I knew Wendy Holden when she was just a Daily Telegraph reporter though, come to think it, that was no bad thing to be (as I was reminded when asked out of the blue to write for it again last week). Wendy has gone on to become a bestselling author whose latest exploits include the memoirs, would you believe, of the canine co-star of the Oscar-winning silent film The Artist (or L'Artiste when I saw it in Hyères; without bragging I can say I understood every word). Here, I allow Wendy not only to tell how she became involved in a Hollywood shaggy dog story but also to plug shamelessly a journey into the world of apps ...
I confess to knowing very little about the complicated mathematical codes required to create computer software. I write my books on a three-year old PC or equally ancient laptop and I've only recently acquired an iPad. My Blackberry is supplemented with an iPhone only so that I can check what apps look like in that format.
Yet suddenly I find myself heading up a company facilitating the creation of apps from books and communicating daily with a team of self-confessed software geeks.
This new foray into the world of binary codes and meta-data is a far departure from my life as a former newspaper correspondent, non-fiction author, novelist, occasional agent, book doctor, and ghostwriter.
It's certainly not something I'd ever have envisaged when I left journalism to write books full-time. More than 20 books later, including nine bestsellers, I still love what I do and have never been busier - with two manuscripts due next year and a screenplay in the making - but my enthusiasm for this unexpected change of direction has caught me by surprise.
Perhaps it is the amateur painter in me that finds this new level of creativity so appealing. Designing an app is a bit like painting with numbers, after all. More likely, though, it was a small dog that inspired me - Uggie, the scene-stealing Jack Russell from the multi-award-winning movie The Artist. Having fallen for the film - and Uggie - long before it and he began to win Golden Globes, BAFTAs, Césars, Oscars, and the coveted Palm Dog, I tracked down Uggie's owner, Omar Von Muller, on Facebook to ask if he'd let me write his terrier's memoir. Three months later, having been hounded by writers, publishers and agents (if you'll excuse the pun), Omar agreed. My US agent, Alan Nevins of Renaissance Literary & Talent, sealed the deal and handled the global bidding that soon began.
Uggie, My Story will be published by Harper Collins in the UK, Simon & Schuster's Gallery imprint in the US, and Editions Latte in France next month. Uggie, Omar, and I will embark on an international paw-signing tour which will see the canine star and his "acting coach" appearing on every major chat show sofa.
As a lifelong dog-lover, I'm thrilled by the enthusiastic response to the book's concept - "barked" to me as a Hollywood icon reflecting on his long road to stardom. Rescued as a pup and trained as part of a troupe, he played numerous roles in commercials and movies until he was picked as a sidekick (aged 63 in human years) for a silent black-and-white movie made by a little-known French company. Of all the characters in the movie that went on to take the world by storm, it was Uggie who stole the most hearts.
From the moment I met him at his Los Angeles home, I understood why. There was something about that intelligent, furry face that made me want to give everyone the chance to "meet" him. And so, an idea was born. Released on iTunes today (10 September) priced 60 pence in the UK and 99 cents in the US - Uggie, The Artist app allows precisely that.
By having their very own Uggie on their phone or device, his adoring fans can enjoy a private performance of some of his best tricks including skateboarding, rolling over, being bashful, and playing dead. They can browse through a gallery of more than 60 photos from his private album; and even superimpose their own photographs on to the faces of a man, woman, child or dog sitting next to him.
The app is separate to the publishers' own creative marketing strategy, which includes book signings, celebrity events, TV appearances, magazine and newspaper articles, as well as a charming short film of Uggie checking his manuscript, which is getting hundreds of hits on YouTube.
Our app takes Brand Uggie to a different level, and with minimal editorial content. There are direct links to buy the book and the DVD in each country, and live feeds to Uggie's much-followed Facebook and Twitter pages (at Uggie The-Artist and Uggie_TheArtist).
The only writing is the picture captions and some simple instructions for interaction.
The remainder focuses on the tricks that will have "Uggsters" howling with laughter, and the plating around with photos that can be emailed, tweeted or posted directly onto Facebook. Uggie, The Artist is a living, breathing creation which - although based loosely on the book's premise - opens up unlimited future possibilities, and fast. Within a matter of days, we can upgrade it with news updates, fresh photos and videos, details of the paperback, plus paid-for add-ons such as training tips, dietary advice, and a planned blog.
Working alongside the brilliant Peter Kelly and his award-winning British app company Fizz Software, we spent three months hammering out the details and fine-tuning the features, such as the black-and-white effects, video footage, and old film-style borders. I set up an umbrella company, Wendy Holden Inc (WHINC Ltd), and hired a British celebrity photographer, Rupert Thorpe, to film Uggie performing tricks in front of a blank screen. We gained official permissions from the Weinstein Company and other agencies for photographs and links to the DVD, and sourced music similar to the Oscar-winning movie soundtrack.
The publishers have been incredibly supportive of the app and readily agreed to its timing. They are happy for us to promote it as part of the book tour, which only adds to the Uggie momentum.
We've given away scores of free copies to carefully-selected social networkers as we build to the book's publication. At this point, we have no idea if we'll sell a thousand apps or a million. The entire venture has been a risk; but it's one we've felt worth taking for the little dog with a big heart.
And this is only the beginning, it seems. WHINC has two further projects already in the pipeline, both different but with similar international flair. One will be much more closely linked to the book and website from which it is inspired, while the other will require another leap of the imagination and software innovation to create something we hope will have enduring, iconic appeal.
In the words of the Oscar-winning, super-skateboarding, water-skiing Uggie (the only dog ever to be invited to immortalize his pawprints on Hollywood Boulevard), the future promises to be quite a ride!
* My Amazon link, where you can pre-order the book at a knockdown price is at http://www.amazon.co.uk/Uggie-Artist-My-Story/dp/0007492901/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1347355898&sr=1-1
** Wendy's site is at www.wendyholden.com .
Recent Comments