Relocated...and the story so far

After finishing a job working for the Students' Union in Lincoln I decided to get back on the long and difficult road to working in film and television. After examining options, I decided to do a Masters in producing. This resulted in a 12 month move back to rural Worcestershire to live with the parents for a year in an attempt to save some money.

Things came together relatively quickly, I snapped up a job in PR and started to save the money to cover postgrad fees. But after a couple of months things did not seem so great. The job turned into the worst kind of corporate hell, so bad that even Ricky Gervais could not have realised it when poking fun at the suited classes in The Office. I eventually felt driven to leave.

There was also the loneliness. My girlfriend has moved to London to work, which meant limited time to see each other. I also went through the realisation that everyone that I have known throughout school or before had moved on to pastures new.

But, after a year of plugging away, the date finally arrived. I put all my things into boxes, loaded the car and headed down to a flat in Stratford, East London. Over the last two weeks I have felt more determined to do things than I have the rest of the year. Scripts are getting written, work and placements are being chased and networking events are being attended.

Tonight is a screening event with a collaborative film company called OTT Films. I will blog about it more when I have had chance to meet the people involved.

So heres to a new flat, fresh start and new found enthusiasm for everything.

Studying at Royal Holloway, University of London from September

Last week I attended an interview at the National Film and Television School for a place on a Masters studying Producing. It had always been the plan to apply for two fantastic courses and if both were offered, to make a decision based on career prospects, student experience and financial implications.

It was also likely a possibility that one or niether of the courses would offer me a place. A couple of months go, Royal Holloway offered me a place and last week I received a letter from NFTS inviting me to an interview.

The interview was with a panel, made up of 3 people, including the Head of the course, an experienced producer and the current Head of Film London. I felt it went OK, a little nervouse to start perhaps but it soon relaxed and a good conversation was had. In all honesty, when you walk into an interview situation, it seems to go well during but little can be remembered specifically from the time spent in the room.


Yesterday I received my answer and it is a no. Well, more accurately, it is a no to a place in the final 16, but a yes to be a reserve incase one of those people drops out.

Of course, being told no for anything is disappointing, but in a large way, I am also happy. It has made removed the difficult decision about where to go extremely easy, it has meant that I can plan to start September (NFTS runs academic years Jan to Dec) and it also means I can budget for costs incurred by attending Royal Holloway.

When I visited the campus back in November last year, I was impressed with its location to Soho, its syllabus for teaching and the Head of Course who took the time to speak to me.

So the plans can begin, starting with a move to East London on the 24th July.

UPDATE: NFTS

On Friday I was sent a letter in an enevelope marked with the stamp of the National Film and Television School. I instantly thought it was a letter informing me that my application had been unsuccessful.

To my surprise, the letter was offering me an interview for a place on the Producing Masters.

The demand is so great for the courses run at NFTS, that this first interview is conducted with a panel of people from the school. After this, 16 successful candidates will be invited to come to the school for a week, to work on a series of challenges. From this week, the final eight will be selected. It all sounds like something from a reality show like The Apprentice, but the process is genuinely exciting.

On the 3rd July 11am, I will enter a room and walk into the unknown. I don't know who the panel is or what I will be asked, but this seems to add to the excitment. I just need to be prepared to answer any questions on television and film with relation to the career and achievements I want.

The Hangover that feels good!

For someone who wants to work in film, my cinema attendance has been at an all time low of late. This Wednesday I set about changing this with a trip to see comedy The Hangover.

Firstly, this would not have been my first choice film as I have not yet seen Star Trek or Terminator: Salvation, but the person I was going with had already seen these.

With Todd Phillips at the helm, who was the director on 2003's Old School, I thought I knew what to expect. Old School was a fairly standard frat boy comedy vehicle for Will Ferrell and Vince Vaughn. It had some funny moments but it was nothing out of the ordinary. With The Hangover being set against the backdrop of a stag weekend, or batchelor party as our trans-Atlantic friends would call it, I was expecting much of the same from Phillips.

And twenty minutes in, true to form, it was panning out that way. But, once into the film, things became interesting. The morning after the night before arrives, with the groom missing, one of the party missing a tooth, a tiger in the bathroom, a baby in the wardrobe and the father of the bride's prize Mercedes missing (replaced by a stolen Vegas police car). The first device that sets this film apart is the fact that we as an audience are kept in the dark about what happened along with the guys, we are not offered clues or flashbacks, so we discover as they do.

Don't get me wrong, this still has gross out moments but its the banter between the group that draws the biggest laughs. Thw writers have got the characterisation of a group of guys on a 'wild' weekend just perfect.

The Hangover is the best comedy that I have seen in a while, and has set the standard for laughs so far this year.

First rule of trying to break into film or TV.......

The first rule of trying to break into the industry is learning how to accept "the letter". I refer to the letter or e-mail that will arrive numerous times that looks a little like this:

Dear [your name]

We are sorry that [insert the job they cannot offer you, their reason and usually a line like "the standard of candidates was very high" or "we received a great number of applications"].

Yours Sincerely

[Insert name of employer]

This letter will become what feels like a daily occurance. The only way to take it is with a smile, good grace and a response to thank them for considering you. I do this as a rule, and today I have received an e-mail back stating that they will be keeping me on file for future projects.

The general rule of the industry is to be polite to everyone, as you never know who the next "big thing" will be and who will be recruiting for a project in the near future.

My first 3D movie experience

3D Film is the future. That seems to the message coming from every piece of movie press and every film magazine. Now this opinion facinates me as someone who wants to work in the motion picture industry, as it could either be the biggest technical revolution since colour, or it could be all hype and end up as the visual version of the Minidisc format.

Last weekend I decided to pay the extra to see the animated film Coraline (above) in 3D. The first thing that is different about the whole experience, is that it is between £3 and £4 more to see a film in the new format! The next notable change, is when you are handed your brand new 3D glasses in a sealed bag. Gone are the days of cardboard frames with one red lense and one green lense, these are sturdy, black plastic frames that look a little like extra wide Rayban Wayfarers.

The film itself never really fully flexed its third dimensional muscles, with the only really amazing moments when birds or flying objects appeared to jump off the screen. The reason I know that there is more to come, is that it was shown by the trailer before the film, which was for the Jonas Brother's live movie. One particular wow moment came when ripped up paper appears to be thrown at the camera and float gradually towards the viewer.

Many of the summer blockbusters are not going to be available in 3D, such as Terminator: Salvation and Transformers, which is a real shame as this technology utilised by an action film could create staggering results. There are many reasons for this, cost and the lack of knowledge about what people think of 3D cinema going are two of them. But, in my mind, the studios and directors have two other reasons for holding on, James Cameron and Avatar. James Cameron astounded audiences with the two first Terminator films and then walked away with eleven Academy Awards for Titanic. Since then, he took time out, but while he took hiatus, he found time to invent and hone the principle of modern 3D cinema. Now he is back, and he is due to unleash sci-fi action film Avatar into the world, and with all of his productions, epic things are expected. As the father of the new technology, it seems that everyone in Hollywood is waiting to see what Cameron's new film looks like before commiting to projects themselves.

But two things are for sure. If Avatar hits at the Box Office, expect nearly every film to be released from the back of 2010 onwards to be in 3D. And the second is, that despite the lack of usage in Coraline, 3D cinema is the future for cinema goers.

Back on writing projects

After a break away from writing while applying for more bursaries and trying to find jobs, this week I have dusted off some old ideas.

One is an update of a much loved British 1960s television show. In the past, this has be risky territory for the movie business, with The Avengers, The Saint and Thunderbirds reimaginating all taking a critical beating and floundering at the box office. But something about the one I am working on really makes me think that it could work for a modern audience.

Currently it sits at about 20 pages into the process, and so far feedback received on the concept behind it as been great.

Obviously, at this early stage, with no rights secured I need to be protective about the source material.

After an initial draft is complete I will be creating a treatment and some supporting documents and making an approach for the rights to use the characters and other names used throughout the show.