EXCLUSIVE: From the Highlands of Scotland: A Conversation with Kai Henderson for Screen Rebels: THE ODYSSEYS | The Fan Carpet Ltd • The Fan Carpet: The RED Carpet for FANS • The Fan Carpet: Fansites Network • The Fan Carpet: Slate • The Fan Carpet: Theatre Spotlight • The Fan Carpet: Arena • The Fan Carpet: International

EXCLUSIVE: From the Highlands of Scotland: A Conversation with Kai Henderson for Screen Rebels: THE ODYSSEYS


03 July 2017

Kai Henderson is a Writer, Actor and Musician from Inverness in the Highlands of Scotland. Kai has performed professionally since the age of 15 across stage, film, TV and radio. Kai recently performed the role of Benedict in the Musical Comedy Cabaret Getting Married Today at London's iconic Phoenix Artist Club. On vocals, guitar, bass and drums, Kai has performed in a wide range of original rock, metal, folk and jazz bands, featuring on regional radio and is a recurring international touring cast member of Buddy Holly and The Cricketers, the world's longest running Buddy Holly show. 

Kai's writing focuses on sassy heroines and thrilling plotlines. Having recently completed a stage adaptation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Kai also writes short films and feature length screenplays. Vida Fantasma Part I - Dark Room is Kai's first full length novel. 

Kai holds a first class BA(Hons) in Marketing and Economics and has top-level experience of theatre and performance production, most notably at London’s Royal Albert Hall, helping to book world-class artists such as Eric Clapton and Bob Dylan to perform at the iconic venue. He has also worked with the Antenna Theatre team to establish the Magic Bus Theatre experience as a permanent and incredibly popular tourist attraction in San Francisco, California.

Kai acted with Screen Rebels in 2016 and is thrilled to debut his new scripts as a writer for the 2017 series...

 

Was there a defining moment for you to get into the film industry?

As an actor I’ve always been interested in working in film. My background is definitely as more of a stage performer, but through working on a variety of short films over the past couple of years I can certainly say that my love and understanding of screen acting has grown immensely. As a writer, I began sketching out film treatments and basic script ideas in 2011, but it wasn’t until after I’d completed my first novel that the screenwriting bug really bit me, around 2015. Since then I’ve fallen in love with the medium – efficient, elegant, impactive. What’s not to love?!

 

How did you first get involved with Screen Rebels and what was it about Superheroes that appealed to you?

I first came to watch some friends perform in Screen Rebels Episode V, and fell in love with the concept, and the vibe of the community surrounding it, immediately. I got to know Lorenzo [Founder and Creative Director] better after that and he kindly cast me in Episode VII in a couple of cracking roles. The organisation was expanding quickly and I jumped at the chance to get involved on a more strategic basis. It allows me to combine my experience of marketing and running arts organisations and my insight as an actor an writer in a way that no other organisation could. 

Superheroes was a concept for a show that inspired us straight away. My childhood idols were the Spice Girls and Batman, so I was thrilled at the idea of creating a whole new pantheon of superheroes to entertain our audiences with. Not sure Lorenzo’s quite sold yet on my Spice Girls themed showcase, but you never know.

 

What can you tell us about your story and what was the inspiration behind it?

I wrote the second part of our Superheroes story arc, Justitia: Justice is Done. The story revolves around Justitia, a superhero-version of Lady Justice, and her brother and sister. All three arrived on Earth from the mystical planet of Olympia – I obviously took inspiration from Superman’s history of arriving on Earth from Krypton, but, as I normally do, I wanted to explore the story of a female title character – specifically with Justitia, how she tries to assimilate with a world of humans. I’m also a huge Metallica fan and had their album ...And Justice For All pretty much on repeat at the start of this year, so I think that must have had something to do with it. Inspiration comes from anywhere!

Lorenzo and I co-wrote the final screenplay in our showcase, Two Jacks, which was really an opportunity to see how far we could take the concept – how crazy can we make this, how crude can we make it, how real can we make it? We wanted it to be very funny and leave our audiences on a high – and I hope we succeeded!

 

READ THE FULL INTERVIEW HERE

 

 

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SCREEN REBELS: THE ODYSSEYS COMES TO THE PHOENIX ARTIST CLUB ON AUGUST 6 + 9

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