So sorry my page went down due to a technical fault and it took a while to fix it. The page as you can see is back up and I will be posting the next report shortly.
Jo
So sorry my page went down due to a technical fault and it took a while to fix it. The page as you can see is back up and I will be posting the next report shortly.
Jo
Happy New Year from Jo! I hope you all had a great Christmas and thanks for your continued interest!
Since I posted last, Birmingham Memorabilia was approaching and this time I decided Xena was due for an outing again. Always enjoying going to Mem, it was incredibly busy on the Saturday and the crowds and narrow aisles created some bottle necks but thankfully was calmer on the Sunday. Loving talking to and seeing some of the awesome artists there showcasing their work. Looking forward to the March one so hopefully may see some of you there. Thanks to Keogh’s Photography photo at the top of this post for a great photo!
The Private Lives of the Monarchs has aired on the Yesterday Channel and you can see me pop up a few times on the episode of George III and the Prince Regent. I think its still be played and you can catch it on the UKTV Player.
Beginning of December saw Sean and I pop over to the Isle of Wight for the Victorian Christmas weekend at Osborne House. Always enjoy popping over the the IOW, especially in the summer as its really pretty.
A very cool gig came in for a corporate Christmas party with an Enchanted theme. I was asked to appear as an Evil Queen character and they had a purpose built grotto with cauldron which looked awesome! I was there asking the guests some fairytale themed questions in which they had a chance to win tickets to see the show Wicked and an evening meal for 2. I wore my unfinished Maleficent dress (without the collar and headpiece) with my Morrigan crow cloak. The combination of the 2 with my red wig and a crown looked great. It was really fun to do and had a great time!
Shame I didn’t have anymore photos taken but this gives you an idea of the look
Sean and I made an appearance to help promote the new FOE Board game I mentioned in my last posting. We headed down to an event near Southampton to chat to the public and even play a battle against some of the attendees. Needless to say my overall score was the best The Empress rules supreme! Here you can see our great promo posters of our characters in the game. It was a real fun day and hopefully raise awareness of the project. Please check out the FB Page for more photos and details of the event and game itself.
https://www.facebook.com/foeboardgame/
With the release of Star Wars The Last Jedi just before Christmas, this led to several appearances as Stormtroopers all over London at different cinemas for private screenings. A mixture of original and new trooper bookings, with one of my favourites being at the Electric Cinema on Portabello Road where we stood outside of the entrance as the guests arrived. We created at lot of interest from the guests arriving and the passing public on ther way home.
Here we are just before we stood outside, if you haven’t been to this cinema I highly reccommend it as inside you have large leather seats and foot rests to relaxing in whilst watching the film! Nice.
The last appearance before Christmas saw Sean and I returning to Woburn Centre Parcs as Jack Sparrow and Elizabeth Swann for the Breakfast with Santa. A really enjoyable one this as you can spend time talking to the families and seeing how excited the children are. The other nice bit is we get fed afterwards the yummy breakfast! Winners all around lol.
Well thats it for the now, here is to a fantasic new year ahead and many more fun filled adventures!!
Jo
Ok ok I’m sorry, I’m even later in posting a new report this time the time whizzes by so quickly! Ok right lets rewind back to the end of August then to a very cool event at a very special place, Windsor Castle! To get to do an event here is extremely rare and very special for that reason, a day of medieval activities and events were laid on for the public to enjoy. I was fortunate to be one of the many performers picked to be there for the day helping run the childrens sword battles.
Some of the filming days I did last year for Horrible Histories TV show has aired, here is a nice shot of me on an episode about the funeral of American President Jackson. What was funny was his pet parrot who apparently said some naughty words during the service!
With the DVD release of the new Alien Covenant film I was approached to by a promotional company to see if my alien Annabelle wanted to help them out by assisting them with some promo drops. We spent the day popping into movie related offices for photo ops and delivering some alien foetuses and a copy of the movie!
End of September saw Sean and I being invited back to the Starbase 24 event as guests. We had a great time chatting and making new friends and helping raise some money for Macmillan. Was great to sell a couple of my leather pieces too as well as a couple of copies of Tales of Albion film.
Straight after the Starbase event we went to a friend of ours who is an amazing photographer for a photo shoot. We have have done a previous shoot with Nicole before as she did the awesome Xena images you can see in my previous post. This time it was for my silver queen, Captain Phasma as ever Nicole did an awesome job as you can see from one of the photos above from the shoot. Further photos can be found either on my Facebook page or my Instagram page Xenajojo1.
I am also involved with a new developing board game called Fortitude of Empires being portrayed as the character The Empress. A Kickstarter is about to be launched for the game but a lot of the development is well underway with all sorts of great things already being produced. Please check out the Facebook Page to keep upto date with the project https://m.facebook.com/foeboardgame
Been making a few small commissions in between other events making costume pieces and leather work. The new Labyrinth pieces seem to be creating a lot of interest which is great, I have also added a new Game of Thrones dragon wristband and beautiful Pegasus wristband too. Please check them out in the Etsy shop https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/XenaJoCreations?ref=seller-platform-mcnav
Have a few more commissions to contend with and some stormtrooper appearances in the pipeline so will report on those next report. Ok so I guess the next post will be in a few weeks so thanks for being here and catch up next month.
Jo
Yet again I find myself apologising for leaving it so long to post a report up! It has been a while so sorry for that.
Ok lets back peddle to May Bank Holiday for the Gloucester Tall Ships Festival. Every 2 years they hold this event at the Gloucester Docks drawing huge crowds over the 3 day event. A beautiful array of tall ships were in attendance with attractions on and off the water with Sean and I along with our fellow performers put on several pirate shows through the day. Great crowds for the shows and the children seemed to love Cpt Jack Sparrow as he manages to squirm his way out of trouble again!
Then it was straight off to Osborne House on the Isle of Wight for some Victorian Fun for Queen Victoria’s Fete, made all the better seeing our friends
Then in June I was heading up to Colchester again as Queen Boudicca to the Colchester Roman Circus for their special weekend event with the Ermine Street Guard Reenactment group. The day started off with a march through the town of Colchester back upto the Roman Circus site. Was really cool being among the soldiers as they marched in all their finery (even though they are Romans!) I then jumped on the chariot that was used in the TV series Boudicca with Alex Kingston, and was pulled along by my trusty steads back to the centre. The day was spent chatting and talking to the public and having photos taken, I do love supporting this place so please check out the FB page or website to see the amazing work the Colchester Archaeological Trust do. http://www.thecolchesterarchaeologist.co.uk/
Sean and I went to the Cast and Crew Premiere in Leicester Square of The Mummy film starring Tom Cruise, really enjoyed it particularly with Seans involvement in the film.
At last it seems I have finally wrapped on Humber City with my last days filming in July. We filmed at the Hull KR Stadium and I had a couple of scenes, one with the lovely Terry Molloy who played the baddie Davros from Dr Who. All went well and fingers crossed the cast and crew showing and wrap party will be in October. I will update when I know more.
I did an awesome photo shoot with Nicole Klein Photography as Xena. The photos look awesome and you can see them on my Xena FB page and I have posted one of them at the top of this report. https://www.facebook.com/xenajojo1
I did a days filming at Hampton Court Palace helping to dress Henry VIII for a documentry for a programme called The Private Lives of the Monarchs. Will keep an eye out when its due to air.
I have eventually got my acting showreel updated please check it out here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXPa_vNtamk
Finally Sean and I made our annual appearance at the ABC Animal Sanctuary in support for their Summer Open Day to help raise funds for the welfare of the animals. Beautiful weather helped bring the crowds in. Along with some costume friends of ours we helped to add more money to the charity pots by asking for donations for photos. The day was a great success and hopefully will help all the lovely volunteers who care for the animals and the running of the sanctuary.
Ok thats it for now, thank you for your patience and appreciate your following my adventures
Jo x
Hey,
As ever the first couple of months are generally fairly quiet, particulary on the filming front with only a days filming on a advert. Fingers crossed the constant roles I am putting myself forward will bring something good soon.
In the meantime a much welcomed role came in playing a zombie on a trade stand for a gaming company helping to promote the new Walking Dead slot machine. It was hard work constantly being in character for many hours but it was also fun scaring the public.
Thankfully my costume and leather commissions have helped see me through the quiet time with 2 Iron Age Childrens costumes for Jersey Heritage, look forward to see the children having fun in them.
I also received a commission for a costume piece from a character from the popular TV Show Wynona Earp. Officer Haught wears a police gun rig which my client requested which consisited of a leather notepad pouch, handcuff pouch, radio holder and gun holster. After a fair bit of research and working out, the holster in particular had a strange configuration in the way the strap wrapped around the back of the gun and came over and fastened at the front. I purchased the correct belt to finish it off and I after dying and waxing the pieces was very happy with the finished look.
I have some more potential commissions coming up so look forward to see what will be next!
Going back upto Hull for another couple of days filming on Humber City and then it should be the last one after that. Actually looking forward to the next one as I shall be filming with Sophie Aldred which will be fun. Will keep you posted on that, in the meantime check out the productions FB page for all the upto date news. https://www.facebook.com/Humber.City/?fref=ts
Just a reminder that the Tales of Albion DVD is on sale and can be purchased here: http://www.talesofalbion.com/ and a very cool book is due for release soon as well which is a very well done behind the scenes book. Full of never seen before photos, storyboard images, costume designs and what went into making each episode. It really is a quality book so keep checking the webiste of FB page for further details https://www.facebook.com/TalesofAlbion/?fref=ts
I am pleased to say Colchester Roman Circus Visitor Centre, the only site of Britain’s only known Roman chariot racing track have invited me back as Queen Boudica for an event day in June alongside the Ermine Street Guard Roman group. Very much looking forward to go back as they made me so welcome last time when I was the guest of honour at their official opening back in 2015.
Well thats if for now and thanks again for stopping by and will post again very soon. x
Jo
Happy Christmas to you all and thanks again for checking in on my adventures!
Going in reverse since I last posted, back in November Sean and I attended the Memorabilia Show at the NEC, this time for a change not as Xena and Jack Sparrow but as Dark Phoenix and Wolverine from the Xmen. Really nice change and it was less hectic which gave us more of a relaxed event which we could enjoy more. The one time I don’t dress as Xena and a Xena guest is signing! The lovely Manu Bennett was one of the headliners so thanks to Sean treating me I had a photo op with him. I asked to borrow one of Seans Wolverine claws for Manu to wear, I must say he would make an awesome Wolverine!
Had a great Stormtrooper job for a corporate event at Greenwich Planetarium which saw us being involved with a Mannequin Challenge which was a real laugh. Not sure if I will get a copy but will let you know if I do.
We then whisked off upto Hull for some more filming on Humber City, filming a fight scene in very challenging conditions and a test on ones patience but we managed to get it done! Only one more shoot to go and I shall be wrapped!
11th December saw the premiere of the long awaited film The Tales of Albion! 4 years in the making and the wait was worth it. Very pleased how my story came out and my performance and the other stories look great too. Photo on the top of this posting is a screengrab from one of the scenes set in Afganistan. If you love Myths and Legends and Celtic folklore then head over to their FB page under the Spirit if Albion name (from the first film) or the website at: http://www.talesofalbion.com where you can purchase a copy of the film. Here is an awesome photo from the premiere of myself with my two lovely on screen sisters Lisa and Kris
With the build up to Christmas I also took part in a few corporate events, a Western action show where I played the Madam of the Saloon which was loads of fun and a chance to shine in a new costume and role. Sean and I had the pleasure of working alongside Cineworld Cineworld escorting VIP competion winners for Rogue One film goers. Alongside Darth Vader we went to 2 different cinemas over 2 nights which was really fun!
My little Esty shop Xenajo Creations had a nice little flurry of orders come in, I have added some new lines to it but I also do private commissions so if you would like something made, let me know!
https://www.etsy.com/shop/XenaJoCreations
Well thats it for the mo, Happy Christmas!
Jo
Ok back tracking to September I attended the starbase 24 annual banquet as a guest with Sean along side my lovely friend John Carrigan and his wife Annie. The lovely Virginia Hey and J G Hertzler were also guest at an awesome event and all in aid of Macmillan Cancer Care. This was a lovely well planned event and I had the opportunity to appear as a special guest to talk about my filming experiences as well as dressing as Xena for the photo ops with proceeds going toward the charity pot. I managed to sell a couple of my leather hair barrettes as well which was great. It was a lovely event which I look forward to support again next year.
I have also had the pleasure of working a few days on the popular childrens TV Show Horrible Histories. Such a laugh and a lot of fun to work on this series, I have been dressed in lots of different costumes and covering an array of time periods. Lovely crew and production, will find out when its due to air.
Then the best part of this year, going on holiday to Los Angeles with Sean, staying with friends and experiencing new adventures and making new friends. Love visiting LA, it always presents new and exciting times, even more special when other friends are over at the same time. John Carrigan and Annie where there too and we spent sometime together having such a great time. We went to Universal Studios which is always a must when in LA, weather was great and company even better. We were also introduced to Anthony De Longis and his lovely wife Mary thanks to John and also to Ben Alpi and his lovely wife Jyotika, all lovely people and a pleasure to know. What was very exciting was getting a bullwhip lesson off the master himself Anthony, he trained Michelle Pfeiffer for her role as Catwoman and Harrison Ford as Indy! Flippin amazing!!! What an experience and I will follow it up with more lessons when over next in LA.
We also visited my friends in Yucca Valley to spend time with them and visit Pioneer Town for good drinks and food. First day there we ended up on a 4 hour trail ride in the desert! Lots of fun times!
Whilst in LA I did a bit of filming for a little shoot which saw a fight ensue with Xena and Red Sonia! The actress who plays her contacted me before I flew over about the idea of the 2 amazons crossing swords. I took my Xena costume over with me and ended up shooting for a day in a glade. Not sure as and when it will be completed but of course will post on here any news or links.
After all the excitement of Los Angeles and back in the UK Sean and I were heading down to Dover Castle for the Halloween holidays helping children make masks and spooky spiders! Great working with Griffin Historical again and thankfully the weather was kind and we had some beautiful sunsets most evenings.
And finally some great news about the Tales of Albion film I did a while back. The film is now available for pre-order and will be available from the 12th December. Please follow this link for further details http://www.talesofalbion.com/ where you can order your copy. The premiere is being held on the 11th December which I will be at and will post some photo too. Very excited to see it completed and see all the hard work that has gone into this project. Please support the film by purchasing a copy! The photo at the top of this post is a shot from one of the days I was filming.
Well thats it for the mo, I’m sure there will be plenty to post over the next couple of months so keep checking back.
All the best
Jo
Just a bit of an update since the last post. The DVD of In the Name of Ben Hur is now available in the shops too but the cover is a little misleading as it doesn’t have the full name on the cover and also the picture doesn’t really relate to the story of the film? Bit strange but there you go! This is what the cover looks like if your interested in checking it out.
Done a few days of appearances and filming over the last month or so, with a couple of Stormtrooper gigs inbetween. Catwoman and Elizabeth Swann also made appearances at a couple of events recently which was fun especially when you get to sit in an awesome batmobile! (as catwoman )
Filming wise I did a days work on an episode of Forbidden History about Mary Magdalene at Chislehurst Caves, awesome location which has seen the several TV shows film there including Merlin. Have also done several days on Liam Neesons new film The Commuter as well as a commercial which has a massive Disney tie in, can’t say anymore on that but it was an awesome days filming. Have also done a few days stand in work on a big superhero film which was pretty cool, shame it wasn’t more days. Enjoying immensely working on the popular childrens show Horrible Histories and hopefully will have a few more days as the production is brilliant to work on and funny too. Filmed another day on Humber City in Hull, thankfully its nearing the end and hopefully will all be done in a couple more days of shoots and be wrapped by end of November.
Battle of Bosworth Reenactment
August saw the return of Boswoth Battle which I do love going to, mainly as its full of memories from years back and seeing old friends again. It would have been fun to say I played the King but Henry Tudor didn’t want the crown so he gave it to me after the battle!
This weekend (23/24th Sept) I am attending the 10th Starbase 24 Anniversary Charity Banquet in Peterborough as a guest of the event. I am very much looking forward to it and I shall post a report in the next posting. I shall be appearing as Xena but also as myself and talking about filming, should be fun
Well thats it for the mo and thanks for dropping by!
Jo
Ok ok sorry its been so long but I will make up for it with the things to post!
Ok lets rewind back to May! The online game Clash of Kings had a massive promotion in London which involved 3 armies, lava monsters, barbarians all in the centre of London in the shadow of Tower Bridge. It was quite a spectacle and something you don’t see everyday especially in central London! Armies marching over Tower Bridge with banners flying and cheering warriors going into battle. I played the Queen in charge of the Blue Army who teamed up with the King of the Red Army to defeat the evil King of the Black Army. It was loads of fun and loads of media coverage on the day. Check out this video that was streamed online the day after the event.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9B1bneKpSA
Filming Sean and I did on the daytime soap Doctors was aired early June on BBC1, the episode called Slings and Arrows saw 2 rival darts teams going head to head in the final of a competition. I played one of the darts players in the ladies team, a small featured role which was really fun to do.
A couple of years ago Sean and I attended an event for RAF Brize Norton for their family fun day. Alongside a couple of our UK Garrison friends who were dressed as Darth Vader and a Stormtrooper, Sean and I went as Xena and Jack Sparrow. We filmed some of the highlights and Sean has eventually got around to editing it together. Here is the link and check it out!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNz___baSq4
July saw me return to the city of Hull to film another installment of the saga Humber City. This particular shoot was really nice to do as we had most of the main cast in the scene. Such a pleasure to work alongside these guys, other than being lovely people, the dynamics of the characters everyone brought to the scene and everyones professionalism made it a really great scene. I shall be heading back up to do some more filming next month, and hopefully it is now coming to an end and all filming should be all done by September!
More filming, this time a documentry called The Private Lives of the Tudors which was aired on the Yesterday Channel. Filmed this a while ago earlier this year I ended up playing Queen Elizabeth I showing her not so good side. The Queen used many things to try and make herself look youthful like lead based makeup and used honey to clean her teeth! I think it goes without saying they may not have been the best things to have used! So I went through a couple of hours in make up having a bald cap put on, blackened teeth and scaring to show what the Queen actually looked like underneath all her makeup and wigs! Mmmm sexy!
The lovely annual Open Day at the ABC Animal Sanctuary was upon us again. Only one day this year not the usual 2 but it was still a great day, more so as this year we were joined by a couple of old costuming friends we hadn’t seen for a while so it was great to catch up with them and spend a lovely relaxing day helping raise much needed funds for the charity. Weather was lovely and I helped with parading one of the lovely Shetland Ponies called Jack.
For those of you who do follow this page you may remember me landing a role in a film back in September last year for a film called Chariot. A film about Ben Hur following his life after the chariot race. I played a celtic warrior mercenary that was part of a group of mercancaries hired to capture Ben Hur. The photo at the top of the post is a screengrab from the trailer and here is the link to the trailer, will find out when it is due to be released and let you know.
Well during the month of June and July I have been very busy making my new costume Captain Phasma from the new Star Wars film The Force Awakens. I was aiming to get it done for the huge event at the Excel in London – Star Wars Celebration Europe, the biggest Star Wars event that is held all over the world and on this occassion it was the turn of London, the last one here was in 2007. After much blood, sweat and tears I managed to get her done just in time. I was still doing minor alterations up until lunchtime on the first day (Friday) but I got to the point of its now or never and without having a chance to try it on beforehand. Well I can thankfully say she held together with just a few minor repairs along the way! The response from other 501st members and the public was overwhelming she came she saw and she conquered! She went down an absolute storm and as I was the only Captain Phasma there that made it even more special. She will be on patrol again in the near future!
Well thats it for now I promse I won’t leave it as long as last time for the next one!
Jo
As always this time of year things go a little quiet work wise, though I have been making a few things and have a few things in the pipeline.
First off since the last posting Sean and I have done 3 stormtrooper jobs, one which was filming for an internal film for a tobacco company so unfortunately it won’t be seen publicly. Only thing to show is the photo above of Sean and I just after filming. It was funny filming in a newsagent in London with unsuspecting customers walking in!
TheTales of Albion film project is almost complete, I was asked back to record some voice over work and a bit of dubbing. Was great to see some of the edited footage on screen as its a couple of years ago when they were filmed. Fingers crossed it will be finished and available in a couple of months. Will update with further details.
February half term saw Sean and I at Jersey to the Maritime Museum for their Pirate Week! Was a lot of fun and one of the highlights for me was to visit the Jersey Celtic Coin Hoarde to see how the conservation was going. The hoarde of coins, gold Torcs and jewellery is so big it is taking several years for them to seperate and record every item! Each time I have seen it is slowly being getting smaller and smaller but there is still a long way to go.
Filming, I did a day on a new Hollywood film with the special effects dept. They have not started filming yet but they were testing out the sand storm effects machine, there was about a dozen of us running around being blown about with big wind machines and different types of fake sand. It was purely for the effects dept to see what worked best so they footage will not be seen anywhere but it was fun to do. Not something you get to do every day!
Still plugging away at the auditions, fingers crossed a cracking role will come my way! Memorabilia in a few weeks in Birmingham so will have a report about that too so please keep checking up on the page.
Jo