Yes, I know it’s been a while. Well, what do you expect? I’m Creator and Sole Writer of a new weekly series for AXN SciFi which goes to air in fairly short order across the Central European region. I’ve had my work cut out, writing scripts. We’re pretty confident it will roll out to other countries before too long, but in the meantime, I’m searching for a publisher for my children’s book, The Wild Cats of Piran; which, incidentally, would also make for, I think, an enchanting animated film.

This is the mood trailer for my book, The Wild Cats of Piran. They’re a colony of smart and generally courageous if also sometimes rather lazy feral cats that live in a small seaside town in Slovenia. Facing out onto the Adriatic Sea, Piran is a kind of miniature ‘Slovenian Venice’. It is a serene, almost forgotten place — at least in the eyes of most humans. Every day, the wild cats work the tables of the restaurants along the seafront promenade, hunting for scraps; and the pickings are rich. There’s one nasty, cat-hating Maitre’D to contend with, but the wild cats toy with him. Life is good in Piran.

In the animal realm, and in the sphere of the supernatural, things are rather different. No one needs be more aware of that than Felicia, who is the Queen of the wild cat colony. In the summer which our story begins, she is presented with a perfect storm of troubles, for there are strange forces at work in this genteel town. For one thing, Piran’s rats have become mysteriously evolved lately, and are mobilizing under their leader, the sinister ‘General Rat’. As well as the newly formed rat army, there is an Alsatian dog and worse, meddling and incompetent humans to deal with. There is a near death encounter with the local thug after which one of the gang is kidnapped. A vengeful Maitre’D with a meat cleaver is on the warpath. Even the relationship which the cats have with the town’s ghosts begins to change. In short, the life the wild cats know and cherish, and which Felicia has fought so hard to defend, is under threat from all sides.

Can Felicia hold her clan together, against all odds, or is their idyllic way of life doomed to extinction? The answers, some of them anyway, are in the first of three sets of nine tales bound to please literary cat lovers of all ages…

In the centre of Gyula you’ll find – indeed you can hardly miss it – an imposing gothic fortress, built as defence against the Turks. This is apparently the only purpose built brick fortress still standing in Central Europe. It’s a terrific setting for a Shakespearian theatre festival. Like many other great ideas it seems obvious – after somebody else thinks of it. Fortunately somebody did. The Shakespeare in Gyula festival is the brainchild of one József Gedeon, the Gyula Castle Theatre’s director. A large man with a winning manner and high hopes, his festival has grown each year since 2004, with theatrical troupes from all over the world now coming to Gyula to perform. This week a Lithuanian production of King John will have its world premiere and a troupe from South Korea will perform A Midsummer Night’s Dream!

The performance which we attended on Saturday night was the third show in a run of Troilus & Cressida. Now, Troilus & Cressida – this is not exactly one of Shakespeare’s better known or more accessible works. Yet the 300 plus seats inside the fortress theatre were almost full. My Shakespearian Hungarian isn’t accomplished enough to tell you how well the actors spoke the bard’s blank verse. But the physicality and daring of the production was plain to see. Actors scrambled up and down scaffolding, they stood on top of each other, and generally did everything they could to make the play more difficult for themselves – and more entertaining for us. They didn’t miss a beat.

Hungarians love their theatre. Indeed, while it’s only really in the corporate sector that anyone really dresses up to go to work, when it comes to a night at the theatre, you’ll see people dressed to the nines. I find this to be an enormously endearing characteristic, just like the bouquets and rosettes left every day by the statues and gravestones of composers and writers all over the country.

But the Gyula weekend wasn’t all Shakespeare and high culture, far from it. Festivities began with a welcome drink or four at the Gyula palinka factory. Palinka – in case you’re not familiar with it – is a potent liqueur made with apples, plums, blackberries and the like. It’s quite strong. Let’s put it this way: until we as a species conquer the depths of space and find the famous Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster, Gyula palinka will just have to do as the most potent drink available to man. Note to anyone reading who works for a Tourist Board anywhere: All Journalists Familiarisation tours should begin in such style.

Gyula is a leafy, sleepy seeming sort of town but it has several different points of interest. For example, there is a magnificent stork’s nest perched on a telegraph pole beside a Saxon cathedral outside the Erkel museum. Well, I thought it was magnificent anyway. The museum just as it sounds is dedicated to the Hungarian composer Erkel. Along with Franz Liszt, essentially Erkel was the founder of Hungarian Opera, which is to say, Opera sung in the Hungarian tongue. Whatever the merits of that conspectus, the museum is certainly well designed and the exhibits presented very attractively. I liked its setting, in an area of the city known as Saxon town. About 300 metres walk away is the Ladics House, the perfectly preserved residence of a prosperous 19th century family. Heavy shuttered windows kept the succession of traditionally furnished rooms cool as our party inspected them. The country kitchen was in a word, adorable. From there it was an even shorter canter to the Százéves Cukrászda, or Centenary Confectionary. The Centenary Confectionery’s name is actually somewhat misleading. The establishment actually opened its doors not 100 but more than 170 years ago in 1840 and its saloons are imbued with post Napoleonic, reform era elegance even today. Tin moulds and utensils from the original confectionery are used in the preparation of all kinds of candies, ice creams, parfaits, tee biscuits, leavened dough and short pastries and in the creation of ice cream and parfait compositions. In addition to confectioneries, cakes and parfaits, handicraft bonbons are made laden with nougat or stuffed with truffles. Other specialties include contain fruit mellowed in spirits and bonbons with brittle (hard candy) as well as bonbons with wafer and marzipan.

Outside in a pleasant courtyard where once apparently horse drawn carriages had come all day to unload goods, a luncheon banquet had been laid out for our enjoyment. We sat in the shade and enjoyed a brilliant summer repast of plums, grapes, cold chicken, foie gras and the like. It was just the right foundation for the afternoon which was to follow.

Although – still controversially to some – the Hungarian nation lost its coastline after the First World War, the Magyar’s love of the water has not decreased one iota. For one thing, there are the mineral water springs. In Gyula, these were discovered in the 1800s when prospectors had actually been drilling for oil. These days people from all walks of life gather at the Gyula Castle Spa, which as its name suggests, is only a stone’s throw from the fortess. A little further afield by car or van, and you can pitch your tent or just plant your towel at numerous camping sites along the banks of the Black River, or Fekete Körös, at the spot where it joins the White River Fehér-Körös to form the Körös river.

After a fairly sedate boat trip up and down a stretch of river, the ‘Kapitany’ asked if any of us would like to go for a ride in an air boat. Though I don’t pretend to be particularly physically courageous, I found myself the first in our group to say “yes please, I have a need for speed”. The air boat, pictured, has been seen all over the world in, I believe, episodes of CSI Miami. It is capable of skimming along through swamplands at considerable speeds and in water as shallow as just 10 centimetres. This particular air boat, we were informed, was the only one of its kind in Central …oh, enough with the statistics. It was quite simply huge fun, and a great way to forget one’s troubles; skimming through swamp waters on a boat with a propeller at the back and a navigator in the mood for some mischief. “Don’t get in if you don’t want to get wet”, he had warned us, with a smile.

On the Sunday evening, before returning with some reluctance to Budapest, we were treated to an ‘interactive’ performance of Romeo & Juliet. It was a young cast, the winner of a high school theatre competition. It was much more accomplished than one had any right to expect from a high school production. I found myself with a lump at my throat at the customary plot points. Well. I’m a silly, sentimental sort. It’s in my theatrical blood, but I was also impressed by the raw talent and commitment of the young cast.

Transport of Delight

We had stayed in Gyula at the Elizabeth hotel, a light and airy hotel that faces onto the castle. The English speaking staff went out of their way to be helpful, as had the Tourist board, our indefatigable translator Marianna, and the Director of the Gyula Castle Theatre, the aforementioned Mr Gedeon. It’s an old saw. The less you have, the more you give. And after a delightful weekend in Gyula, Hungary, I can say that there’s truth in it. You see, Gyula is in the Eastern part of Hungary which is widely understood to be the poorer part of the country. It’s a few days after my weekend in Gyula, and I am still basking in the glow of the hospitality; touched by the genuine nature of the people. Gyula is but a three hour train ride from Budapest, yet the consensus seems to be that it’s a long way off the beaten track. Well, I think it’s time to give that perception a jolly good Shakespeare up. Pun intended.

‘The past is a foreign country’, famously observed genteel English author LP Hartley, ‘they do things differently there’. Well, this is a postcard from the so-called ‘city of yesterday’. It’s a town called Oradea, in Transylvania. Don’t be too hard on yourself if you haven’t heard of it. (Oradea I mean, not Transylvania.) This small city in North Western Transylvania is a repository of faded grandeur, which just happens to be just my favourite kind – of grandeur that is. Though not as well known as other Transylvanian towns such as Braşov, or Sighişoara, it has a baroque and art nouveau splendour all its own and an historic timeline teeming with incident; from the inspiring to the tragic. For inspiring, look to its role as a centre of humanism and the Renaissance in Central Europe, and the university originally built here in that time; for tragic, try the burning down of Oradea Fortress in the Tartar-Mongolian invasion of 1241 – described in the famous poem Carmen Miserabile. Nine hundred years later and the city’s Jewish population were all but annihilated in WWII. The remaining Jewish population is miniscule; as evident in the decrepit state of the synagogue.

There is however a significant Hungarian population in Oradea, and you can recognise the language being spoken on the streets. You can recognise it that is, if you know what geese choking on foie gras sounds like looped backwards. Romanian of course, is a curious tongue with its own peculiar charm; sounding like Italian spoken with a thick Russian accent. (Is there any other kind?)

Meanwhile back here in Hungary, there are nationalists who believe Oradea should be within Hungarian borders, as it was before WWI, for example. I’m not quite sure what it is the Hungarians feel they could screw up more decisively than the Romanians have, left to their own devices. But I notice that Romania, while one of the poorest countries in Europe, is not on the Huffington Post watch list of 10 countries most likely to default; while Hungary, who ended the Cold War with better prospects than any other post-soviet country, could still go full Greek.

Anyway, back to Oradea. At various points in its history, the town has prospered and declined under many different bylines, just some of which include ’Athens on the Sebes Körös’, ‘Paris on the riverside of Pece’, ‘the City of Tomorrow’, and (my personal favourite) ‘the City of Yesterday’.  Which I suppose it is in present tense. You may gather by the different names of the river running through it, Sebes Körös (Hungarian) and Romanian (Peces) that the town has changed ownership a few times, which it has – Hungarian and Romanian and Turk have all held dominion over Oradea. Today the river is known as the Crisul Repede, and very pretty it is too, as it meanders past the banks of the charming, leafy and well, quite frankly Parisian looking centre. The Athens bit stems from its university, which even today is reputedly one of the better medical schools in Europe.

Still, Oradea has undoubtedly seen better days, and I’m not talking about during the disco era. In a census taken in 1538, shortly after the town’s so called Golden Age, it was estimated some 20,000 people lived in Oradea, around a third of London’s population at that time. By 1720, that figured had trickled down to just 216 residents. Today, the populace is again around 20,000, though I don’t suppose anyone would claim this as an indication of any Golden Age. Oradea, like most of Romania, seems quite poor. There are plenty of people in peasant dress, plenty more in straw pork pie hats, socks and sandals, threadbare suits, and so on. Though there are a number of restaurants dotted about, most patrons seem to order little more than coffee. Cheap and nasty little casinos and strip joints abound however, just in case anyone decides they’re not being separated from their money quickly enough. But Oradea certainly doesn’t feel dangerous, at least to this old East European hand.

It is probably a place for Transylvanian ‘completists’, best saved after seeing Bran Castle, Timişoara and so on. But because of that, as a tourist, you virtually have the place to yourself; which may be just how you like it – I know I did.

A treat for a Friday. My friends and followers on Facebook and Twitter may be a little frustrated by some of the video links on my posts. I’ve been inviting them to check out a series called Space Cadets which is currently playing on AXN SciFi across Central Europe. The various country websites, such as AXNSciFi in Hungary have been firewalled rather expertly, to prevent copyright. Which in general, is a conspectus I heartily endorse. But just this once, for friends in the UK, US, New Zealand and so on, a sample of what they’re missing.

By way of explanation, the animation in Space Cadets was originally known as Youri the Spaceman and was directed and produced in la belle France by Raoul and La Machine, respectively. I changed the series name to Space Cadets, scripted a commentary which I then voiced with my brother Craig and Voila! The rest is hysterical. We recorded the voiceovers in a place called The Farm, a post production facility on Soho Square in London. It’s the kind of place where you can order lunch – and a glass of Champagne if you like – off menus from the local restaurants. After two days of character voicework, the 26 episodes were done and dusted. Craig and I wandered over to Soho Square on a pleasant summer evening and had a couple of beers. I remember saying then, and it holds true still, that no matter what we did in our entertainment careers, it would be difficult to surpass the joy of being well paid for doing silly voiceovers for such wonderful animations in a posh London studio.  As a fan of shows like Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and Red Dwarf, I believe this series to be one of my finest hours. I do hope you’ll concur.

VALINT

Valint, the famous Warrior Poet of Renaissance era Transylvania, goes on a life-long quest for glory and true love on the frontier land between warring empires. Romance and mystery follow this 16th century James Bond…

SYNOPSIS

Transylvania in the time of the Renaissance: A theatre of war, fought over by the Hungarians, Turks and Tatars. As a young man, Valint is tutored by Bornemissza, who is more like a wizard than a schoolmaster. It is while still an adolescent that Valint meets the love of his life. This is Julia; older, wiser and more than his match, she brings him great joy and great torment. Valint’s life story is populated by a rich assembly of characters, both friend and foe. Other characters include Elizabeth Bathory, a faded society beauty on the brink of madness; her cousin Stephen Bathory, who renounces debauchery to become a wise King of Poland. Sitting on the Hapsburg throne is Rudolph II, who has a taste for both handsome lads and for the Occult. In Turkey, Roxana, who runs the Sultan’s harem and, truth be told, the Ottoman Empire from her bed. In the thick of history, in a savage, mystical time, Valint secretly influences the outcome of history. Resourceful and brave as he is, the Valint we shall come to know is a tragically flawed hero. He can be vain, lusty and even cruel, especially in revenge. Yet he is redeemed by his courage, loyalty and a helpless romantic streak.

So… how d’you like them apples? I’m a mere writer and occasional on camera talent, so I’ll leave it over to David Timar to deal with enquiries. You can contact him through his website.

We’re expecting some decisions from household name broadcasters, about obtaining our infotaining (yes, intentional pormateau word) our informative and entertaining documentary ‘The Medieval Trip 3D’. I’d love to tell you who is taking a look at the special, it’s a roll call of household name broadcasters, something we owe in part to a great distribution agent. But in the interests of confidentiality, and also because I’m a superstitious sort and don’t wish to ‘jinx’ these transactions, no more in the way of specifics. At least not until blood, er I mean ink, dries on a contract.

You can take a look at an interview with Director Balazs Jekler, here.

And what you’ve all been waiting for, a sneak peek at the show. The opening title sequence of The Medieval Trip. The handsome, well built and altogether heroic chap undergoing Medieval deprivations, that’s a Hungarian by the name of Attila Muller. Attila is already world famous in Hungary – this show may well expand his horizons. The rotund fellow swanning about in a coat and doing bits to camera, is well, me. Enjoy.

Certainly I haven’t abandoned my literary ambitions. I still seek a publisher for my children’s books The Wild Cats of Piran, and for my travelogue memoir, which I’m now thinking about calling ‘An Expensive Education’.

But. These works will have to wait until publishing deals are in place. At the moment, my focus is on the telly. A thing for “appearing on, not for looking at”, as Noel Coward put it. I wouldn’t go along with that necessarily, especially when you compare the state of television drama with the big, dumb loud and bombastic experience that seems to characterise most feature films these days. An overpriced run down the multiplex to watch Green Lantern or Transformers XVII. No thanks, I’ll stay at home with Boardwalk Empire. Or for that matter, reruns of I Claudius, Brideshead Revisited – or practically any BBC documentary with David Attenborough, Terry Jones or even that prickly old lush, Keith Floyd.

Perhaps also I’ve been getting up to on Facebook what I really should be doing here. Short, sharp and concentrated updates on my progress as a writer, producer, presenter and actor; along with plugs for people and places I think deserve it. If there’s one life lesson that has had to be drummed into me, it is that less is so often much more.

So, the Jet Set Hobo’s home in the blogosphere is being repurposed, rebooted somewhat. Do not adjust your internet.

Though I’ve shows in development and on the verge of being commissioned, they can’t all be winners. Here’s a series idea that didn’t quite make it with HBO Central Europe, but I still think has ‘legs’. Incidentally, if you’re confused by my last post it was essentially the same thing, but in Hungarian.

This Town is a drama series that takes place where the A-List meets the underworld in Budapest. The principle characters are Hungarian, American, British, Chinese; from anywhere and everywhere, a reflection of modern day Central Europe. Some are the so-called beautiful people of Budapest, the high flyers and the wannabes. Some operate on the margins, in the sex trade and crime, whatever it takes to ‘make it’. Each and every one of them is vital, fascinating and real. We will be both appalled and enthralled by the antics of these people.

Everywhere from The New York Times to Variety, they’re saying it. Budapest is becoming a little Hollywood on the Danube. And one of the main nerve centres of this ferocious little world-within-a-world is a casting agency called Central Casting. The agency is run by a divorced mother-of-one Aniko, who in some ways is the heart of the series. The other main environment is The Loser’s Club; a bar run by Zoli, her younger and ill-fated boyfriend. The action also takes place everywhere from costumed balls in grand houses, to raves held in old Turkish bath houses. One of the most photogenic cities in the world is at our doorstep, why not use it?

This is a show with ‘multiple’ characters, just like some other HBO shows we could mention. Multiple characters also mean multiple languages. Because this show is based in the ‘jet set’ of Hungary, the players speak not only Hungarian but English, German and Italian and so on.

Aniko and her peers may be a dysfunctional, racially mixed, sexually promiscuous bunch, but they are a kind of modern family. Perhaps not many people in Central Europe are fortunate(?) enough to live and love as our characters do, but then how many New Yorkers lived like Carrie Bradshaw? Yet this show is firmly based in reality. And this writer should know: He’s lived it.

This Town would run as series of 13 x 30 minute episodes of television drama. It is based entirely on an original series concept.

The Pilot – Aniko’s diary

The first show opens on a typical morning in This Town. Aniko wakes up in a darkened bedroom, instinctively reaches for Zoli, but he’s not there. As she gets up, and draws open the curtains, he staggers in – not exactly drunk, but not entirely sober either. It’s been another long night at The Loser’s Club. Aniko is quite chill about it: anyway she is too busy getting primped for work. She leaves, and he gets on the phone; suddenly sober and it seems, in need of money.

Across town, at the Eastern Train Station, a 17 year old Roma named Duci, fresh and hot from the countryside, arrives in Budapest for the very first time. She gets off the train with her bags and walks along the platform, teetering on her heels. When she reaches the entrance of the station, she takes a deep breath and reaches into her pocket to find a piece of paper with Central Casting written on it. Obviously, she thinks it’s her ticket to fame.

Aniko, stuck in traffic in her battered old Renault, calls the office and speaks to her ambitious assistant. Lin is a 1st generation, young Hungarian/Chinese office manager. She has been fielding phone calls since last night from an important agent in Los Angeles, demanding to know where his client is. The client is actor Trent Buchanan. He’s a has-been American action star with a well deserved reputation for smashing up hotel rooms. Aniko is furious at Lin for not telling her sooner. Lin says she was just trying to solve the problem by herself.

The substance abusing American hulk is not smashing up hotel rooms this time, but staying incognito at a Buddhist health spa in downtown Pest, where he is trying to physically and mentally cleanse himself: Fat chance of that. Aniko eventually tracks the volatile actor down, and goes to see him; speaking to him softly, like the overgrown child he is. Then she has to deal with his agent in the US, who is an annoying voice down the telephone, and possibly an even bigger jerk than Trent Buchanan.

Duci gets her first impression of Central Casting, arriving in the middle of a fight between Aniko and Lin. It doesn’t deter her; she waits patiently to register on their books and have photos done. Claude, the French photographer who takes her head shots, asks her on a date and suggests he knows a way for her to make some easy money.

By now it’s only 7pm, but after a day of crisis management, Aniko feels like knocking off early for a drink. She heads straight for The Loser’s Club and to Zoli. There’s no one in the bar except him and two gangster types, who, when Aniko arrives, finish whatever business they had with him and leave. Aniko wants to know who the goons are, and what they wanted. Zoli tries to change the subject.

He is distracted – saved even – by the arrival of more staff and customers. They include Esmeralda, the punked out and tattooed 30 year old bar tender. If you ever want straight talk from a gay woman, see her. There’s Benczur, a chess master and online poker player who is half Australian, half Hungarian; James, a laid back but charming journalist from the UK, who used to be a war correspondent in the Balkans. Aniko tells Zoli they have to talk when he gets home, says goodbye and leaves.

At home, 8-year-old daughter Felicia is being read a bed time story by her Aunt Barbara, (Aniko’s sister) who as we discover, lives with them in their rambling house in Buda. Aunt Barbara gives Aniko a bit of a lecture about having a boyfriend who comes in so late, and her own tardiness. Aniko has heard it all before. She makes herself the drink she didn’t have earlier at The Loser’s Club.

Series One

The first episode introduced us to the main and many of the recurring characters, and was Aniko’s episode in some respects. In the following episodes we’ll see things from the perspective of other players; follow their stories, discover their darkest secrets.

As the series continues, the characters all break up and reshuffle and get together and then move on again. Despite all the competition and the occasional disaster, Central Casting continues to grow as a business. Zoli’s problems spiral out of control and eventually it’s too much for Aniko. The English journalist falls in love with her, and after a while, she with him. Zoli disappears off the scene, before his creditors in the Ukrainian mafia catch up with him. Much of the business’s success is now the result of Lin’s hard work and shrewdness, but how big a piece of the action will she want in return? Trent flips out on set, gets back on the bottle and the powder again, and starts a highly inappropriate affair with Duci. Chess and poker playing Benczur gets a girlfriend, a stunt woman and actress named Gabriella who then breaks his heart by having an amorous episode with Esmeralda.

Like Entourage, treme or The Wire, part of what will make This Town special is getting the specifics of an urban environment just right – the slang, music, clothes etc – but its themes are universal. In this case, they are the lengths people go to for success, fame and to secure happiness in love; The conflict between being a parent and having a career, between being a good Hungarian and wanting to be a citizen of the world; The temptations of ‘easy’ money, and of quick fixes and the pressure to stay on top, stay young, die pretty.

Second series and beyond

The stakes would just keep on getting higher. Zoli comes back to town, having made a lot of money in some shady deals, and tries to get back his bar, and his woman. Trent Buchanan is arrested and thrown in jail after one wild party too many. Lin makes a power bid to take over Central Casting, just as they bid to cast a major Hollywood movie. James the journalist is badly beaten up after covering a right wing rally.

I believe this series is HBO material, and not a regular, network/commercial TV show for obvious reasons. It is a groundbreaking, multilingual look at contemporary Central Europe. Moreover, it not only has Hungarian characters and stories, it couldn’t be set anywhere else but Budapest.

There are similarities between this series and Entourage, in that it is glamorous – up to a point. And with The Wire, in that it documents the gritty underbelly of a city – again, only up to a point. This very ‘on zeitgeist’ series concept is very much its own thing. One thing for sure, it can and should look fabulous; the cast, the sets, the parties, the city of Budapest.

This Town can cut across cultural lines and be a success both in Hungary and internationally.

A The New York Times-tól, a Variety-ig mindenhol erről beszélnek: Budapest egy kis, Duna-parti Hollywooddá kezdi kinőni magát. Kegyetlen, kicsi „világ-a-világban”-ná, amelynek egyik fő idegközpontja a Central Casting szereplőválogató ügynöksége. A Central Casting vezetője az egygyermekes, elvált Anikó, aki bizonyos értelemben a sorozat központi alakja. A történések másik fő helyszíne a The Loser’s Club: egy bár, amit Anikó balvégzetű és a nőnél fiatalabb barátja, Zoli működtet. De az események e két helyszínen túl mindenhol máshol is peregnek, operaházi farsangi báloktól egészen a régi, törökfürdőbeli tombolásokig. A földkerekség egyik legfotogénebb városa fekszik a lábunk előtt, miért ne használjuk ki ezt az adottságát?

A sorozat több karakterre épít, amint teszi azt néhány más HBO műsor is. A több karakterűség egyúttal többnyelvűséget is jelent. Mivel a sorozat Magyarországon élő nemzetközi közegre alapoz, a benne szereplők sem csak magyarul, hanem angolul, németül olaszul és más nyelveken is beszélnek.

Lehet, hogy Anikó és társai csoportként diszfunkcionálisan működnek, kevert nemzetiségű társulatot alkotnak, és a szálak szexuális vonalon is összekeverednek, de így formálnak modern közösséget. Talán nincsenek sokan a közép-európaiak között, akik elég szerencsések (?) lennének ahhoz, hogy úgy éljenek és szeressenek, ahogy a mi karaktereink teszik, de hány New York-i él úgy, mint Carrie Bradshaw? A sorozat mégis a valóságra épít. És ha valaki, akkor a sorozat írója biztosan tudja, hogy így van, hiszen ő maga élte meg ezt a valóságot.

A ’This Town’ 13, harminc perces epizódból álló televíziós dráma sorozat, mely teljes egészében eredeti elképzelésen alapul.

A pilot epizód – Anikó’s Diary

Az első rész egy „Város”-beli tipikus reggellel indul. Anikó a lesötétített hálószobában ébred, ösztönösen nyúl Zoli felé, de ő nem fekszik már az ágyban. Anikó tántorogva kel fel és húzza el a függönyt – részegnek nem mondanánk, de józannak állítani is túlzás lenne. Ismét túl van egy, a The Loser’s Club-ban eltöltött hosszú, görbe estén. Anikót ez az állapota hidegen hagyja, hiszen túl sűrű lesz a napja ahhoz, hogy legyen ideje kisminkelni magát. Távozik, telefonokba kezd – hirtelen ettől kijózanodik és úgy tűnik, hogy nagyon kell neki a pénz.

A város másik végén, a Keleti Pályaudvarnál egy 17 éves cigánylány, akit Ducinak hívnak, frissen és üdén érkezik vidékről Budapestre – életében először jár itt. Holmijait a kezében tartva száll le a vonatról és sétál végig a peronon, magas sarkúban egyensúlyozva. A pályaudvar bejáratához érve mély levegőt vesz, zsebébe nyúl és kivesz onnan egy papírt amire ez van írva: Central Casting. Arca mindent elárul: hisz abban, hogy ez az ő megváltott jegye a hírnév felé.

Anikó ütött-kopott Renault-jában araszol a dugóban, közben felhívja az irodát, hogy ambiciózus asszisztensével egyeztessen. Lin fiatal, első generációs, kínai-magyar irodavezető, aki egész éjjel és azóta is folyamatosan telefonokat fogad egy fontos Los Angeles-i ügynöktől, aki tudni akarja, hogy hol van az ügyfele. Az ügyfél Trent Buchanan, a színész, egy valamikori amerikai akciófilm sztár, akiről nem alap nélkül beszélik, hogy szétvert már néhány hotel szobát. Anikó dühös Lin-re, hogy nem szólt erről korábban, Lin pedig azzal védekezik, hogy csak próbálta egyedül megoldani a problémát.

A probléma az amerikai „vademberrel” ezúttal nem a hotel szobák szétverése miatt van, hanem mert Trent a pesti, külvárosi buddhista gyógyfürdőben próbál a világ elől elbújni, fizikailag és szellemileg is megtisztulni. Esélytelenül. Anikó eléri a színészt, elmegy hozzá és higgadtan beszél vele – ahogy egy olyan nagyra nőtt gyerekhez kell, mint amilyen Trent. Majd kezeli a helyzetet a színész USA-beli, idegesítő telefonhangú ügynökével is, aki talán még Trent Buchanan-nél is nagyobb seggfej.

Duci a Central Casting-hoz belépve rögtön, első benyomásként, egy Anikó és Lin közötti veszekedés közepébe csöppen. Ez azonban nem tántorítja, türelmesen vár a regisztrációra és a fotózásra. Claude, a francia fotós, aki fényképezgeti a lányt, randira hívja és könnyű pénz reményét ígérő egyéb lehetőségekre is utalást tesz neki.

Még csak este 7 óra van, de egynapi válságmenedzselés után Anikó kedvet kap egy italra. Egyenesen a The Loser’s Club felé veszi az irányt, Zolihoz. A bárban Zolin és két gengszter külsejű alakon kívül senki más nem tartózkodik. Anikó érkezését látva abbahagyják a beszélgetést Zolival és távoznak. Anikó tudni akarja kik voltak ezek a gúnárok, és mit akartak. Zoli azonban igyekszik másra terelni a szót.

Zoli megmentve érzi magát, amikor a bár dolgozói és a vendégek betoppannak. Például Esmeralda, a 30 éves, tetovált, bárpultos, punk külsejű lány. Szókimondó meleg nővel akarsz találkozni? Ő a te embered!. Aztán ott van Benczur, a félig ausztrál, félig magyar sakkmester és online póker játékos. Vagy James a ráérős, sármos, angol újságíró, aki háborús tudósító volt a Balkánon. Anikó közli Zolival, hogy amikor Zoli hazaér, beszélniük kell, elköszön, majd távozik.

Otthon Anikó lányának, a 8 éves Feliciának, Barbara néni (Anikó testvére) olvassa az esti mesét. Barbara – ahogy a történésekből fokozatosan kiderül – Anikóékkal él nagy budai házukban. Barbara ráolvassa Anikóra lassúságát és azt, hogy milyen együtt élni egy olyan férfival, aki későn jár haza. Anikó már számtalanszor végighallgatta ezt. Végül elkészíti magának az italt, amit a The Loser’s Club-ban korábban nem tudott meginni.

Az első sorozat

Az első részben megismerjük a főszereplőket, illetve a későbbiekben ismétlődően feltűnő karaktereket, összességében azonban az első rész Anikó köré van felépítve. A következő részekben a történéseket más szereplők szemszögéből látjuk: más szereplők életét követve fedezzük fel legsötétebb titkaikat.

A sorozat folytatásában a szereplők szétválnak, a szálak összekuszálódnak, a karakterek újra összejönnek, majd ismét tovább lépnek. A verseny és a be-bekövetkező katasztrófák ellenére a Central Casting mint üzleti vállalkozás növekszik. Zoli gondjai kontrollálhatatlanokká válnak végül Anikó számára pedig elviselhetetlenné. Az angol firkász szerelmes lesz belé, és idővel Anikó is viszonozni kezdi az érzelmeket. Zoli eltűnik a színről mielőtt az ukrán maffiához tartozó hitelezői utolérnék. Az üzlet sikere javarészt Lin szorgalmának és eszének köszönhető – de mennyit fog ezért kérni viszonzásként? Trent kibukik, a képernyőn őrjöng, visszaszokik az italra és a kábítószerre, és Ducival kezd kifejezetten helytelenítendő kapcsolatba. A sakk és póker játékos Benczur barátnőre lel, Gabriella, a bámulatos színésznő személyében, aki aztán összetöri Benczur szívét az Esmeraldával folytatott szerelmi kalandjával.

Ami a ’This Town’-t különlegessé teszi hasonlóan az Entourage treme-hez vagy a The Wire-höz, az többek között az, hogy az adott város jellegzetességeit pontosan adja vissza – szlenggel, zenével, öltözékkel stb.-vel együtt – a mondanivalója, témái mégis egyetemes érvényűek: mekkora utat tesz meg sikerért, hírnévért, szeretetért, boldogságért az ember, miként őrlődik a szülő a család és a karrier között, hogyan lehet jó magyar és világpolgár egyszerre valaki? De ide sorolható a könnyű pénz és örömszerzés késztetése, a csúcson maradásért folytatott küzdelem, a „maradj fiatal, halj meg csinosan” életérzés.

A második széria és a továbbiak

A tét egyre növekszik. Zoli visszatér, sok-sok sötét ügyletből származó pénzzel, megpróbálja visszaszerezni a jussát: a bárt és a nőt. Trent Buchanan-t letartóztatják és börtönbe teszik egy túlságosan vadra sikerült party után. Lin megkísérli átvenni az irányítást a Central Casting felett, ajánlatot tesznek továbbá egy nagyobb hollywoodi mozi casting munkáinak elvégzésére. Jamest csúnyán összeverik egy jobboldali megmozduláson.

Hiszek abban, hogy a sorozat HBO profilba illő anyag és nem egy kommersz TV show. Úttörő, többnyelvű képet ad a mai modern Közép-Európáról. És bár nem csak magyar karakterekről és szereplőkről szól, de Budapestnél jobb helyet a forgatásra keresve sem lehetne találni.

A sorozat hasonlít az Entourage-hoz annyiban, hogy ez is elbűvölő – egy bizonyos pontig. A The Wire-ra pedig annyiban, hogy dokumentálja a nagyváros ridegebb megnyilvánulásait is – de megint csak egy bizonyos pontig. Ez a korszellemet dokumentáló koncepció teszi igazán egyedivé a sorozatot. Ami biztos: a show csodálatos tudna lenni, illetve kell hogy az legyen: a szereplőgárda,a beállítások, a partik és Budapest városa erre a garancia.

A ’This Town’ kulturális határokat törhet át és siker lehetne Magyarországon és külföldön egyaránt.

My qualifications to comment on the Nature of Luck, we’ll have to discuss in another post – but while we’re still on the subject of  Time, how do The Dark Ages grab you? Well, bear with me for it was only a few days ago I clambered out of my Time Machine from a stint in the Medieval Era. But I hope to be back soon. I refer of course to the 3DTV pilot The Medieval Trip, which I’ve been working on, off and on, since March.

Filmed on location in Hungary: quite possibly the most medieval country in the world, and I say that with no disrespect intended.

In The Medieval Trip, a very fine Hungarian bloke named Attila Muller is plunged back into a reconstructed Medieval Hungary where he has to find food and shelter, learn to fight and hunt and connive his way out of serfdom…

And all this in the space of a week. While he does so I sort of mill about in a  blazer or suit, providing little bits of historical context now and then. But not too many dates and statistics I hope. It is meant to be an experience after all, not a lecture.  The 3D thing. From time to time I do get to give Attila a nudge in the right or wrong direction, and that’s fun. The end of the pilot episode should come as a nice surprise for people too I think.

This alternate Medieval World of ours is of course a place that exists in the Imagination. It was created in cohorts with Hungary’s Medieval Re-enactment societies. But the degree of authenticity some  of these re-enactors go to  is pretty impressive. Hawkeyed students of Medieval history will however note that in some scenes, judging by things like clothes and furtnitiure Attila might either appear to be in the 14^th century, or at others in the 9^th century, pre Christian Pagan Hungary. Well. (This wasn’t a big budget pilot for one thing!) But it’s also worth remembering that the Middle Ages lasted for a long time and for centuries things didn’t change very much, especially for the common folk. Indeed, the Middle Ages lasted from the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476, until the Turkish capture of Constantinople almost exactly a thousand years later.

As a keen amateur historian I sort of  knew some of this stuff, but as you can imagine, I’ve learned a great deal in the last few months. The Falconer that you see in the first photo for instance. Did you know (I didn’t) that in the Middle Ages, Falcons were not just a working animal, and a pet, but they were also a fashion accessory? The modern day equivalent of the Chihuahua I suppose. A falcon, which incidentally is the fastest creature on land or sky, (I didn’t know that either) strikes me as  a much more desirable accoutrement. Anyway,  in the Middle Ages, the Nobles took them everywhere. People even got married with raptors perched on their hands or wrists. Falcons were very popular among the clergy and were taken into religious services. Nuns in particular were rarely seen without their falcons.

You really couldn’t make it up.

Shot,  edited and now looking quite tasty by a Hungarian/Antipodean bunch of loonies working on a tight budget, that’s The Medieval Trip. A few serious people are already interested but better not say who, as there’ll be no deal in place until they see the final cut pilot. Answers shouldn’t be too far away I hope. But then again, that all depends on how one measures Time.

PS: One hopes you enjoyed the photos too, which I took ‘on set’ on my not-terribly-smart phone.

PPS: If you’re wondering why it’s 1st fragment rather than part one or something, it’s because I’m adopting the style of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. There will soon be a 2nd fragment! So hear ye, hear ye. You were warned!