Lockwood & Co: Joe Cornish on his first TV project since The Adam And Joe Show

Published

1 year ago

January 29, 2023

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Many will remember Joe Cornish as one of the hosts of cult TV series The Adam And Joe Show – which saw the two friends recreating films out of toys, performing pranks, and getting Adam’s dad to review music videos.

But it’s now more than two decades since the programme ended and Cornish has since established himself as a writer and director, working on Steven Spielberg‘s The Adventures of Tintin, Marvel‘s Antman and his own directorial feature debut Attack The Block – which starred John Boyega in his breakout role – and more recently The Kid Who Would Be King.

Now, he’s returned to TV with an adaptation of the young adult supernatural book series Lockwood & Co, for Netflix. And while it might feel to some as if Cornish takes his time between projects, he insists he’s not slacking.

“This is me in rapid-fire mode,” he laughs, pointing out to Sky News’ Backstage podcast that the gap between Attack The Block (2011) and The Kid Who Would Be King (2019) is far greater than the three years between the latter and his current show.

“It takes a while to make these things – to get the money to write them, to film them, to post-produce them, so give me a break,” he jokes. “I’m going as fast as I can!”

Lockwood & Co is about three young paranormal investigators, set in a version of London where an invasion of ghosts is causing misery to many, and children are used to fight against them.

It’s certainly not the first time Cornish has worked with a younger cast.

“I love it, I love the energy that younger actors bring,” he says. “I love the excitement of coming to work every day – this part of the process is incredible, the process of the cast and crew screening, the premieres, it’s so exciting and it brings this really youthful energy to everything, I guess.

“And I’m less scared of directing them than I am of very experienced actors because remember: actors make three films a year, directors only make a film every three years if they’re lucky, so it makes me feel like the wise old man, which I kind of am I suppose – old, maybe not so wise.”

Lockwood & Co is something Cornish has been interested in for a while; he read the first of Jonathan Stroud’s books a decade ago, describing it as “really brilliant and unique in these core ideas it has”, but after a bidding war another studio bought the rights and his career took him elsewhere.

Some 10 years later, the rights became available again – and now with several more books in the series – and after a phone call to Stroud himself the wheels were in motion for the show to go into production with Cornish at the helm.

“They’re right in my wheelhouse, they have all the things I love and they just have these really brilliant original ideas at the core,” he says of the stories. “The first of which is ghosts can kill you by touching you.”

Click to subscribe to Backstage wherever you get your podcasts

He continues: “The second is quite an old-school supernatural idea that young people are more sensitive to ghosts and the supernatural than older people; the third is that these agencies build up that employ the young people to fight the ghosts; the fourth is that ghosts can be repelled with iron and salts and these fairly sort of old-school analogue methods.

“So I’d never come across a ghost story with this new set of rules that turned it into an action-adventure story. Also, the central characters of Lockwood – Lucy, George – are so compulsive.”

While this was a fresh take on the supernatural for Cornish, it certainly wasn’t his first, though he’ll be hoping it’s better received than his first one was.

“I tried to make a Super8 film at school when I was 13,” he admits. “It was called Yesyes, because that’s [one theory] why a Ouija board is called Ouija board – Oui (French) – Yes, Ja (German) – Yes.

“I thought that was a very clever title! But we never finished it because no one cared about it as much as I did. They all got bored.”

Lockwood & Co is out on Netflix, hear more about the show in the latest episode of Backstage – the film and TV podcast from Sky News

Entertainment

Dane Baptiste apologises to Jewish community for ‘disturbing’ language – and is dropped by agency

Published

11 hours ago

May 2, 2024

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Dane Baptiste apologises to Jewish community for 'disturbing' language - and is dropped by agency

Comedian Dane Baptiste has apologised to the “Jewish community, my colleagues and my fans” following criticism over a now-deleted social media post.

The stand-up star, who has appeared on TV shows including 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown, Live At The Apollo, and Mock The Week, has been dropped by his talent agency Insanity.

The company said the contents of a deleted post were “completely at odds with our values and what we stand for”.

The Metropolitan Police has also been made aware of the post.

Baptiste said he had made “a massive error of judgment” after receiving “a number of threatening and abusive messages from accounts accusing me of antisemitism for having pro-Palestinian views”.

The comedian said his partner had made him aware that “some of these same people” were monitoring her Instagram account.

In an apology posted on social media, Baptiste said: “In a massive error of judgment, I posted an excessive and impulsive response, hoping to dissuade anybody monitoring my family.

“I made a point to say Zionist and not Jewish, but I appreciate how disturbing, threatening and incendiary that language is, I would categorically state I have no ill intention towards the Jewish community and never have.

“I have a loving family of which I am massively protective of; I reacted poorly and emotionally to a perceived threat with no considered thought to the consequences, and I apologise profusely for my actions to the Jewish community, my colleagues and my fans.”

Baptiste was the first black comedian to be nominated for the award for best newcomer at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards in 2014, and also fronted the BBC Three sketch programme Bamous.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Insanity said: “Insanity became aware of a social media post published by Dane on Instagram yesterday.

“The contents of his post are completely at odds with our values and what we stand for. We promptly made this clear to him, and are no longer working with him.

“As an organisation we do not tolerate hate speech of any kind and are committed to the values of respect and tolerance for all.”

Sky News has contacted Baptiste for comment.

Entertainment

Universal artists to return to TikTok as dispute comes to an end

Published

17 hours ago

May 2, 2024

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Universal artists to return to TikTok as dispute comes to an end

Universal Music and TikTok have ended a dispute over royalties after the label pulled millions of songs from the social media platform.

The new licensing agreement means songs by some of the biggest artists in the world, including Drake, Adele and Billie Eilish will return to the site for use within the next two weeks.

TikTok, a short video app, is a valuable marketing and promotional tool for music stars. But in January, Universal claimed it paid artists and songwriters “a fraction” of the rate offered by similar social media platforms, and announced it was pulling its catalogue.

Universal is the biggest music label in the world and also looks after Taylor Swift – who allowed a selection of her songs to return to TikTok as she promoted her latest album, The Tortured Poets Department, in April. Swift owns the copyrights to her recordings through her 2018 deal with Universal and can control where her songs are available, according to the Financial Times.

The companies now say they have come to “a new multi-dimensional” licensing agreement that will deliver “significant industry-leading benefits” for Universal’s artists and labels.

In a joint statement, TikTok said it would continue to invest resources into “building artist-centric tools” and work on strengthening online safety protections for artists and their fans.

The AI issue

The agreement means all videos that had been muted will be unmuted. It comes just over three months since Universal posted an open letter criticising TikTok, calling for higher payments for artists and songwriters, protection from the “harmful effects” of AI, and online safety.

In their joint statement, the companies now say they will work together to ensure AI development across the industry “will protect human artistry and the economics that flow to those artists and songwriters”.

They will also work to remove unauthorised AI-generated music from the platform, as well as on tools to improve artist and songwriter attribution, the statement says.

Universal chairman and chief executive Sir Lucian Grainge said the “new chapter” focuses “on the value of music, the primacy of human artistry and the welfare of the creative community”, while TikTok chief executive Shou Chew added: “Music is an integral part of the TikTok ecosystem, and we are pleased to have found a path forward with Universal Music Group.”

Concerns about AI have grown in the creative community. In April last year, a song featuring the cloned voices of Drake and The Weeknd was removed from streaming sites after going viral.

On Tuesday, British singer-songwriter and producer FKA Twigs told a US Senate hearing how she had created her own digital clone – but condemned unauthorised use of her voice and image.

On Wednesday, a poll by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Music found that 83% of UK adults agree that a music artist’s creative “personality” should be protected in law against AI copies and 77% believe it amounts to theft when generated music fails to acknowledge the creator of the original.

In April, more than 200 artists signed an open letter objecting to the “predatory” use of AI to “steal professional artists’ voices and likenesses”.

Entertainment

Wales to get own version of The Voice hosted by Radio 1 DJ

Published

19 hours ago

May 2, 2024

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Wales to get own version of The Voice hosted by Radio 1 DJ

Wales is to get its own version of talent show The Voice, it has been announced.

The series named Y Llais (Welsh for The Voice) will be presented by Radio 1 DJ Sian Eleri.

The Boom Cymru-produced show will make its debut on S4C next year.

Opera star Sir Bryn Terfel has been announced as one of the four coaches.

The Grammy award-winning artist performed at the King‘s coronation last May.

The Welsh-language version becomes the 75th international adaptation of The Voice format.

The series sees contestants take part in “blind auditions” as they hope to impress the coaches and prompt them to turn their chairs to proceed to the next round.

The ITV series The Voice UK also features a Welshman as part of its coaching line-up, with Sir Tom Jones joining will.i.am, LeAnn Rimes and McFly‘s Tom Fletcher and Danny Jones.

The winner of the Welsh version will secure a 12-month mentoring scheme as well as further opportunities to perform on S4C programming.

“It’s great that the Land of Song is getting its own special version of the The Voice series,” Sir Bryn Terfel said.

Sian Eleri said she was “delighted to be presenting one of the biggest shows in the world”.

“For it to be happening on home soil with S4C is next level. Bring on those rotating chairs,” she added.

“As a nation we have produced some of the most successful singers in the world, and with this format we’re looking forward to discovering the next big voice from Wales,” added S4C’s interim chief content officer Geraint Evans.

The deadline to apply is 21 June, with auditions set to take place in North Wales on 12 July and in South Wales on 15 July.