Stevie dreaming of Mabinogion movie
FLEETWOOD Mac star Stevie Nicks is working on a movie based on a famous story from The Mabinogion.
The project is based on the band’s 1975 hit Rhiannon and the singer’s more than 40-year obsession with the tale of the magical otherworldly goddess from the famed Welsh folk tales.
The genesis for this love affair with the tale blossomed when the US star discovered the Rhiannon character in the early 1970s through a novel called Triad by Mary Bartlet Leader.
The novel is about a woman named Branwen who is possessed by another woman called Rhiannon. There is mention of the Welsh legend in the novel, but the characters bear little resemblance to their original Welsh namesakes in the Mabinogion.
It was only after writing the song that Nicks learned about the legend of Rhiannon, and was amazed that the haunting song lyrics uncannily applied to her Welsh namesake.
It was then the musician started to research the Mabinogion story and began work on a Rhiannon project, initially unsure of whether it would become a movie, a musical, a cartoon or a ballet.
Over the years there have been several Rhiannon-centred Stevie Nicks songs to emerge from this ongoing project, including Stay Away and Maker of Birds. Nicks wrote the Fleetwood Mac song Angel from the band’s 1979 album Tusk, based on the Rhiannon story.
Now, in an interview with US music magazine Rolling Stone, the singer has revealed that working on a Rhiannon movie had been her priority after the band finished touring last year.
“Last year, I made a pitch to everybody that when this Fleetwood Mac tour is over, I’m taking next year off because I want to work on my Rhiannon book/ movie,” she said. “And I want to maybe work with some different producers. I don’t know what I want to do. I just know that I don’t want a tour!”
THE world’s first compound semiconductor cluster, which is aiming to create thousands of high-skilled jobs in South Wales, has secured a £43.7m funding boost.
It has secured funding from the UK Government-backed Strength in Places Fund (SIPF) through UK Research and Innovation.
The cluster, through the CSconnected initiative, already employs 1,500 but aims to create thousands more high-skilled and well-paid jobs in the years ahead.
The project’s 12 partners include key anchor companies IQE, Newport Wafer Fab and SPTS, two universities – lead partner Cardiff University and Swansea University – and several government organisations, including the Compound Semiconductor Applications Catapult.
The initiative is one of seven chosen to be supported by the UK Government as part of a broader £400m investment programme announced.
The CSconnected project is based on integrating research excellence with the regional supply chains in advanced semiconductor manufacturing.
The emerging cluster is also a priority sector for the Cardiff Capital Region and its £1.3bn City Deal. It has also been backed by the Welsh Government.
Compound semiconductors are critical components across a wide range of new technologies.
The aim is to develop a competitive advantage in key enabling technologies which will allow the UK to increase trade globally in critical sectors such as optical communications, 5G, autonomous and electric vehicles, aerospace, robotics and medical devices.
The total global semiconductor market (compound semiconductors and silicon) is worth around £280bn a year and is growing at 10%-15% per annum.
The compound semiconductor market is around £24bn, but market analysts see huge growth potential in