[Above: Photo of me taken by IC Things on the very first shoot of 2024.]
This coming Monday is officially 'back to work' day for many people (although I didn't personally stop much over the past two weeks, as I had a couple of last minute shoots and my latest short is in post-production); so before that happens, I thought I'd better step back and take time to reflect on the year just gone.
'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times' is a very over-used saying, but I can't think of a more apt phrase to describe 2024. There were some high high points - some of the highest of my life - and some deep lows too, not just in my career but also in my personal life, and on a wider scale across the globe.
It was a memorable year for politics and global news. Back in the summer, Britain saw a change of government for the first time in fourteen years, which gave many cause to celebrate - but then a series of riots broke out, with some of the most despicable behaviour I've ever seen in the UK. In America, Donald Trump won another election, and will return to power this year, leaving a ripple of uncertainty across many countries. Wars continued, seemingly unending, across Gaza, Ukraine, and many others... damn. The bigger picture often felt bleak.
Looking closer to home, I'll try and focus on the good that 2024 brought. Right at the start of the year, I resolved to make a new short film - and I'm delighted to say that I delivered on that goal, even if it wasn't necessarily the film I expected to make at the time. My career highlight of 2024 was definitely being accepted into the incredible NFTS Prime Video Directors Workshop, something I've wanted to do for a while but never thought I'd be accepted for - particularly as the competition was so fierce.
[Above: With the mega-talented cast and crew of my latest short film 'Lacuna', made through NFTS and Amazon Prime Video, which went into production in late November.]
Back in April and June this year, I journeyed to the world-renowned National Film and Television School in Beaconsfield, where I received training from expert tutors that totally rewired my brain and strengthened my skills and confidence as a director (even if I was secretly juggling client work and illness around my classes the whole time I was there!). But one of the best things about my time on the programme was meeting my cohort, a group of mega-talented directors who were all so supportive of one another. I am as invested in their films as I am in my own, and I genuinely feel like I have a team of cheerleaders behind me now. (It also turns out that it's much easier to make friends at University in your 30s than it is in your awkward late teens!)
Following on from my training, I set about writing a brand new script - which was a fantastic process, with advice from NFTS tutors along the way, so I feel as though my writing skills have improved as well as my directing - and then it was time to go into pre-production. I was paired with the wonderful producer Olivia Song, and I am so grateful for her hard work and support over the past few months. Between us, we enlisted a team of mega skilled crew (a mix of NFTS students, graduates, and industry workers) and a phenomenal cast (I can't wait to tell you more about them when the time comes - I was such a lucky director!), then we shot our film at the end of November. I really wanted to push myself with this project, so that it felt like a culmination of everything I've learned in my directing career over the years; so it wasn't an easy shoot, but coming off the back of making Ren really helped to give me the stamina and skills I needed to work hard and fast. Everyone's efforts have definitely paid off; the film is in post-production now - we have a great post team! - it's already looking beautiful, and I can't wait to share it with audiences in our (hopefully successful) festival run later this year.
[Above: I was lucky enough to be part of two great cohorts in 2024 - the NFTS Prime Video Directors Workshop and the first ever BFI NETWORK Midlands Director Lab.]
'NFTS Prime Video Directors Workshop participant' isn't the only new qualification on my CV. I became a member of Cinesisters in 2024 (another career bucket list item ticked off!), and I was also selected for the first ever BFI NETWORK Midlands Director Lab in March - which led to two days of training with top industry figures, alongside a cohort of local directing peers, and it meant so much to be attending a BFI-funded, director-focused training event in the Midlands for the first time.
One of the speakers at the Midlands Director Lab was the wonderful Sam Masud, a filmmaker who is so generous with his advice and time that I was then able to shadow him on the set of Boarders Series 2 (a fantastic BBC show) in August of last year, over in Bristol! I was truly grateful for the experience; it was perfect timing for me because I was able to see my new learnings from NFTS being put into practice, and it also firmed up my desire to pursue career opportunities in TV moving forwards.
I also continued to be a member of Directors UK (who in 2024 kindly released this article about my previous shadowing experience) and BAFTA Connect. I didn't attend as many events for either membership as I usually like to, due to my availability and the current cost of travel, but BAFTA Connect did host a networking event in Birmingham last March, so I happily went along to that. I've also been invited to exclusive Prime Video Pathway events and networking due to my involvement with the NFTS Prime Video Directors Workshop, including a summer event at none other than Amazon's London HQ, which I attended, and which included a key note speech from Louis Theroux! I never take invites like that for granted, it truly is an honour, and I hope that I'll be able to afford more trips to London and say yes to more events in the future.
[Above: Highlights from the 'A Different Place' festival screenings in 2024 - with the film's co-writer Tommy Draper and lead Michelle Darkin Price.]
Some of my older creative projects made me proud in 2024. Good Grief, which I produced with writer-director Rob Sharp and my regular collaborator Charlie Clarke, was released online in March; A Different Place, which I directed, continued its festival run, picking up nominations and an award for lead actor Michelle Darkin Price along the way - and one screening close to my birthday was even attended by some of my oldest, dearest friends, which was a real treat; Night Owls, which is still one of my favourite films as a director, celebrated its 10th anniversary in May (around the same time, I marked some other filmmaking milestones); and in April, the episode I directed of Ren: The Girl With The Mark series 2 was released online, gaining nearly 30,000 views very quickly, followed by the release of some fun behind-the-scenes videos and a panel at MCM Comic-Con (which I sadly couldn't attend, as it clashed with my NFTS short film shoot). The series even got a mention in British Cinematographer Magazine!
[Above: my framed copy of British Cinematographer Magazine, featuring the mention of 'Ren' and my name! When I shared this on Instagram, it was the third-most-liked post last year, after the announcements of NFTS and my engagement.]
Although my previous shorts have received accolades in the past twelve months, and in spite of the fact that I was lucky enough to have a new short made through NFTS and Amazon Prime Video, it remained nearly impossible to get new work off the ground in 2024. I had five/six projects on my slate as a director or producer last year, most of which are to be made in collaboration with Jo Lewis of Hipster Films, but although we spent pretty much every single weekend over many months last year filling in application forms, there just isn't enough funding to go round right now, and there were a lot of bitter rejections along the way. We aren't giving up, but we are considering different options. The industry landscape is changing so quickly, the old methods aren't working as well as they used to, and Jo and I will be thinking outside of the box and exploring new production techniques in order to try and bring more new projects into production over the next couple of years.
It's not just the narrative industry that has changed since the pandemic and SAG-AFTRA strikes; branded content, video marketing, and corporate filmmaking opportunities - which have been my bread-and-butter for the past decade - have also dwindled massively, reflective of changing trends (people favouring more of an 'honest' user-generated look rather than employing filmmakers to make glossy content) and the impact of the financial crisis on small businesses. Austerity has affected my clients, with the very sad closure of Déda, the postponement of Derby Festé, and the end of Towersey Festival after 60 years (although the team behind Towersey have managed to launch a new venture, Found Festival, and I was honoured to make their announcement film - which you can see on the homepage of their website).
[Above: a couple of 'day job' highlights - filming for Towersey Festival and Apothecary Mead.]
So things have definitely not been easy this year, and like many of my filmmaking peers, I will admit that there were times I was worried about money (a dread which hasn't gone away as we enter the quiet early months of the year). But there were some busy times - August and October were particularly intense! - and I really enjoyed the work I did in 2024, such as a commercial I shot for Apothecary Mead, who were one of my first ever clients, which will be released at some point in 2025. I also continued to share my skills by teaching at BFI Film Academy and mentoring through BFI NETWORK, which is always worthwhile; I was even able to give one of my mentees some on-set experience on my NFTS short in November.
In terms of personal highs and lows in 2024, obviously financial anxiety counts as a low point, as was the serious illness that rocked my family at the very start of last year. In addition, my sweet old guinea pig Alan passed away last August (right when I was preparing to deliver a film pitch, so I'll admit that one ended up not being my best!), and I've missed him terribly, but I'm also proud of him for reaching the solid age of nearly six and a half! And against the odds, despite what happened last January, I didn't lose any human family members in 2024, for which I will be forever grateful. Sitting back on Boxing Day, watching the new Wallace and Gromit film, with four generations of my family still alive to see it - 29 years after we watched The Wrong Trousers together - made me realise how lucky I am. Sure, we had to cut back and make a lot of the Christmas presents this year, but having everyone around me was the greatest gift I could ask for.
[Above: Edward's engagement ring, partly inspired by Tolkien, made by Clare at Bonearrow.]
And while I'm focusing on my personal life and feeling mushy, there was of course one highlight from 2024 which came out on top: at the end of February, because it was a leap year, I took the plunge and finally proposed to my long-time partner Edward Harvey, with a stunning custom ring from Bonearrow that I hid in a pizza box! To my delight and relief, he said yes. We aren't rushing to get married right now, particularly with the film industry being so quiet at the moment, but we're loving being engaged to each other.
Finally, 2024 was a year for meeting heroes. At Cromford Comic-Con in August, I met and had an autograph from Hugh Spight, who performed one of the Landstriders in The Dark Crystal, among many other iconic characters. He told me to 'keep at it' with the filmmaking, which made me very emotional, as I was raised on 1980s fantasy films. At the same Comic-Con, I had a lovely spontaneous chat with Colin Baker, who I'd nearly had the chance to direct a few years ago. But perhaps the greatest encounter of last year was in February when, thanks to my friendship with DOP Neil Oseman, I was able to attend the Hamlet cast and crew screening and MEET SIR IAN MCKELLEN. I shook Sir Ian's hand and we had the most wonderful conversation about The Lord of the Rings and Rasputin (he shared a fantastic anecdote from the latter with me); I told him that LOTR is the reason I make films, and thanked him for that, and god knows how I managed to hold it together. I think my legs were shaking, but luckily they were concealed by my baggy trousers! Obviously getting engaged to Edward was my highlight of 2024, but meeting Gandalf comes a bit close!! It's a moment I'll never forget.
[Above: Meeting Hugh Spight from 'The Dark Crystal', and the 'Hamlet' cast & crew screening. Sadly I don't have a photo of the moment I met Sir Ian McKellen!]
So that was my summary of an epic, but not always easy, year. As I said, I was able to stick to one New Year's resolution, because I made a new short film in 2024. I didn't achieve my other goals - getting an agent and moving my debut feature closer to production - although that wasn't for a lack of trying. When my new short is complete and out in the world, I'll have more time to pursue those goals again, and fingers crossed that the short might also open a few doors along the way. Only time will tell. For now, in all truth my main career goal for 2025 is bringing in more paid work rather than focussing on passion projects. It has to be that. I need to earn more money - but that doesn't mean I'm not looking forward to the collaborations, creative opportunities, and learning new work might bring.
I'd also like to get out of the house a bit more this year. I live in one of the most beautiful parts of the country, but mostly due to my workload, I don't really get to see much of it. There's places on my doorstep I've never been, such as Castleton (one of the most photographed places in the UK) and New Mills, or rarely been, such as Mam Tor, Monsal Head and The Dragon's Back. I want to change that if I can.
In September last year, the fantastic London-based company Slick Films brought their latest short film shoot to my old home town of Belper, and they got in touch with me to ask for crew and location recommendations; seeing my local area through their eyes, I realised that they were appreciating it more than I was doing, and so it really is time for me to diversify my walking routes. (Slick Films' new short looks like it's going to be gorgeous, by the way - so keep your eyes on their social media platforms for more updates).
Apart from the above, which I see as being quite broad 'general goals', I don't have any real resolutions for 2024. I'm going to keep my head down, work hard, search wider for opportunities, and see what the new year gives me, particularly with the upcoming festival release of my new short film (and A Different Place will have its online release soon, which I'm looking forward to). Whatever comes, I hope the new year brings positive life changes and a continued appreciation of the little things every day, not just for myself but for anyone kind enough to read to the end of this long blog post!
_
[Above: My social activity last year included mini breaks and live music - such as watching a Kate Bush tribute act perform in a church!]
2024: The Year In Stats
Countries visited: I didn't leave England this year! That's pretty bad; I must do better in 2025. I didn't really have a holiday, although I did have a mini break in the Peak District National Park to celebrate one of my best friends' 40th birthday, and I had a 'one day holiday' with my parents in Scarborough, which resulted in lots of geeky shopping - both trips were brilliant but the weather was terrible!
House moves: None, but Edward and I continued making improvements to our little fixer-upper cottage. I never thought I'd be so excited by the installation of a bathroom extractor fan!
Weddings attended: None - but I did get engaged!! Whoop.
Film Festivals attended: Five. I attended Mayhem Film Festival and London Short Film Festival as an audience member (more about the latter in my last Summer Update blog post), and was present for the screenings of A Different Place at Beeston Film Festival, The Short Cinema, and Derby Film Festival. The film was accepted into a few other festivals in 2024, including ones in Ireland and New York, but I wasn't able to go to those.
Gigs attended: Three. Honey and the Bear and a Kate Bush tribute act performed in my home town, both in October! Coincidentally, that same month, I also went to book talk from the ace film critic Anna Bogutskaya in a local café. And I listened to a beautiful, emotional set from Nancy Kerr and James Fagan at the last ever Towersey Festival (I just missed The Staves, as I was filming at the other side of the field when they were on!).
