Visual artist and film director O Zhang filmed her new production, Anna and Dreams, here at Bennett Media Studio.  I am hard at work as the Music Composer for the project.  Anna and Dreams is part of the Piccadilly Revisited project, which is a film and video, dance, music and drama performance inspired by the life and loves of Hollywood’s first Chinese film star, Anna May Wong, and the classic British silent movie Piccadilly (1929) in which she played a starring role. The film will premiere at the Royal Opera House in London in late March this year. The project is sponsored by Art Council in England and supported by The British Film Institute. I have been working late hours  finalizing  the  score for the Anna and Dreams film and look forward to seeing it premiere at The Opera House.

Anna May Wong is the only Asian-American actress with a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame. She worked with Dietrich and Olivier, frequently appeared on the pages of Vogue, Tatler and Vanity Fair, and the song These Foolish Things was written for her. As a female artist and character/persona, she has experienced a renaissance in recent years.

Chinatown Art Space based in London has commissioned  7 short films for the ” Piccadilly Revisited -Anna May Wong” series. Four of them will be shot in London, three in New York. O Zhang is the director for the three New York shot films. The films will be a re-creation of Anna May Wong’s surreal dreams, in the style of David Lynch’s films in monochrome. Each of these silent films are 3-5 mins long, and were all shot here at Bennett Media Studio on Jan 29, 30, and 31. The film will tour around UK and East Asia including a  showing at the Shanghai Expo. The New York project and process was documented/filmed by The Shanghai Media Group for airing in China.  Piccadilly Revisited -The Dreams of Anna May Wong, directed by David Tse will have the good fortune of 300 million viewers in Asia. I’m excited for the film, it’s creators, and, of course, the sound and music composition.

Producer: Chinatown Art Space (London), Bennett Media Studio (New York)

Premier Venue: Royal Opera House, in the heart of theater district in Covent Garden, is one of the best performing art venues in London.

Below are photos by Ed Bennett taken at the 2-day filming: