CraftNow!…or later, whenever…

D’Avekki Studios has opened a fourth online store! Yes, our global domination plan is alive and kicking and well on the way to being complete by Q3 of 2210.

The new store takes all the things D’Avekki Studios does best – great range, great prices, fast shipping, and awesome customer service – and decorates it with pretty patterned paper and sparkly embellishments. That’s right, it’s a craft store!

According to totally made-up statistics*, each of us knows at least two people who like to craft things – whether that’s card-making, scrapbooking, candlemaking or knitting with dog hair – and CraftNow! offers cardstock, toppers, embellishments, craft kits, and lots of different kinds of paper, so even if you’re not a crafter yourself, you should totally tell someone who is. (And you should also bookmark us ready for Christmas…we sell gift craft sets too!)

As with all new ventures, the store will take a little while to grow but already we have a fine selection of bits and bobs from a range of manufacturers including MIC, House of Crafts and Kanban!

Check it out here…

Argos open day a success

I’m happy to report that our trip to Argos went well and we’ve had a callback to head office at the end of the month. No details of the game in question can be released as yet but we hope to be able to come back with more good news later this year!

Game pitches, Argos and Flexi-Party!

Next month we’ve got a coveted invitation to pitch our game design ideas to Argos (which is great since their head office is in Milton Keynes too!) We have so many games ideas to choose from (including finished prototypes) that we’re finding it difficult to decide, but one that stands out is our Murder Mystery Flexi-Party game which runs like the classic boxed games, but allows for variable numbers of guests and it won’t spoil the party if someone can’t make it at the last minute. The idea is already being developed by one of our partners who is currently preparing to pitch the game to other major department stores.

São Tomé and Príncipe

Corporate video takes us to the tropical island setting of São Tomé and Príncipe this month which is a long way away from horror feature films (we hope!) The island is so remote that flights only run every few days so we’ll have a five day stint catching the glory of the island, then back to sunny Milton Keynes for a mammoth edit job which includes 3D walkthroughs and stunning animations. Visuals and storyboarding are delivered via the talented people at Creative Mill so all in all we’re hoping for sun (apparently it rains a lot out there too!)

Backslasher moves into edit…

After an enormously long production period (which isn’t technically over as there are still three scenes left to shoot!) Backslasher has now gone into the edit. With only 3 of 67 scenes left to film the edit is taking place now to make sure that there’s enough quality footage to create a great movie, whilst still passing an acceptable run time! Two of the scenes which still need shooting are from the very opening of the film, and they’re ripe for extending if necessary, and work on the screenplay is taking place in tandem just in case. Thanks to everyone, cast, crew and otherwise who has taken part so far to make the film what it is, and apologies that the edit is just going to take as long as it takes

Download Murder Mystery games

Download murder mystery party games!

www.downloadformurder.com is now fully operational and allows downloading of Murder Mystery games, invitations and accompanying media such as DVDs and MP3s. Since most of our boxed games are now out of print it seemed to be the obvious choice to keep them going via downloads, so the list of titles should grow steadily over the coming months. Hop on over to the website to see what’s available.

Backslasher keeps rolling…

 

Ina Maria Brekke playing Isla from Backslasher

Ina Maria Brekke wrapped her role as Isla today with a spectacular end sequence that can only be described as very disturbing indeed! This on set photo from the scene also shows the great work of Jenny Buckland (and the poor knot tying skills of the crew) without whom we would not be able to go ahead. Production should finish in April lining up the final film release for later in the year after some festival appearances. In the meantime, we can’t thank Ina enough for being such a good sport and showing us her best acting chops!

Stockings and Romance

As the Backslasher filming days begin to draw to a close we wanted to start thanking those people who have supported us, be it with money, time, discounted rates or props. Stockings and Romance  provided all the top class lingerie in the film that our leading lady Becca (played by Eleanor James) sells and runs parties with. Not only is the lingerie brilliant, but the amount we needed would have cost a fortune, and Andrew at Stockings and Romance provided not only the garments free of charge but also his several years of experience in the clothing industry. So please appreciate the “Lovezoop Undergarmentage” (quoted from the Backslasher script!) and take a look at the website. After all, who doesn’t want to look like a sexy Scream Queen?

Saracen House Studio

Backslasher production continues rolling this month with more dates confirmed which will bring the film to around 90% complete. Good locations are always a nightmare to find, but we enjoyed our scenes at Saracen House Studio so much we’re going back for more Not only is the studio a plush location, it also has several pre-made ‘sets’ available for shooting in, perfect if you’re filming on a budget and need to shoot several scenes on the same day. The professional photography services offered on the premises also work well for publicity stills, and when we were shooting we consumed copious amounts of tea and coffee – all provided in the hire charge. So sometime in April, we’re heading back again to shoot one of the first scenes in the film as one of our very last production days!

Alliance Games re-order Murdero

The little Murder Mystery card game that could, Murdero, has had a second order from one of the biggest U.S. distributors Alliance Games. This is great news for the game as we’ve now sold over a thousand units which gives hope for a future Murdero expansion Murdero is currently available from Hobbygames and JKLMNP in the UK, and Alliance Games and Fred Distribution in the U.S.

Consumers can purchase a copy from their FLGS or directly from the Murdero website.