[Above: with my cohort from the NFTS Prime Video Directors Workshop, at the Leicester Square screening of our films in June.]
Well, we're very much past the midpoint of the year now, and an update on my work is definitely overdue. So here's a rundown of how the last six months have been for me (TLDR; it starts a little bleak but definitely grows more exciting as it goes on!).
While the delay on this blog post is due to my current heavy workload, the start of the year was much quieter than usual - not just for me, but for the film and TV industry as a whole, rolling on from a challenging 2024. I know lots of brilliant filmmakers who have been out of work or changing careers recently, which led me to consider diversifying my own offering (a tricky decision when I'm so driven to focus on my directing goals these days). Coupled with a worrying period of change in my personal life, it wasn't the most positive start to 2025.
After two/three years of sporadically taking time 'off' to purse passion projects, my goal this year was always to keep my head down, graft hard, and earn more money - which of course meant saying yes to any job that came my way (perhaps saying yes to too much at times). My finances are definitely evening out and starting to feel more secure now, although I am eager to get back to developing my features in earnest again soon, as well as pursuing HETV some more - and at some point taking a holiday!
When work was quiet at the start of the year, I certainly never felt like I stopped. I did more teaching at the BFI Film Academy (in what felt like arctic January weather in Lincoln), which I was grateful for. Myself and my wonderful co-producer Jo Lewis, from Hipster Films, also put some time into pitching the projects we've been developing together, and some of that work now looks like it's about to bear fruit (more on that when I can say!).
[Above: potentially my final visits to NFTS, working on the sound mix and tech review for 'Lacuna'.]
And of course, I had my NFTS Prime Video short film Lacuna to work on, which was deep into post-production at the time. I was able to pour my love and attention into that when work was quiet, attending multiple meetings, liaising with incredible artists in the VFX, editing, sound, music, and colour departments, as well as popping back and forth to the legendary National Film & Television School to do the final mix and tech review. Back in April, as I left the test screening and walked past Wallace and Gromit in the foyer, I wondered if it would be my last time visiting NFTS, and I felt quite emotional. Being a part of that legendary institution, even just briefly, felt a bit like being in a Filmmaking Fairytale, as I said last year, and I'll always be thankful for the experience.
Only a few days after Lacuna was completed, in early June, it was time for the private cast, crew and industry screening, which was a phenomenal event that I was delighted to share with many members of the team who helped to make the film, and of course my fellow Prime Video Directors Workshop cohort. The moment you show a film to an audience for the first time is truly something I live for, and I was overjoyed by the strong, emotional responses we received straight away. But something that made the day even more special was the venue - Vue in Leicester Square! For many years I have visited Leicester Square, gazing up longingly at the huge cinemas and dreaming of the day when one of my films would screen there. Now that dream has come true!
[Above: Vue in Leicester Square, and myself with some of the 'Lacuna' cast and crew after the first private screening of our film. Photo on the right: credit Jo Lewis.]
Come to think of it, I don't think I've really talked about Lacuna or its plot in any great detail on this blog (as I'd been waiting for NFTS or Prime Video to say more about it publicly before I did). Maybe it's a post in itself! For now, I'll say that it features a brilliant cast, including Sadie Soverall (Saltburn, Fate: The Winx Saga) and Albert Magashi, and below is the first still I shared online (credit to the mad skills of DOP Seán Mackey and his team). There's more information and a full crew list on Instagram now - and we've also just shared the poster!
[Above: Sadie Soverall and Albert Magashi in 'Lacuna'. NFTS / Prime Video.]
With Lacuna's journey about to start in earnest, it was time to wind down my previous short film A Different Place - but not without one heck of a last hurrah! A Different Place had a limited cinema run at Derby QUAD in March, somewhat appropriately screening ahead of The Last Showgirl, before being distributed by the wonderful Lesflicks, and then I released it on the Triskelle Pictures YouTube page as well.
[Above: 'A Different Place' enjoyed a limited cinema run at Derby QUAD in March. Photo by Tommy Draper.]
Posting a short film on YouTube without releasing it via a known channel can sometimes feel like you're sending it out to die, but I needn't have worried; within 24 hours of that YouTube release, we'd had 10,000 views and lots of beautifully supportive comments. That number has not stopped growing since, and we are now on nearly 180,000 views, making it my most-watched film of all time (shout out to Growing Shadows for having safely held the top spot for years, up until now). I am still totally shocked but so grateful for the response the film has had, and how much it continues to move people.
Just when we thought that A Different Place couldn't bring us any more excitement, the film was selected for the latest round of CentreFrame Selects, ultimately reaching the final stage and receiving a public shout-out from the phenomenal Prano Bailey-Bond! Hearing such kind words of endorsement from a director I truly respect was obviously a proud moment for me, but it was even better when she particularly acknowledged the efforts of lead actor Michelle Darkin Price and our Intimacy Coordinator, Haley Muraleedharan:
So, is that truly the end of A Different Place's journey? Well, as I've discovered this week, no it isn't. In addition to my continued efforts to look for more indie cinema run opportunities, there might just be one last festival screening on the cards as well... more details will be posted to the Triskelle Pictures social media platforms as soon as we have concrete information to share.
Another huge event to happen in the first half of the year was my first time at MCM Comic Con in London - as an invited guest speaker! This all came about because of my brilliant regular collaborator Neil Oseman, who arranged for me and some of the other past and present directors of Ren: The Girl With The Mark to give a crowdfunding workshop, on the same day that the cast were also doing a Q&A (where a clip from the episode I directed was screened), so we were all able to promote the series as well as having the mostly wonderfully geeky reunion in the process!
[Above: Attending - and speaking at - MCM Comic Con with some of the team behind 'Ren: The Girl With The Mark'.]
Although I had to sadly turn down the opportunity to direct another episode of the series, due to my other commitments, I was still able to be involved on a smaller scale this time around; the aforementioned Jo Lewis directed an episode of series three, and kindly asked me to edit her director's cut, which was a pleasure. I also helped her with her storyboards. Having had a preview, I can genuinely say that series three is looking great and the performances are electric, so viewers are in for a treat!
All of the above sounds like a lot to fit into six months, particularly when you consider the fact that I've also continued to do edits for some lovely regular and new clients since work picked up in March (sometimes on the train while going back and forth to NFTS!) - but I also attended the Cinesisters International Women's Day Symposium, which was a moving celebration of the female director experience. One of their guest speakers was none other than Imelda Staunton, who was so generous with her time and answered all our questions (I asked her about playing a villain, and what an actor needs from a director in terms of encouraging that type of performance).
[Above: Imelda Staunton delivering a brilliant speech at the Cinesisters IWD Symposium. I'm on the front row, third from left, next to Ruth Pickett who went on to win a BAFTA this year! Photo credit: Anastasia A Arsentyeva.]
Cinesisters has also continued to hold regular online workshops for its members, including last month when we had a joint Zoom call with Shannon Murphy, another director who I really admire (Babyteeth features on many of my moodboards and sizzle reels!).
In addition, I somehow also found time for another public appearance at the end of April, giving a talk on 'Working With External Investors' at Beeston Film Festival, alongside my fab fellow director Margo Roe. There were some great questions from the audience, a few of whom remembered my early work, such as Stop/Eject and Night Owls, so that was rather lovely!
[Above left: giving at talk at Beeston Film Festival with fellow director, Margo Roe. Above right: finally taking some time off, the very next day, to celebrate my birthday in Cromford.]
The day after the Beeston talk was my birthday, one of the only days I've taken off this year, and I celebrated it by wandering round Cromford with my fiancé, Edward Harvey.
Finally, I also attended a screening of Lollipop at Nottingham Broadway last month, which included a filmmaker roundtable with director Daisy-May Hudson, and that was brilliant. Thanks to BFI NETWORK Film Hub Midlands for the invite!
And although things have become busy for me again, I still want to acknowledge how difficult times continue to be for those working in the arts, particularly small and creative businesses. Yet another one of my lovely regular clients, Foundations Revealed, announced that they would be closing their doors this year, after many years of trading and sharing skills with their members. My heart goes out to all the team affected, and I will always be grateful for all the videos we made together.
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Even with everything that's happened in 2025 so far, I still feel like there's lots of exciting things still to come, and I'm really geared up for it. In addition to the collaboration with Hipster Films I mentioned at the start of this blog post, I've got a few meetings coming up which might lead to other projects, and so I'm really buzzing about that. I also have client bookings up until mid Autumn (what a change from the start of the year!), including a fairly large scale commercial shoot in August, and of course I'm looking forward to all of those jobs. And I really, really can't wait to see what happens with Lacuna's festival run. The film's amazing producer, Olivia Song, has been busy submitting it to festivals, so now we just need to hear back from them before we'll know what our official world premiere will be.
I hope you've all enjoyed hearing about my recent adventures, and that this blog post wasn't too much of a ramble; I had to write it on my phone in little chunks across various bus and train journeys to various jobs! That is one of the downsides of being busy again, but I certainly wouldn't want it any other way*.
(*Ok, maybe I'd have a few more days off if I had a choice - but one can't have everything!)
