The life and anarchic times of Ted Milton
Please donate to the crowd fund for the film now! Details here.
The plot!
Blurt are one of the great post punk bands. Their sax driven grooves were raw and thrilling and driven by Ted Milton’s manic presence and poetry. The sort is as bizarre as you would expect and Ted is a magnetic off kilter charachter.
An estranged family attempt to resolve deep seated issues with their hell–raising Dad via the only medium that makes sense – a puppet show. What could possibly go wrong?
An independent feature documentary directed by award-winning filmmaker George Milton (& siblings)
Co-produced by 2 Many Executives & Jez Lee, Executive Producer @ Forest https://www.weareforest.co.uk/
The Film
Ted Milton is not your average Dad.
A true British eccentric: an uncompromising, anti-establishment and anti-success ‘artist’ in the purest sense of the word.
From 60’s poet to 70’s puppeteer to 80’s post-punk musical icon with his band Blurt, he’s never been one to conform.
He’s been married 3 times, got 5 kids – and a cult fan base who revere him. (His kids, maybe notsomuch.)
And along the way he’s managed to leave a trail of destruction which only now does his family feel capable enough to confront.
In a moving and personal film, which touches on mortality, notions of success and the complexity and universality of family psychodramas, George Milton – Ted’s eldest son – will attempt to facilitate a long overdue conversation – or a confrontation.
And featuring guest appearances from rock star Eric Clapton and Spitting Image creator Roger Law.
There’s going to be laughs along the way, but it’s not going to be easy.
There’s a Buddhist saying: ‘If you carry a cup of poison around long enough, eventually you will have to drink it…’
The Crowdfunder
George has been shooting for over a year with Ted, family and friends, and has now shot most of the material for the documentary.
To complete it he intends to build an exact replica of his dad’s Mr Pugh’s Puppet Theatre puppet booth that was razed to the ground by Ted in 1979.
And with master UK puppet maker Scott Brooker, design and make 25 puppets which will then be performed (and filmed by George) and his 4 siblings.
The puppet sequences will help tell the story of Ted Milton’s life, offer tragi-comic commentary, create counterfactuals (events that might have happened, but didn’t) and generally subvert the narrative.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBhrMnbOjLw
CROWDFUNDER
https://crowdfunder.co.uk/p/the-last-puppet-show
INSTA
@thelastpuppetshowdoc
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