The Sheffield Global Cinema Festival

Next weekend, Friday 17th to Sunday 19th November, I will be up in Sheffield for the Sheffield Global Cinema Festival.

The screenings and workshops are being held at Site Gallery. Most of the films are shorts, with at least one feature.

Tickets to the screenings are available on Eventbrite here. Most of the films are shorts, with one feature. I’m MC’ing at least one of the Q+As.

There are a series of free scriptwriting workshops. Details on Eventbrite here — however I understand they are already sold out! I am running a workshop on making a short film in 4 weeks, talking about the stages of production, Action On The Side and the recent 48-hour film competition The Ealing 48.

Sheffield Global Cinema Festival poster, including a black and white image of a man and a woman standing on a beach.

If you’re at the Festival, come say Hi. I look forward to meeting Sheffield- and Northern-based filmmakers and visiting the city for the first time.

The Ealing 48

It’s less than two weeks until The Ealing 48 | 48-hour film competition!

I’ve wanted to run a 48-hour film competition for years, and it’s finally happening!

Teams will have just 48-hours to write, shoot, edit, and submit their short film. The films are 5-7 minutes (including credits), and must be in the genre we allocate and must include the three random elements we announce (a prop, a line of dialogue, and a shot or filmmaking technique).

The competition runs Friday 3rd to Sunday 5th November, 8pm-8pm, GMT (aka UK Time).

The competition is open to filmmakers based in Ealing, London, and the world! That’s right, teams can take part from anywhere in the world — the Kick-Off Event is in person and will be live-streamed, and the submission is online through FilmFreeway.

The Kick-Off Event – where we allocate the genres and announce the random elements – is happening at OPEN Ealing, 7pm to 8pm.

The top films will screen at an event at ActOne Cinema in Ealing on Sunday 26th November, 11am to 1pm. The selected films will receive support in distributing their film, and will be up for prizes, including Best Cinematography, Best Performance, Best Editing, and Best Soundtrack.

Registrations are open now. Get your team together and join the challenge!

#ealing48 #actionontheside

Website Updated

This is a quick note to say that I have updated my website, particularly the filmography pages.

Each page has links to the films (where possible), so it can serve as a portfolio.

This task took me a couple of days, but I think it’s now smoother and easier to see relevant information.

On the job hunt again

My previous two contracts ended, so I have spent July applying for new job opportunities.

This involves daily checking of LinkedIn, regular updates to my CV, networking, and doing other film work in the background. I’m in an interesting situation because I can work in at least four different areas.

  • I can continue teaching at FE levels or return to lecture at HE. I’m applying for University Lecturer opportunities in their Film departments. [Fun fact: I’m getting my documentation together so I can go for QTLS in the next academic year if I continue teaching in FE as an Agency Teacher].
  • I am applying for Production Coordinator roles. I have my wealth of experience in Production, having worked on all the short projects I have and having produced over 30 short films and AD’d on many others. My challenge is that there is a lot of competition (the industry has stalled internationally because of the writers strike and recession) and I don’t have Production Coordinator on my CV (I have Producer, but I’m not going for Producer roles).
  • I’m applying for Post Production Coordinator roles, continuing from my role at VICE (combining my love of organising and administering with my technical knowledge). A challenge I’m facing is where these roles request more experience in that job title than I have on my CV.
  • I have my 12+ years background in University Administration, coupled with the administrative Coordiantor roles, so I’m applying for Administration roles within the Media industry.

Those are the three main roles I’m applying for. I have at least three CVs that I’m rotating between, all focused on their respective skills.

  • my Film Teaching CV
  • my Production and Post Production CV
  • my Film Administration CV

I’m also keeping busy with continuing and new opportunities

  • I’m continuing to apply for freelance short-form production gigs as an AD, Production Manager, or Script Supervisor. (I have a 2-day Script Supervision gig in just over a week).
  • The Ealing Film Festival is ramping up for 2023. The final submission deadline is next week, so I’m rating short film submissions for selection and supporting with admin in my role as the Festival Coordinator.
  • I’ve joined the team for International Film Festival The Hague. This is a voluntary role where I rate short film submissions for selection via FilmFreeway.
  • I was part of the Jury for the Sci-Fi London 48 Hour Challenge.
  • I ran the Action On The Side Short Script Award. This included reviewing the submissions, writing feedback, and having one-to-one sessions with the Winner and Semi-Finalist. (Which reminds me, the next iteration opens on August 1st – I need to promote that)
  • With Action On The Side, I’m running fortnightly script development workshops, Cinema SoundEx in September, the short film project in October, and a 48-hour film competition, in conjunction with Ealing Film Festival, in November (details to come).
  • Pearls (pka Me Too) has been submitted to film festivals. We’re waiting for decisions and submitting to more.
  • KEN short film has a new Director on-board (who we’ve still got to announce). We’re in the process of raising finance, and will be running a crowdfunding campaign later this year to shoot early next year.
  • I’m part of a team producing a Christmas Dramedy called Tinsel Town (this short film is the proof of concept). We’re currently developing the script and raising finance, aiming to shoot and release in 2024.
  • A friend of mine is developing a HETV pitch based on a Hollywood starlet’s autobiography. I’m helping him with the pitch deck.
  • I’m working on a documentary pitch with a colleague.
  • Also I’ve been inspired and am writing my own projects. No announcements until the scripts are finished and in a good place.

So, still busy, but applying for work. Send positive thoughts my way, and let me know if you know of any suitable roles coming up.

Script Development Workshops

I think I got sick of not making movies, so I’ve given Action On The Side a kick up the rear!

I’ve scheduled two projects this year: June and October.

I’ve started running fortnightly script development workshops again. They’re running at the Curzon Soho bar* on Wednesdays, 18:30-20:30.

The next one is on 26th April.

Registrations are on the AOTS website. Participants need to sign up, so I can message them where we’re sitting, and if there are any last minute location changes***.

I’ve run two so far this year: The first, a tester, was with a friend. We went through pitch decks and how defining your audience and the look of the film can help develop the script. Last week, we workshopped an experimental film idea and found it can fit the narrative structure.

We even used a new form I’ve created to develop three short film ideas. Two of them are mine – so now I need to write those!

Outside of the script development sessions, I am working with a writer/producer to develop her holiday feature film, with the aim to make the film as one of the producers.

I finally have time to listen to screenwriting podcasts, as I do my daily commute: The Screenwriting Life, Scriptnotes, and On The Page.

I’m attending a weekly online script development group on Sunday mornings (when I can, of course). This is a group that was borne from the London Screenwriters Festival.

And I’m reading scripts. From people who want to work together, friends wanting feedback, submissions for the AOTS Short Screenplay Competition, submissions for the AOTS anthology feature (more on that in another post), and produced features.

So, London peeps, if you have a script or idea you want to develop, join me at the script development workshops.

*people who know me know the Curzon Soho is my go-to for meetings and working in town.**

**I used to run script development at the Curzon, but I felt conflicted charging a fee for a workshop in a public space. I did look at alternatives, but it all ended up too costly/too hard. I like the Curzon for meetings, and it’s usually quiet on a Wednesday.***

***Sometimes they have events on and close the bar area. So I can notify the participants who signed up where we have moved to.

AOTS: Back with a BANG!

I think I got a bit sick of waiting for my job and finances to settle, so I’ve now set up the following for Action On The Side…

Fortnightly Script Development Workshops (which I’ll be running at the Curzon Soho bar area for the time being)

June short film project

October short film project

Cinema SoundEX (running September & October)

Announced the AOTS feature and posted a Call For Scripts

AOTS Short Screenplay Award (FilmFreeway)

Updated Internship page

I’m pretty excited about all this. Check the links out out and tell your friends!

Watch HIDING now

We are proud to announce that HIDING has finished its Film Festival run and is now publicly available to watch.

HIDING
Directed by Nirusha Wijayamohan

The film is listed on IMDB, Letterboxd, and The Movie Database

Pearls entering into festivals

Pearls, previously known as Me Too, is complete and is now entering into film festivals.

We have the film set up on FilmFreeway as the main submission platform. FilmFreeway is definitely the industry leader for festival submissions (having won the war against Withoutabox (RIP)). We are also using ShortFilmDepot and FestHome – and just today I’ve seen FilmMoon as a submission option. Choosing festival submission platforms depends on which festivals you’re submitting to; we also submit directly to the festival on their site if that is what is available.

Our primary goal is to get the film widely viewed by audiences.

Our secondary and tertiary goals are to win awards and laurels and to attend festivals that will provide networking and opportunities for our careers (Aude’s as Writer and Director, and mine as Producer).

Our Festival Strategy has four tiers currently. It is vital to have a strategy for your short film. You have to plan your strategy and marketing as early as preproduction. Some things to note with your festival strategy:

  • what your film is (genre, cast, unique selling point)
  • who the audience is for your film
  • how the will audience feel
  • how you will reach your audience (marketing strategy)
  • how your audience will engage with the film
  • your goals with the film itself
  • your goals in your festival strategy
  • how much you plan to spend (because submitting to festivals is expensive, and this has to be in your budget)

To give you an idea…

Pearls is a 13-minute coming-of-age drama. It is recent and relevant because it is a #MeToo story about the sexualisation of young women and girls. It tells the story in a new way, by looking at how teen girls over-sexualise themselves as a response to being over-sexualised by others – including their families and other girls.

We believe the audience will feel anger for and empathy towards the characters. Our key audiences are women (20s,30s,40s), with feminist ideologies; teachers and people who work with teen girls (to raise awareness); parents of girls. It is a women’s story for women.

The film has excellent performances from its leads. It has been written and directed by a non-binary French-African writer/director and a female Producer.

Our festival strategy includes short film festivals; women and female-centric festivals; festivals in locations we want to attend and that have support for selected filmmakers. Ideally the film will gain recognition for its performances, writing, and direction.

We want the audience to log and review the film (which is why I made sure it’s on Letterboxd). In the long-term, we will be releasing the film online. Personally I would love for the film to screen on a channellike Omeleto.

We want them to see hyper-sexualisation in a new light and feel more comfortable discussing it with teens and young women. We also want to lead conversations on support for young women and girls, and use our social media to do that.

Think about your distribution and marketing strategy for your films. How can you start planning for this during preproduction?

Ealing Film Festival

Tickets are now on sale for this year’s Ealing Film Festival

The Festival is running 24-27 November, with screenings at The Ealing Project (the newest cinema in Ealing)

We also have a call out for volunteers – sign up now if you want to help out, at bit.ly/eff22volunteer

Me Too: Crew Call

Me Too, the short film I am Producing with Aude Konan, is shooting Sat 23 & Sun 24 July in East London.

We are on the hunt for crew for our shoot. We are looking for…

  • 1st AD
  • 1st AC
  • Sound Recordist
  • HMUA
  • Production Assistant
  • Editor
  • Sound Editor
  • Colourist

1st AD

1st AC

Sound Recordist

HMUA

Production Assistant

Editor

Sound Editor

Colourist

Me Too
A schoolgirl deals with complex emotions after an older man sexually harasses her and her friends. This coming-of-age short film addresses the sexualisation of young women and girls. Written, Directed, Executive Produced by Aude Konan and Produced by Patricia Hetherington. The completed film will be submitted to film festivals and ultimately released online.


This is a low budget film; the rate of pay is ~NMW (incl VAT) for the 2-day shoot. 

To apply

Email metoo.audekonan@gmail.com by 03 July 2022, indicating which role you are interested in and providing links to website, Mandy, Shooting People or similar. 

This is an equal opportunities project. We especially welcome applications from lesser represented groups, such as LGBTQ+ and BIPOC.

Please share this post with interested parties.