Students’ Union UCL has announced this year’s nominees for their annual Arts Awards, as well as this year’s Arts Commendations and Colours recipients. The UCL Film & TV Society has been nominated for three awards this year, with four of our members also being awarded Arts Commendations and Colours.

Arts Commendations
Zara Hussein

Arts Colours
Anton Volkov
Nick Mastrini
Tanya Dudnikova

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Arts Personality of the Year
Nick Mastrini

Best Collaboration
The Bloomsbury Sessions (in collaboration with UCL Live Music Society)

Best Event – Non-Performance
Tim Bevan In-Conversation/Q&A – FilmSoc Guest Talk

The winners will be announced at this year’s Arts Ball, taking place on Tuesday, May 29 at Café de Paris. Tickets are on sale now.

FilmSoc’s 2018 Annual General Meeting took place tonight (March 22), with 26 candidates battling it out for 14 available positions on the society’s 2018/19 academic year committee.

We are delighted to announce that following this long but exciting night of speeches and pizza, the currently confirmed members of the committee are (UPDATED with the results of the online President and Treasurer vote)

President: Misan Aviomoh
Treasurer: Demi Hao
Secretary: Hugh Pearson
Marketing & Communications Officer: Sebastian Van Der Ree
Drama Producer: Kelly Frost
Documentary Producer: Lan Shi
Screenings Producers: Amelia Christofis and Thomas Caulton
Workshops Producer: Anna Pelliet
Socials Producers: Alex Dewing and Manisha Thind
Blog & Podcast Editor-in-Chief: Xin Yi Wang
Equipment Manager: Lydia Chilver-Vaughan
Studio Manager: Pihla Pekkarinen
Volunteering Officers: Alexandra Smile and Emma Davis
Welfare Officers: Jiaqin Liu and Patrick Zhuang

With the AGM right around the corner, our days on the 2017/18 Committee are numbered. Thinking of running for a position last minute? Let us help you decide which position might be for you with some insider info from each member.

(Some of us took this exercise more seriously than others.)

President: Anton Volkov

“The all-powerful being who steers the FilmSoc ship to glory” © UCL Comedy Club

The president position is really what you make of it and it depends how closely you want to get involved and fulfil a specific vision for the society… The main duties are: managing (and chasing) the committee, liaising (a lot) with the Union, and just generally being the face of the society both at uni and in public – and by public, that also includes awesome industry people!

Treasurer: Lucie Desquiens

Treasurer is a position that is in itself self-explanatory. I am responsible for our budget and accountable for our expenses. My job involves being in touch with all actors involved on a daily basis: whether it be the Union, producers of term/affiliate films, or committee members. I try and make sure it is a smooth ride for everybody, while emphasising the need to keep receipts preciously (fastidious but not as boring as one might think) so that everyone who has spent FilmSoc money is reimbursed at the end of the day. It takes dedication, but it is truly fulfilling to know projects do actually happen because they have received adequate funding. It’s very exciting to have this much responsibility and having the chance of managing a big budget. You also help the society develop and grow by investing in new equipment, refurbishing the studio etc.

The best thing about being on the committee is being aware of everything that goes on within the society. All projects have to be financed, so you’re a part of most of them! I also love working closely with production: it’s always nice to see a short film being made after you’ve dealt with financing equipment, location (etc.) to ensure the movie will look amazing!

Secretary: Mary Ignatiadi

This is a great role for a person who’s looking for commitment but wants to take things slow. Duties involve: being present for meetings, recording organisational aspects, and being a point of contact for the society. It’s a great (stress-free) position for someone who wants to see the (inner) workings and (top) secrets of the society, whilst also enjoying perks and privileges.

Examples? Card access (being allowed to lurk in the studio whenever you want). The odd free food during meetings (if a committee member was feeling particularly generous that day). Also providing input during the bidding selection (knowing the term selection felt like getting Oscar results a day early).

Marketing Officer: Andreas Zinonos

I basically promote the society and its activities and ensure that the society members always know what is going on. This includes creating events on Facebook for any activity we have, sharing the events on different social media and composing a weekly newsletter for the society members. You control the internet… or at least the FilmSoc page.

Some great things about being on the committee are:
1. Having direct impact on what’s happening in the society,
2. Having access to the studio (pretty cool),
3. Being part of a group of people who care about film,
4. Perks like knowing what events will happen before being released.

Drama Producer: Tanya Dudnikova

As the Drama Producer, you are in charge of organising all of the society’s centrally run projects, such as the Term Films, Webseries, and FemFilm, as well as all helping out with affiliate films. Since this requires a huge time commitment, you will basically live in the studio for a year and sell your soul to FilmSoc, but fear not, it’s all worth it in the end! (I promise)

Docs Producer: Nick Mastrini

Being the Documentary Producer means getting e v e r y t h i n g filmed for societies – a blessing and a curse. This role covers all non-fiction filmmaking at UCL, from short documentary films to videography across campus – it involves creating trailers, covering UCL events, setting up docs screenings and society collaborations, to name a few elements.

I love the freedom of the role, which gives you a chance to interact with any and every society at UCL. You also work with every committee member to foster a documentary aspect to their role, whether on the blog or in screenings. Plus, commissioning promos and trailers to frequent deadlines is the fastest way to learn everything about film-making.

Screenings Producer(s): Sarah Saraj & Issam Azzam

Love film! Think you’ve got good taste? Show it off! Would you like to become Screenings Producer of the Film & TV Society! Bond the students of UCL together with great films (and food)! Create your own little cinema, exactly how you want it, each week on campus!

Screenings producer essentially means that we were able to choose the films screened this year to make a program. This is the role for people who have seen a lot of films and have an eclectic taste that they want to share with others! It’s also important to make the screenings topical in line with various holidays and events happening throughout the year. The screenings this year have collaborated with other societies a lot this year, bringing in a different audience and connecting for people to films! It’s a really amazing role with minimal commitment other than 2 hours a week for the screening. We buy the DVD and sometimes snacks and usually give a quick talk before the film.

The best thing about the position is the two hour break from deadlines and uni work – bring along your friends and get a drink after. Hearing the opinions from people who came along and discussing the films! Sometimes, we collaborated with other committee members to make the screenings correspond with other society activity. Being on the committee has been a dream. Access to the studio for editing etc has also been really useful!

Workshops Producer(s): Pietro Sambuy & Yara Alkatheir

Workshop producer is a great role to gain some experience in organising small-scale events and a fun way of being creative without having to work so intensively all year long. The main duties as workshop producer involve finding an awesome idea for a workshop, seeking out for people to present/lead them, filling in guest event forms, and finding/booking venues. The great thing about it is that you have the freedom of organising any type of workshop, although you still have to find someone to lead it.

At first you might think this role is about emailing a bunch of people in the film industry — which it is, partially — but more so it’s about creating opportunities where people are able to help each other. It’s about keeping a community of film education and knowledge alive, whether that is through listening to a famous speaker or learning hands-on about equipment from a passionate FilmSoc member.

The role really pushes you to have confidence and to believe in yourself, because you do need a certain sense of self assurance if you want to email strangers. It puts you in a position where you have to face rejection and I think it allows you to see rejection as a way of life rather than something to be afraid of! One of the best things about this role is its flexibility. You organise as many events that you can manage. If you have a few free weeks, you can organise two workshops per week, and on busy weeks you can step down and relax from the position for a bit.

Being a part of FilmSoc is like having a family away from home, feeling comfortable and surrounded by people who are similar in interests to yourself.

Social Sec: Zara Hussein

Film is typically not the most social of interests, so this position is about organising cool or fun opportunities (e.g. drinks/film quizzes/cinema trips) for people to meet and get to know each other within our large society. I also find it just means being the person available for anyone and everyone to talk to, and creating a relaxed atmosphere where everyone feels comfortable.

Blog & Podcast Editor-In-Chief: Sofia Kourous Vazquez

You can run this joint however you want. I’ve tried my best to be get to know the people who get involved on the blog and podcast and spark a cute community vibe (although a lot of it is virtual). Not going to lie, this role does take a surprising amount of consistent work and time investment since you’ll be maintaining a more or less constant output on the FilmSoc blog and podcast platforms, but you get to foster a little microcosm of film appreciation which is nice given that the actual society feels overwhelmingly big otherwise. Also: free screening tickets, London Film Festival press attendance, and constant awareness of the goings on in the film industry (whether you want to or not?)

Studio access is a pretty sweet committee perk; that place sure has seen me through a lot (ex. that time my laptop broke during deadlines but I survived using the studio Mac, hallelujah). Being in the loop with the rest of the society’s activities through the committee also makes you feel involved and part of something. You’ll meets lots of people, make a few friends, and use it as an escape from other types of responsibilities.

Equipment Manager: Molly Hwang

This involves: taking care of the babies cause people will hurt or kidnap them if you don’t watch them. And badgering people to return stuff.

And 24 hour studio access! I just like kit in general and if I make sure other members use it properly then I know that we’ll have functioning kit on things like term films/web series. The society is a good place to be to keep your film buzz going. With all the fellow film geeks around talking about film plus the FilmSoc resources, you feel more motivated to actually go out and make stuff! Being on the committee let’s me have power over what equipment to get or replace next. Also the power to ban flakey/careless people from using kit again to prevent damage!!! (lol I’m such a bitch I know)

Studio Manager: Lorcan Moullier

The studio is FilmSoc’s crown jewel. It’s a space which is essential to all the society’s activities, from productions to meetings to screenings, etc. As Studio Manager, your job will be to ensure that this sacred temple is taken care of by those who wish to use it. Most of your job will involve the thrilling task of checking emails for booking requests, responding to Facebook messages from random delightful studio enthusiasts, and consulting the elegant Excel timetable spreadsheet which is very colourful and nice to look at. It’s a position with real responsibility and it’s a great way to get involved!

Volunteering Officer: Zhijun Yin

Welfare Officer: Yingying Zheng

On Sunday, March 18, the UCL Film & TV Society celebrated its 70th anniversary with a special evening of events on campus marking the occasion.

Nearly 100 society presidents and members past and present braved the snowy weather to gather in the North Cloisters for a celebratory drinks reception kicking off the evening. The event proved to be a fantastic opportunity for alumni – some dating back to the early 1960s – to reconnect with their peers, as well as find out more about the FilmSoc of today from the current committee and members. Throughout, a selection of the society’s newsreel archive as well as student productions of the last few years and a 2001 documentary on the history of the society from Robert Coren (Archivist 1988-92) was screened at the venue.

The reception was followed by a special screening of Christopher Nolan’s directorial debut ‘Following’ at the Cruciform – previously due to be held outdoors on the Wilkins Terrace. The film, which turns 20 this year, was produced with the assistance of the society: selected scenes were shot and parts of post-production took place at FilmSoc’s studio in the Bloomsbury Theatre building. The Arri 16mm film camera used on the shoot, as well as the Steenbeck editing suite, also remain in the society’s possession to this day.

FilmSoc alumnus David Julyan, who composed the score and went on to collaborate with Nolan on his next films ‘Memento’, ‘Insomnia’ and ‘The Prestige’, introduced the screening; with the lead actor and UCL alumnus Jeremy Theobald also sending in a special video message.

The evening brings to a close a very special year for the Film & TV Society, which kicked off with a visit from the Oscar-nominated director, who was the society president from 1992-94, as he was awarded his Honorary Doctorate of Literature from the Faculty of Brain Sciences. With over 350 members this academic year, the society has so far completed principal photography on five short films as well as multiple webseries episodes; and held several popular events including a cycle-powered outdoor screening of ‘The Big Lebowski’ in collaboration with Project Active and a Q&A with Tim Bevan, the acclaimed producer of ‘Darkest Hour’ and co-founder of production company Working Title.

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Documentary Producer Nick Mastrini introduces the upcoming screenings of Central DOCS Club, an event at Picturehouse Central running in association with UCL Film & TV Society.

Ever since opening in 2015, Picturehouse Central has become the place to be for the best cinema experience in central London, just a short walk from UCL. Bringing documentaries to such a prime location at an affordable price, Picturehouse Docs lets you see the latest non-fiction films for as little as £5.

Central DOCS Club is the perfect chance to see the latest documentary releases and discuss them with a like-minded audience post-screening. The November line-up features 78/52, the definitive doc deconstructing Alfred Hitchcock’s famous Psycho shower scene, and Jane, which tells the story of renowned primatologist Jane Goodall.

78/52: Central DOCS Club  —  November 6th, 18:30: Tickets

Jane: Central DOCS Club  —  November 27th, 18:30: Tickets

Join FilmSoc members at the screenings to catch and discuss the docs. Perfect for cinephiles and horror fans alike, 78/52 takes apart the 78 setups and 52 cuts of one of the most iconic scenes of all time, featuring the analysis of industry talents like Guillermo del Toro and Walter Murch.

So on November 6th, see the ode to Hitchcock with fellow film fans! Tickets can be booked here. Stay after the screening for the discussion, moderated by Milana Vujkov from Picturehouse Central and with the contributions of FilmSoc.

And on November 27th, join us for the next Central DOCS Club, with Jane also starting at 18:30.

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Last Friday, the 8th of September, acclaimed film director and former UCL Film & TV Society president Christopher Nolan returned to UCL to accept an Honorary Doctorate of Literature (DLit) as part of the Faculty of Brain Sciences’ graduation ceremony. Later that afternoon, current president Anton Volkov and his predecessor Thomas Rebour were incredibly honoured to host him, along with his wife and producing partner Emma Thomas, at the Film Society’s studio. The visit to the production space was part of a tour of the Bloomsbury Theatre, currently undergoing renovations due to be completed in the autumn of 2018.

Christopher, Emma, Anton and Thomas were joined by Professor Michael Arthur (UCL President and Provost), Lori Houlihan (Vice-Provost [Development]), Veronika Tugendraich Garwolinski (UCL Strategic Philanthropy Manager), and the team from UCL Culture – Head of Operations Frank Penter and Director Simon Cane – on the tour. Showing the group around the Bloomsbury Theatre construction site, Simon and Frank outlined the future vision and plans for the venue. These include increased usage by Students’ Union UCL and its clubs and societies, and a new stream of activities teaming UCL researchers with the creative industries. The group also visited the projection booth, housing a trio of celluloid film projectors – two 35mm and one 16mm, to be replaced with a single digital projection system as part of the renovation works – and a couple of unexpected archive discoveries.

The tour continued on to the brand-new Wilkins Terrace and Theatre Link, which will officially open with the start of term later this month, then concluded at the UCL Film & TV Society studio where Nolan once worked on his debut feature, Following (shot and edited using the society’s equipment, including a 16mm Arriflex camera and Steenbeck editing suite which remain in the studio to this day). During their visit to the studio, Christopher and Emma discussed with Anton and Thomas how the society has changed in the 20-plus years that have passed since their graduation, as well as the society’s current activities and plans for the 2017/18 academic year.

Congratulations to Mr. Nolan on the honorary degree, and a big thank you to him and Ms. Thomas for taking their time out to return to London to visit UCL and the society. Thanks also go out to the team at the Office of the Vice-Provost (Development) for putting the day together.

Photos courtesy of Kirsten Holst. You can read more about Mr. Nolan’s visit to UCL on the official site.

Hello everyone,

I wasn’t expecting to write this post so soon as I thought I still had another 2 months of being in office, but alas my presidency ends today, along with my time of being a student at UCL. I’m also not the type who writes super-long-emotional-soppy posts (I barely post at all), so bear with me.

I’ve had a truly wonderful time in the Film Society these past three years, and I don’t hesitate in saying that they’ve been the three best years of my life. Film Soc was one of the main factors in choosing to study at UCL, and it was absolutely worth it.

My first involvement with Film Soc was for the one-week Campus Movie Fest film challenge, and appropriately ends with our own 48 hour film challenge in which I am currently participating in. But sandwiched between these two events I’ve been to countless screenings, guest talks, guest workshops and socials, and I’ve enjoyed every single one of them. I’m not forgetting our productions of course, and I’ve had the pleasure of working on Term films, affiliate films and many other projects. Two highlights for me were producing last year’s webseries as Drama Producer (a lot of hard work but ultimately very rewarding) and co-directing the Term 3 film last week. But I’ve loved working on every other shoot I’ve been on, because it’s not only about the filmmaking but it’s also about the people. The members of this society are really passionate, enthusiastic, friendly people, and I’ve had an amazing time working with all of them. I’ve made friends for life.

Although we didn’t quite have the strongest of starts in the beginning during Term 1, I think in the end we’ve had a pretty successful year. The society has been kept afloat! I want to thank my awesome committee this year: Anton, Thomas, Emily, Nick, Andreas, Jonny, Pietro, Bori, Misan, Melody, Alfred, Shelby and Ivan. Thank you for all the hard-work in organising your respective activities or events for the society. It’s been a lot of fun working with you lot! There are still a lot of things and projects and ideas that I wanted to bring to the society, but I guess there’s only so much you can do in an academic year. But I have a lot of faith in Anton and I think he and the next committee will do amazing things next year!

Incoming freshers and current students, I do envy you, as your time in the Film Society has not yet finished, or not even begun! Make the most out of it, as for me these three years have gone by incredibly fast. It feels like I only started university last month.
However, I would say though that my time here is only “officially” over as rest assured I will be back and lurk massively. (I can live in the studio next year, right Lorcan?) I care a lot about Film Soc and I’ll be happy to hang out/help out in any way possible next year.

Thanks again for these three years.

Lots of love,
Thomas “Baby Tom” Rebour

(Am I still Baby Tom now Leiah? Have I evolved into something else now?)

On Friday, April 28, we are delighted to be hosting our inaugural Alumni-Student Social – an informal get together at our Film Studio, where we will be screening some select productions from the UCLU Film & TV Society‘s collection!

For our current members, this will be a great opportunity to meet past society members and Presidents, some of whom are now prominent figures in the industry; for the alumni, this is a fantastic chance to reconnect with old friends, as well as to meet some of our current cohort! We will be screening FilmSoc productions both old and new – so feel free to bring along your own films to share!

Attendance is free, and drinks and snacks will be provided. If you are alumni and would like to come along, please email our President, Thomas Rebour, at filmsoc@ucl.ac.uk to RSVP. Students: the event is open to all FilmSoc members for the 2016/17 academic year.

We look forward to seeing you all on April 28! Stay up to date with event details on our Facebook.

#FilmSocAlumni2017

UCLU have announced this afternoon that the Film & TV Society has been nominated in two categories for this year’s UCLU Arts Awards; with six of our members also being awarded Arts Commendations and Colours. Check out the list of the society’s Arts Commendations and Colours recipients, as well as Arts Awards nominations below:

Arts Commendations
Anton Volkov
Melody Ho
Misan Aviomoh
Nick Mastrini
Tanya Dudnikova

Arts Centenary Colours
Thomas Hetherington

Best Project
The Bloomsbury Sessions (in collaboration with UCLU Live Music Society)

Best Publication
FilmSoc Blog

The winners will be announced at this year’s Arts Ball, taking place on Tuesday, May 30 at Café de Paris. Tickets are on sale now on UCLU’s website, and be sure to join us prior to the ball for a special end-of-year celebration at our Film Studio.

We are incredibly excited to reveal the teaser trailer for Patient 48 – last academic year’s Term 2 Film. Check out the ominous first look below:

The film is now in the final stages of post-production, and is expected to be released in the coming months. Stay tuned for more on Patient 48 and FilmSoc’s other productions soon!

Directed by Ben Taylor
Starring Gabrielle Sheppard and Charles Crossley
Produced by Keno Katsuda
Written by Benjamin Whitman

On Tuesday, March 21, UCLU Film & TV Society held their Annual General Meeting, where this academic year’s society members got together to elect each of the 13 available positions on the society’s committee. The members also voted on the expansion of the Podcast Producer role – itself a recent addition to the committee – to include Editor-in-Chief duties for the newly-launched FilmSoc Blog. Following this exciting evening of impassioned speeches and free food, a brand new committee of 16 (an expansion on the previous year’s 14) was elected for the 2017/18 academic year.

President: Anton Volkov
Treasurer: Lucie Desquiens
Secretary: Mary Ignatiadi
Marketing & Communications Officer: Andreas Zinonos
Drama Producers: Tanya Dudnikova and Ed Dubrovskiy
Documentary Producer: Nick Mastrini
Workshops Producers: Pietro Sambuy and Yara Althekair
Screenings Producers: Issam Azzam and Sarah Saraj
Socials Producer: Zara L R Hussein
Blog & Podcast Editor-in-Chief: Sofia Kourous Vazquez
Volunteering Officer: Amanda Maniero
Equipment Manager: You Jung Hwang
Studio Manager: Lorcan Moullier

The society’s new committee will come into office on August 1.

Last week, we were delighted to welcome two exciting industry professionals for guest workshops at UCLU Film & TV Society – acclaimed director of Radiator and actor Tom Browne; and UCL alumni Chantal Rickards, who is currently the CEO of BAFTA’s Los Angeles branch.

During his workshop on Monday, Browne talked primarily about working on his critically acclaimed directorial debut Radiator – a touching story based on Tom’s own experience with his father. He touched upon how the project got off the ground, and how the script by collaborators Daniel Cerqueira and Tom Fisher came together; as well as how this marked a career shift for Tom, who was primarily an actor at the time and previously only directed short films. In response to questions from society members present, Tom also talked about how the ‘James Bond family’ of producers Barbara Broccoli, Michael G. Wilson, title designer Daniel Kleinman and actress Rachel Weisz came on board as executive producers; as well as the challenges presented by the current festival and distribution landscape for films like Radiator (crediting the film’s London Film Festival bow to Weisz). In a surprise, Tom also briefly mentioned his most recent work alongside Benedict Cumberbatch and Michael Shannon on Alfonso Gomez-Rejon’s The Current War, which is currently filming across London – and took over UCL’s Portico recently.

On Friday, Chantal hosted an incredibly charismatic and inspiring workshop, detailing her path through the industry – starting with how she went from a French degree at UCL to a job in marketing at Channel 4, to her work producing and directing episodes of Through The Keyhole (then hosted by the legendary David Frost), and further career moves to the BBC and other networks and agencies. She gave a crash course on the importance and value of branded content such as product placement, and the role it plays in getting a TV show or film off the ground, and also talked about the current distribution landscape in general. Lastly, she talked about coming on board BAFTA as their Los Angeles branch’s first CEO, and the events she organises, such as the annual Tea Party, as well as regular initiatives in less well-off schools in L.A..

A big thank you to both Tom and Chantal for joining us! Be on the lookout for more guest workshops starting from next week – with a FemFilm x PhotoSoc workshop next Tuesday with acclaimed documentary photographer and filmmaker Poulomi Basu.

Earlier this week, we were delighted to welcome back UCL alumnus Chris Rowe, who is currently a director/producer at virtual reality (VR) production company VRscape. Over the course of his presentation, Chris gave VR first-timers a chance to have a go at experiences such as Chris Milk’s Evolution of Verse as well as the recent Rogue One: A Star Wars Story tie-in from ILMxLab!

Similarly to his presentation back in November 2015, Chris took us on a virtual reality crash course – from how 360 video content is filmed (spoiler alert: lots of GoPros), to how it’s all edited and stitched together in post production. Chris brought up the challenges this new format brings – from differences in acting compared to theatre and film, to how fictional narratives have to be portrayed in a fully immersive space – and talked about the history, as well as the future, of the format – with the increasing creative potential of apps such as Google’s Tiltbrush and revolutionary VR filming solutions like the Lytro Immerge.

Chris also took the opportunity to talk about his work at VRscape, which most recently included post-production for Lexus’s The Life RX 360 video promo starring Jude Law – an ambitious project for Chris, who was tasked with stitching together footage from 80 GoPro cameras following a big launch event in central London last February. VRscape’s other recent work includes multiple live concert shoots as well as music videos, hotel promotions and charity projects.

A big thank you to Chris Rowe for joining us! To see more of VRScape’s work, head to their site at vrscape.tv.

Our upcoming guest workshops before the Reading Week break include acclaimed Radiator director Tom Browne, and BAFTA LA CEO Chantal Rickards. Go to the Events section of our site or our Facebook page for more information!

For the first guest workshop of 2017, the UCLU Film & TV Society welcomed writer and director Charles Henri Belleville. Over the course of Wednesday’s 80-minute event, he talked about his beginnings in the industry, his past and upcoming projects, and a range of other topics in response to questions from society members.

Belleville touched upon his start in the film industry as a distribution intern at production company Vertigo Films, through which he met producers he’d later collaborate with on his recent Jet Trash, as well as Tom Hardy, who starred in Belleville’s BIFA-winning directorial debut The Inheritance. Charlie talked about his experience directing both films, working with the likes of Hardy and Robert Sheehan (of Misfits fame), and offered insights into his current projects. Mentioning the films of Alfred Hitchcock as inspiration for his upcoming The Blue Mauritius, he cautioned controlling one’s ambition when developing such a star-studded project (the film will star Brian Cox, John Rhys-Davies and Gérard Depardieu). He also teased another film he’s currently working on, which has been in the editing room for four years.

Taking questions from the audience, Charlie talked about the merits and disadvantages of the ‘perfect conditions’ of film school, how he best develops story ideas, and his opinions on working as a director on TV series (where ‘you get kicked out after 3-4 days in the edit’) and putting your own directional stamp on things like trailers and posters. He advised aspiring directors to ‘not wait for permission’ to make a film, and emphasised the importance and significance of post-production work, particularly in sound mixing and ADR. Throughout, Belleville illustrated his advice with anecdotes from his career: which included the discovery of a crew member’s villainous streak on the set of Jet Trash; a film-worthy story of an intern assignment to retrieve film footage from Thailand; and the BIFA award competition conflict between his first film, The Inheritance – filmed on equipment loaned from his then-employer, Vertigo – and the film Vertigo had actually hired him to work on.

A big thank you to Charlie Belleville for joining us! Future guests at our upcoming workshops this term include VRscape’s Chris Rowe and Tom Browne, director of the acclaimed Radiator. To find out more, go to the Events section on our site. See the trailer for Belleville’s Jet Trash below: