Friday 12 September 2014

Star Wars Auction by Original ILM Model Makers, for one of ours.

Hello all,
I am doing a one off, because this is the sort of feel good news that needs to be shared.
As you know I used to work in California making models for movies, blowing them up and the like.
Well, Robbie Edwards, a fellow English man, was one of my co-workers, and my friend.

Robbie working on Pirates of The Carribean, messy making. 
On Greenscreen set, Robbie sets out to sink a ship.

Unfortunately Robbie suffered a stroke in Sept 2013,  it was devastating, but he's managed to cling to life and kept a wonderful sense of humor with his slogan of 'musn't grumble' how very English. Although his recovery has been laborious and painful, he is learning to walk again, and getting his motorskills back, a hidden element of the stroke is the fact it affected his temporal lobe- the part that affects creativity- his job was primarily creative as a model maker on major motion picture movies in California. His wife has written a blog here.
He has worked 30 movies in 20 years including Star Wars, Pirates of the Carribean, War of the Worlds and Men in Black, to name a few- the stroke has effectively put an end to the career he would have had to pay back his US medical bills; when he had the stroke he had no health insurance and Obamacare hadn't kicked in yet.

Robbie making mini houses look real
Now the wonderful part is that the collegues at the model shop, have realised how huge his medical bills are and that he has no way to pay them back, and so are organising a fundraiser creating original artworks from the Star Wars movies a C3PO head carved by Lorne Peterson Oscar and Bafta Award winner, and Indiana Jones, to name but a few pieces, this will be on an online auction for 10 days, and ending on the 21st Sept in a benefit night where all of his friends and family will convene.

Some of wonderful team of Model Makers
This is a fantastic heartwarming story of a group of collegues, helping to lift someone whose hit hard times due to ill health and hit their livelihood, to banding together as a community proving good things can happen, and adversity shared and halved. It is an honour to have been one of them and to share with you now.. go on.. give back to the man who created all that on-screen magic for you! :)
So, bid for stuff online NOW at: http://www.32auctions.com/Robbie

Attend the benefit here in California, and be in the company of all those talented creative movie model makers, or if you cant get there and the story moves you please do donate.

All Pictures Credits to : Sean Casey. Copyright protected.


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