Thursday 8 December 2011

So Did Shakespeare Actually Write Shakespeare?

This has been an interesting time to have a film out about the life and times of William Shakespeare. The Roland Emmerich film, Anonymous, has sparked a huge debate about the authenticity of Shakespeare's work.


A few years ago I worked with British actor, Sir Derek Jacobi, and asked him about his views on the subject and I was amazed when he told me that he believes that Shakespeare didn't write the plays. 


Simon Cox with Sir Dereck Jacobi
So during the filming of Discover Shakespeare's Stratford Upon Avon, I asked Rev Dr Paul Edmondson, Head of Learning and Research at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, what his views were on the subject. He told me that the conspiracy theory was just over a 100 years old and that all of the writers that were suspected to have been involved in the conspiracy, (Francis Bacon, Christopher Marlowe and Edward De Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford etc) were all very good writers in their day, but they didn't write Shakespeare  because their works were different in style and tone. He said that if you study the texts and compare them, they are all very different.


During the making of the film I had a unique insiders view of his life and I was lucky enough to flick through one of the first folios, and to be honest, it was pretty impressive. So if Charles Dickens can be very prolific in a short lifetime, and officially be uneducated, why shouldn't a local man from Stratford Upon Avon be able to write an incredible body of work.

Monday 7 November 2011

Simon Cox - Back in the Saddle

Okay, major apologies for the rather long delay since my last post - It's been a difficult year, mainly work wise and money seems to be a thing of the past. But alas, I have spent a lot of time and energy re-drafting my script for Kaleidoscope Man.


So what news...?


Well firstly, I have been awarded a mentorship with a top British movie Producer. This has been an extremely important learning curve and I am currently working with her on my other feature film project, The Final Reel. The plan is to make this on a budget of around £250K. Simon Bovey, the writer, is currently working on a new draft under her guidance and we expect to have around 2 drafts to do until we start approaching cast and then going for the money.


Secondly, Kaleidoscope Man. This has been a labour of love for many years now and recently I did a complete re-draft of the script. I expect there are a few more drafts to go until the new script is completely ready to shoot, but I am working hard to get it right. My mentor is also guiding me on this. 


I have also just launched a rather unusual fund raiding campaign for this called Sci-Fi Shakespeare.com It's a cranky way of raising money, but its been something I've wanted to try for a long time. I have just started running a large media campaign in the USA and Canada, so it will be interesting to see if the citizens of America will get on board with my project. 


You can read the US & Canada press release here.  

Wednesday 12 January 2011

Check Out This Rave Review!

My new film, "Discover Shakespeare's Stratfrod Upon Avon", has received an excellent review on the Anglophile website. You can read the review here: