Work Is More Evil than Voodoo
“Like many people, I regularly used to work 70 hour weeks with little or no time for my family” says Pratten. “I woke up one morning and just decided to do something completely different, something fantastic”.
At 35 years old and a successful, internationally recognized consultant to the telecoms industry, Pratten quit work in 2000 and started at the London Film School just a few yards from his former office. Now, four years on, he’s written, directed and produced his first feature film to tell others quit your job before it destroys you.
The film, London Voodoo, tells of an ambitious New York analyst that takes his family on a secondment to London, England and is forced to embrace voodoo to save his family from destruction. “This guy, like many others in real life, is working so hard he doesn’t notice the changes happening around him - life is just passing him by”
Pratten wrote the film during 2001, a time when police were investigating several ritualistic killings in London thought to be related to the practice of voodoo. Investigating for himself, Pratten discovered a religion that brought comfort to many people (estimated to be 60 million worldwide) and even found himself stripped naked as part of a local voodoo initiation.
“First and foremost, the film is made to entertain but if I can get just one person in the audience to leave the theatre and do something different with their life then I see that as a life saved – it’s not voodoo that’s evil, it’s our unwillingness to take a break from the office”
London Voodoo features Sweden's finest: Sven-Bertil Taube and Michael Nyqvist with an original soundtrack by Siouxsie & The Banshees’ songwriter and bassist, Steven Severin. Additional songs are provided by his new group Darling Hate (featuring songwriting partner and vocalist, Arban Ornelas).
The film premiers 10pm March 7th at Laemmle Fairfax cinema 7907 Beverly Blvd. (corner of Fairfax) in West Hollywood, Los Angeles, CA.
Other dates scheduled are 5pm March 14th at Fearless Tales Horror/Fantasy Festival in San Francisco and April 4th-11th at The World Horror Convention in Phoenix, Arizona.
