 |
 |
 |
 |
WSM TRIBUTE to BILL SHIPTON
|
It was a great shock to learn of the sudden passing of my colleague and friend Bill Shipton at the age of only 57. I first met Bill under his true name of Clive Harris in 1983. He was the presenter of a custard pie caper held at a venue near Hammersmith, London. I believe I still have some pics somewhere among my large library of slides. I next remember meeting him a year or two later, this time hosting a mud wrestling event on the 1st floor of a pub also down London’s West End (cameras banned!). As a freelance writer, he had many fingers in many pies, but was a dynamic, yet irreverent, innovator. I next met Clive (now renamed as Bill Shipton ) 11th March 1989 at the 1st Aquantics Convention held at the Harbour Heights Hotel (now converted to flats!) in Tenby. Bill had decided to launch a wet and messy magazine under the name of ‘Splosh’. WSM girls Carol and Debbie provided the ‘splosh’ entertainment that time (see 5 pics from set S058 shown as recently as 28th June under WSM Productions ‘What’s New’). Bill formed a good working relationship with Shaun Kendall (the WSM film editor) and they went on to make the ‘Buff’ range of videos. Bill’s writing and comic skills were well apparent, so WSM signed him up as our script-writer and Bill produced the scripts for the WSM Vintage Films numbers 3 to 9. In fact, it was better than that, as Bill was only too happy to show his versatility by taking a number of roles in the videos. So Bill had real ‘hands-on’ experience in the 90’s. Bill’s 1st issue of Splosh magazine was shot in the basement of the Harbour Heights Hotel. WSM greatly assisted Bill by supplying much material for issues 2 through to 11. There were 40 issues of Splosh (all of which I have). But Bill realized at the end of the 90’s that a new phenomena was changing the world. So the internet made magazine production too costly with falling sales. The introduction of a studio and a devoted ‘Splosh’ website changed Bill’s direction. But new technology is a curse and Bill struggled to master all the aspects of video production. I last met Bill in 1999 when we completed Vintage Film 9. Since then we had many a phone conversation which always ended in the same manner….laughter! We ended up as two captains in the worldwide sea of WAM, me on the container ship WSM with weekly drop-offs and occasional loadings. Bill had his cruise ship SPLOSH. Everyone was welcome to sit at the Captain’s table and Bill was recognized as the talented, witty comic genius he was and great company to be with! The magazine and latterly website, brought many different people together as a community. Bill had a huge influence on many lives and his term splosh entered our language. I would think the NHS owe him a huge thanks for reducing their therapy costs! Latterly, life was a struggle for him as he showed devoted care to his elderly parents. But we all know that he cared very deeply for his splosh family. He was the kindly, caring, compassionate, yet always willing to be amusing, face of WAM. So a legend departs! May he rest in peace! Few people have such a legacy to have been loved by all. WSM have put together a 9 minute Download Tribute so some of you can see the real Bill Shipton. Our film editor freely gave his time to output this, such was his respect for one of the grandfathers of WAM. So, watch genius at work: Bill Shipton Tribute Download Mike Ellison |