I have attended many talks, workshops and networking events as well as gaining much work experience through contacts within the film industry. I attend many networking events and workshops at the Unit, a free space for filmmakers to network and pitch ideas for future film endeavours. They host many workshops such as ‘documentary and factual filmmaking’ by Sally Ogden. Sally has worked on many documentaries over the past 14 years and has gained a BAFTA nomination for her work in TV. They also host a ‘Writer’s Roundtable’ presented by Jacob Mulgrew, in which he gives writing advice to young screenwriters surrounding structure and narrative devices. I feel that I have benefitted from attending these workshops as they have aided me in improving my skills in these areas of film production.
The Unit also hosts many guest talks as part of their programme. They have had many industry professional guest speakers delivering talks about their experiences working within the film industry such as writer Jimmy McGovern, who is mainly known for such I. P’s (Intellectual Properties) as Cracker, Time and The Street. Another guest was Lisa Holdsworth, who has written for several long running dramas and soap operas such as Emmerdale and the BBC adaptation of Robin Hood. The most recent guest speaker they had was Phill Dodds, who also writes on Emmerdale and has written on other long running dramas.
I have gained much experience in working in film as a production assistant and a Boom operator. I have worked on 2 short films funded by Channel 4 as a part of their short form content fund. These were Youthless (directed by Jordon Scott Kennedy) and Sons and Daughters of Subculture (directed by Casey Shaw). Youthless has since been chosen by Rollem Productions (formerly ran by Kay Mellor) for development into a series for television. I have also worked on a short film funded by Bradford Council for international women’s day called ‘Bradfordian’. This was my first filming experience working with industry professionals and I gained many contacts through this opportunity. Due to working on this film, I gained the opportunities to work on the two Channel 4 backed films previously mentioned.
I then had the opportunity to work on another documentary directed by Casey Shaw about a local indie band named ‘Drella’. This was an amazing opportunity as I had the chance to operate sound equipment to obtain clear sound in an interview situation. I gained more contacts through this roll as a sound assistant. The band were grateful of me helping carry their equipment into the venue. This then led to myself being recommended to M.A film students from Metfilm School in Leeds to aid in the sound recording of their last collaborative short film, ‘Bittersweet’ (Directed by Chloe Ali). This was another amazing opportunity to work alongside immensely talented film students who have already had industry experience and will continue to gain more opportunities within the film industry. I also gained experience in sound operation and obtaining clear sound for film. I have stayed in touch with the majority of the crew as well as the cast including Charles Humphreys, Katie Carden and James Ward.
I have also attended a two-day editing course at NFTS (National Film and Television School) in Leeds. This opportunity improved my editing skills immensely over the two days where I learned to colour grade efficiently to improve the quality of footage. They explained how editing is such an important aspect in filmmaking as they exhibited the same scene from a film in different editing styles.
I took part in Beyond Brontës (a mentoring initiative by Screen Yorkshire), where I started gaining contacts in the film industry and had opportunities to attend panels and guest talks by other filmmakers such as Alfie Barker and Beth Rowland. I attended workshops run by Richard Knight, who is a location manager based in Sheffield (also primarily works with Shane Meadows). He also gave several lectures on working as a freelancer in the film industry alongside Nicky Topping, who is a casting director for Emmerdale and Coronation Street.
I then took part in Filmmakers 25, another mentorship initiative funded by Channel 4. I was mentored by Andrew Lurcuck, head of post-production at Ture North. He gave me immense advice on becoming an editor within the film industry. True North primarily produce factual programming for television, however, they do provide editing suites for freelance editors and filmmakers.
I attended Leeds Indi Film Festival 2024, there were many talks from representatives of Screen Yorkshire and Independent filmmakers. They went into detail surrounding film production and distribution. I found these interesting, however a tad patronising as I have already set foot in the film industry and had gained many contacts prior to attending the festival.
I hope to gain more experience in attending guest talks and experience in filmmaking and videography. I have already gained much experience and many contacts within the film industry and hope to obtain more for future film endeavours and involvement.