days before the show and I am most certainly not counting any chickens! Trucks, cables, dozens and dozens of crew, satellite links, radio frequencies, 600 guests to the preview night itself, egos, stress, adrenaline, excitement, fear….and, above all, the paintings. I just hope they don’t get it swamped in all the technology. Well, we’ll see…or you will if you watch it on TV or in the cinema: just know while you watching no-one is more scared witless than me. And if the show seems to go OK I want us all to raise a glass at 8.30pm UK time and toast Leonardo da Vinci and the rockets he first drew which ultimately put satellites in the sky. (LATER: started editing (three suites) at 11.30am - ended at 2.30am next morning. Madness. All I can say is you had better bloody well watch the show now after all this effort!!).