Colin Hives
Shivilenco Pictures was formed in 1990 by writer/director, Colin Hives. Colin had been working in various capacities (including tea-maker) at Mersey Television since 1985 and eventually rose to the dizzy heights of editing assistant by the time he left the company in 1992.
An almost obsessive film fan, Colin had long been tempted by the idea of making his own movies and his time at Mersey Television had provided him with an insight into how to go about it. An early spec video camera and a fertile imagination were soon being put to good use - well, use, anyway. For much of the 1990s, Colin wrote, produced and directed a host of off-the-wall short films, generally starring anybody he could tempt in front of the camera. It was all good fun, but Spielberg was hardly worried.
Shivilenco's output became more sporadic as the decade neared its end and Colin had essentially packed away his VHS camera and mothballed the reel-to-reel editing system.
In 2001, however, Colin discovered that a new colleague was a jobbing actor (who, naturally, had to find other employment to keep the wolves from the door). Paul Taylor had worked in theatre and small television roles during the 1990s. The pair got talking and each realised that they could be of mutual benefit to the other.
Three years of increasingly lengthy 'shorts' followed, several exceeding the thirty minute mark, a couple reaching the latter stages of film festivals and one being broadcast on Channel Four. There was now a momentum and professionalism about Shivilenco which had stealthily crept up on all concerned. Attention eventually turned to the prospect of a feature-length production. Several false dawns and many re-writes later, Jimmy Wilde, was finished in 2009. The project took on a life of its own and Shivilenco even fulfilled its long held ambition of securing cameo roles, in the shape of legendary Porridge and 'Allo 'Allo actor, Sam Kelly, former The Bill and Brass star, Shaun Scott, and veteran television and theatre actress, Liz Crowther. Jimmy Wilde had its premier at The Woolton Picture House in September 2009.
You can Learn more about Colin here.
Sam Kelly
The late great Sam Kelly in Jimmy Wilde
Jane Darcy
Star of Red-Handed, Final Act & Obsessive
Paul Taylor
Star of The Price You Pay
Liz Crowther
One of our super guest stars in Jimmy Wilde
Suzanne Roche
From our Justin Currie video