18 September 2012
Newsdesk
John Otway, Rock and Roll’s greatest failure, has done it again and succeeded in giving himself the best 60th birthday present ever.
The UK performer has single-handedly sold out the Odeon Leicester Square on 7th October for a special preview screening of his new documentary, OTWAY: THE MOVIE which charts his life and career. However, the film will not be finally completed until the day itself.
Whilst the audience are watching the film, the movie team will be frantically editing the ending, which will include scenes of the stars, celebrities and Otway himself arriving on the red carpet less than two hours earlier. It makes the climax of the movie one of the most intense and exciting cliffhangers in cinema history. No one, not even the director, will know in advance what the ending will look like. Following the screening, at a gala dinner for 500 special guests, an awards ceremony will take place where the Otways will be given out. It is thought the singer himself has been nominated in many categories for one of the golden statuettes.
Otway has never been someone who follows a conventional route to fame. His whole eccentric career has been driven by ambition and an unshakeable belief in his ability to succeed against the odds. The film begins with the Aylesbury-born singer’s first taste of chart success in the 1977 with ‘Really Free’, with notable TV appearances on BBC’s Top of the Pops and The Old Grey Whistle Test.
Over the next thirty years, punk rock’s underdog has faced a catalogue of spectacular failures as his ambitions have become bigger and bolder including a world tour with his own jumbo jet, but he has never given up and continues chasing his dreams, helped along by his fiercely loyal fans. Told with warmth, honesty and self-deprecating humour, the film offers a warts-and-all lesson in how to survive in showbiz.
For his 40th Birthday, Otway played the Royal Albert Hall with a full orchestra. For His 50th Birthday, he achieved his first Top Ten hit and played the London Palladium. And now for his 60th Birthday, he’s set to premiere his first film at the largest cinema in the UK.
As with John's last major project where his fans chose produced and marketed the single Bunsen Burner to get it into the Top Ten and on to Top Of The Pops, ‘OTWAY: THE MOVIE’ is a project funded, produced and directed by his fanatical following, which includes a number of well-known artists, directors and industry professionals. Negotiations are ongoing with sales agents and distributors for UK and global rights.
Following its screening on 7th October, the film will be shown at international festivals before a planned full release in 2013.
