Joe Pasquale Leads Panto Film THE GIFT, Raising Money For NHS

Joe Pasquale leads cast of world's first ever Film-O-Mime The Gift. Panto for many is a festive must, shouting it's behind you and laughing and cheesy jokes is as important as turkey on Christmas Day. Sadly though due to COVID many Pantomimes have been cancelled meaning for most attending the festive show will not be possible and this comes after a year when people could do with a good laugh.

However do not fear as The Gift is here! The Gift is an original musical comedy for all the family, mixing the traditions of pantomime with a modern twist. Think Dick Wittington as a chatty Uber Driver, Captain Hook as a compulsive cheater who loves a game of cards, Prince not so charming looking for love on a dating game show, Smee the head of a dance crew and give a star turn to the back end of the horse who is a disillusioned actor and you kind of get the idea. They wanted to bring a sense of fun and make a mash up of tradition pantomime characters and stories. Something that keeps the panto traditions alive but speaks to a wider and more modern audience.

Playwright Michael Head like many in the industry has had an awful year. Head had four stage shows cancelled, his feature film Time has been postponed until early next year and finally his large scale pantomime was called off. It was a very worrying time and losing their pantomime which was booked for a 2k seater in Islington was called off and I really started to panic, I needed to do something to ensure I could keep a roof above my Children's heads. I spoke with producer Jason Samuels and multi award winning director Adam Morley regarding a potential feature film project with Kensington Library. They agreed it was a good idea which gave me just a week to write the film and three weeks prep to produce a feature film musical.

Despite being filmed in just 12 days on a micro budget the film has singed a professional album deal with a well known music publisher and was due for a nationwide cinematic release and Leicester Square Premier. Sadly due to covid the cinematic release and premier was not to be but it has been amazing to see so many people get behind the project and consider the final film worthy of such things. The feedback has been amazing. They have had so many messages from parents saying how there children loved it to a couple in their 70's saying they haven't laughed that much in years which has been fantastic to hear, they have also had a number of five star reviews from professional film critiques which is amazing. When you work hard to make something happen and take on something like this it can be daunting explained the writer Michael Head, but when you hear such great feedback and how it has brought joy, especially at this time of year it makes everything worth while.

The Gift will be available on Amazon and Amazon Prime. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08QFLGM5K

Cast Includes

Joe Pasquale - Buttons

Vas Blackwood - Abanaza

Caprice Bourret - The Good Fairy

Vanessa Feltz - The Fairy Godmother

Chesney Hawkes - Dad

Myra Dubios- Ugly Sister

Dane Bowers - Prince Not So Charming

Tina Malone - Sandra

Abz Love - Sleepy

Ben Ofoedu- Genie

Lucy Beresford- The Evil Queen

Paul Danan - Washy

Sandi Bogle- Red Riding Hood

Rhia Official- Tink'a'bell

and award winning NHS doctor Parvinder Shergill

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