Dr Mikey Murray, LSFM | Film @ Edinburgh International Film Fest

Dr.MikeyMurray-onlocation-NatalieCongratulations to multiple award winning filmmaker Dr. Mikey Murray, lecturer in Film Production and Screenwriting at LSFM, for his latest short Natalie (2017) to be screened at the Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) 2017. He posted on social media that he was “absolutely thrilled to announce that Natalie will have its world premiere in competition at the Edinburgh International Film Festival on June 24th.” Writer and Director Mikey is pictured on-location with actress Kate Dickie (aka Lysa Arryn in Game of Thrones, 2011-14) who played the lead role. She has been involved with the story for many years and Mikey’s idea was a 2015 Kick- starter project. Kate said: “I was drawn to the script of Natalie because I love Mikey’s writing – it’s really honest, raw and truthful. I loved the story and subject matter of the film.” 

The Scottish film – about ‘a transexual who travels home to her father’s funeral in order to gain closure with her prejudiced family’ –  is in the EIFF Best Short Film category.  Mikey, founder of Indie-Lincs international film festival, has been selected to take part in the EIFF Talent Lab development sessions to support aspiring film- makers. Mikey said: Of course, I’d like to dream that I have some brilliant individual talent as a screenwriter and filmmaker, but the truth is that I have only ever made successful work through meeting and working with hugely talented collaborators. I was able to cast Game of Thrones actor, Kate Dickie in my short film recently because my high school friend (who I still work with) was able to put my screenplay in her hands. Continue reading

Aleysha Minns, Class of 2013 | Pinewood Studios & BAFTA Crew

AleyshaMinns_2016As September has come and gone again, seeing my 3rd LSFM media mentee with her graduation photos, it just reminds me of how long ago 2013 feels. The past 3 years have been a bit of a rollercoaster, with the past 12 months being some of the most difficult but incredible of my career so far. 

The last half of 2015 was tough, finding work was a nightmare and I was ready to give up on the whole thing. That was until February of this year, when I got to live out my childhood dream of working at Pinewood Studios on my first big budget film, taking the leap from Production to the Locations/Studio department as a trainee. Confidentiality surrounding these types of films mean I can’t say anything about it until release, but I spent up until August there and has been the lift that I needed. Since then I’ve been working on commercials and have been accepted into BAFTA Crew 2016, which is a huge honour and made it on to the list on my 2nd attempt. To top off the year, Beautiful Devils (2015) premièred at Cannes Film Festival to a great reception and my first ever film credit on ID2:Shadwell Army (2016) recently came out in cinemas and DVD. Continue reading

Dr. Mikey Murray, LSFM | Award-winning Screenwriter/Filmmaker

Indie-Lincs-drinks-MikeyMurrayLecturer, multiple short award winning, Dr. Mikey Murray specialises in Film Production and Screenwriting at LSFM.  He started the Indie-Lincs film festival “to help independent filmmakers from around the world showcase their films in Lincoln.” Mikey is pictured social networking with students and he posted about the importance of collaboration from teaching to film-making. He’s been on-location directing Game of Thrones actor Kate Dickie on the set of ‘Natalie’. The film is due for release later this year – for now he found time to reflect … 

This time 6 years ago I was working a part-time job in the now defunct retail chain, Comet.  Why was I doing that? Because it was what I needed to do to at the time to pay the rent and give myself time to continue my vocation as a filmmaker. I did have an evening job teaching screenwriting at a local college too, and that was not only something I enjoyed, but it was also something that allowed me to stay fundamentally connected to the industry. I learned from my first teaching job that film education institutions are effectively industry hubs and therefore it didn’t take me long to apply for a Graduate Teaching Assistant position at Bangor University that would include PhD study in Film Practice. There was really no argument against packing my bags for North Wales as I’ve always believed that if I was willing to move anywhere, it would allow me to progress my career quicker. I’ve now had spells living and working in Scotland, London, Los Angeles and Wales before ending up here, in Lincoln.

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1000+ days later… Rachel Hagreen on life after LSM & University

Rachael-Hagreen_UpdatedPicWell, that’s it. Somehow three years (or roughly 1018 days) have just passed and University has officially finished with me. The past year has been the best of my life so far, and that is purely down to genuinely loving the course (even the dissertation) and meeting a cracking set of friends following the University trip to Latvia back in October.

As much as I don’t want to leave University life, I now feel completely ready to move on to whatever’s next. I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to work on a lot of extra projects (paid and unpaid) during my three years in Lincoln and those are the things that have really given me the confidence that I have now. Whether you’re going into your first or second year, or even final year I can’t express enough how important it is to get that extra bit of experience. The course is fantastic, don’t get me wrong, but there’s going to be a couple of hundred people graduate with the same degree as you in ONE year from that ONE course in Lincoln alone. It’s no secret that jobs are hard to come by in this industry but if you do something extra on the side that will set you apart from those hundreds of other people in the same position as you, it’ll really make a difference when you leave. Continue reading