Me Too, the short film that I am Producing this year with Aude Konan, is now in heavy preproduction.
That means we know when and where we’re shooting, so we can book people and things — meaning we’re greenlit!
Our location is in East London and the shoot dates are the weekend of 23/24 July. We have our micro-budget. The next 5 weeks will be spent prepping the shoot and post.
Both Aude and I work full-time, and my new role at Vice* is taking a lot of time and energy, but we are going to get this film made this year!
Keep an eye out for cast and crew calls, and follow the Me Too social media pages for announcements
I AD’d and PM’d a short film shoot at the end of January
I was PM (London) for a Finnish mayonnaise commercial. We shot in a beautiful location near Old Street, and I really enjoyed working with the Food Stylist (the plates looked amazing!)
I’m working with two others on a feature film pitch for a large funding round. That will be submitted soon.
The first AOTS short script competition is reaching its end, and I will be announcing the winning script and runners up over the next few days (once this feature pitch is done)
I’m watching shorts that have been submitted to the Ealing Film Festival 2022.
The short I’m producing (Me Too) was going to shoot in April, but now we’re making some changes to the script, sourcing two locations, then will set the shoot date, recast and crew up.
Also I have created a specific Busy Kiwi Productions email address to differentiate between my business and personal projects.
There are a few plates I am juggling — and I have a number of projects in various stages of development
I love word games, puzzles, crosswords: all things of those ilk.
I have a friend who is also into these games, and we send each other our daily results.
Here are some links to bookmark if you, too, are into such games.
If you like Geography, there are Globle and Worldle.
For your five-letter word challenges, there is the viral Wordle; doubled to Dordle; quadrupled to Quordle; and using bins to process out the incorrect word: Absurdle
If you like History, there is Wikitrivia: put moments in history into order.
I also daily do the games on Puzzler (free account needed) and the Quick, Weekend, and Speedy Guardian Crosswords
I suppose if we’re talking games, I also like my card games, especially Patience (Solitaire). Baker’s Game, Spider Solitaire, Hearts, and Mahjong (especially the fish shape), all on 247 Games.
Action On The Side is now running a short screenplay competition
I’ve set up the competition to help screenwriters to get their films made.
There are two categories: PRODUCED scripts and UNPRODUCED scripts.
The UNPRODUCED scripts are maximum 10 pages and the submitter must include a pitch video. This is based on what we do in the Action On The Side project. It gives the writer practice in pitching their story to Producers, and it helps them to define their story.
The PRODUCED scripts are for writers who have already made their short film or who are in the process of making it. It’s a way for filmmakers to get some production funds or recoup some of the funds spent making their film. If the film is made, they need to submit a link to the film; if it is being made, they need to submit a treatment, look book, or production stills.
The prize money isn’t a huge amount – for now. But it is something that we can give to filmmakers to support them in their filmmaking skills development: which is my goal for Action On The Side.
The best scripts will also get feedback, laurels, a digital certificate, and a discount code to use the feedback services from our sponsors, MyScreenReaders.com
Submission Deadlines
Earlybird: 7 January 2022
Regular: 30 January 2022
Late: 27 February 2022
Notification: 21 March 2022
The announcement will be at the AOTS screening, March 2022.
Please share this script competition to any interested parties if you think it looks worthwhile competition for them.
I use the app and website religiously, and expound its virtues with every film person I know. I encouraged students to use it, so they could get into the habit of logging and reviewing films — building up their film language and their film knowledge.
I find the habit of logging films to be so beneficial. With Letterboxd, you can:
log the films you watch
review the films you watch — reviews you can refer to later if you forget what you thought of a film
add films to bespoke lists — I use the list function as a teaching tool
use the stats function to see your viewing habits – getting cool reports for the end of the year, and even see what percentage of films from a particular crew member or actor you have ever seen
follow people and have them follow you
easily add films to an awesome watchlist — one that sends you notifications when films on your watchlist become available on your favourite viewing platforms
find new and interesting films to watch
I was so happy to find that short films are on Letterboxd as well. Now I can log the shorts I watch. It has saved me a few times when I hadn’t realised I had already watched a film through.
I have been watching loads of short films on channels such as Dust, Alter, Omeleto, and Crypt TV. Every film, I log, and I include the YouTube link so others can watch as well.
What I have found frustrating though is when films don’t appear on Letterboxd. How can I log them if they’re not there?! This has been especially frustrating during film festivals…
{I hope this rant on my FB embedded properly}
After attending the Aesthetica Short Film Festival and realising that most of the films are not on Letterboxd, I had to take action!
So, here is a video that outlines how to get your film on Letterboxd
The Ealing Film Festival has been established to encourage a diverse cultural offering from within the borough, London, UK and far beyond.
The festival is run by a team of enthusiastic volunteers. This is the first time the festival has run in person. Screenings will be held in Ealing on Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th December, 11am to 11pm.
Join our team
Volunteers are vital to run this independent festival. By volunteering, you will join a dedicated team, have fun, build experience, and watch some films!
That means that I work in the Postproduction Team. As the first step in Postproduction, the Data Ops team ingests footage from Production, uploads it to central servers, and creates proxies for the Assistant Editors (AEs) and Editors to use.
I was back on set for the first time since before the pandemic
I was the First Assistant Director and Production Manager for Velma Velma Velma, a short film directed by Josh Kidd, shooting in East London, 21-23 July 2021
The last film I was on set for was A Winter Barbecue, the last Action On The Side film. We shot that the day before the UK went into its first lockdown, in March 2020.
FineLight Films are looking for a Runner for Weds 22, Thu 23, and Fri 24th July, 08:00-18:00, in East London.
This is for their short film Velma Velma Velma, directed by Josh Kidd.
I am on set as Production Manager and 1st AD.
The Runner role is unfortunately unpaid (microbudget production). Catering provided and travel covered between zones 1-5. It would suit someone early in their career wanting on-set experience. You would be helping out on set where needed, and I would show you how to do Clapper Loading, DIT’ing, and Script Supervision (for those who don’t know me, I’m a trained Film Lecturer and run Skills Development programme Action On The Side).
Please contact me directly if this sounds like you. Email patriciahetherington.nz@gmail.com with your details, ideally before 7pm Monday 19th July 2021.
Busy Times 