It was always my aim to remain within the film industry after graduation. “It’s all happening in London. You want a job in film, London’s is the place to be.” Now if I had a pound for every time this was said to me, I might have been able to afford to live in London! But truth be told, moving to London never really crossed my mind. I don’t buy into the fact that you must be in London to have a good job. It’s easy to get caught up in people telling you how important it is to work in the “big city” but I couldn’t disagree more. There is a wealth of talent right across the country that all too often gets overlooked. Don’t get me wrong, London works for many people, but just not me. I’m a big advocate of taking some of the focus off London so that other amazing cities across the UK, such as Manchester, Newcastle, Leeds etc. can flourish and develop. It’s this desire to stand out from the crowd that drew me to Aesthetica.
Here was this incredible business that produced not only one of the most successful arts and culture publications, Aesthetica magazine, but had its own BAFTA-Recognised film festival, international Art Prize and Creative Writing Award. To top it all off, it was right on my doorstep! Since joining the team last September as Aesthetica’s Marketing Coordinator, it’s been a complete whirlwind. In less than three months I’ve been front and center for the launch of three issues, we’ve opened both the Art Prize and Creative Writing Prize, and hosted the 7th edition of the Aesthetica Short Film Festival.
I can’t begin to explain how rewarding it is to go to work each day and be surrounded by people with as much passion and excitement for film. The Aesthetica Short Film Festival (ASFF) is one of the world’s leading international short film festivals, celebrating independent film from around the world and it really does pride itself on being an outlet for supporting and championing filmmaking. The festival takes place each November across the city of York, showcasing over 300 films from both established and emerging filmmakers, along with numerous industry masterclasses, guest programmes, premiere screenings and special events. To submit your short this year visit: www.asff.co.uk/submit. Entries close 31 May 2018. Here’s ASFF 2017 trailer. Continue reading →
As a third year, the daunting acknowledgment that Uni (of Lincoln) is over soon and I will need to fit into reality hits hard. I am fortunately one of those people who likes to get stuff done early so my period of stress and panic hits way before deadline day – this is something I’ve always done in all aspects of my life including career prospects. I did my first piece of work experience in the Media Industry at 18, working as a runner for a week at CrowTV Post Production. This mainly consisted of making teas and coffees and the occasional cocktail (cocktail Fridays is a theme I’ve seen in more than one Post Production house). After that, I started Uni (Media Production course) and felt studies were more important. Around the end of my first semester of the second year, I looked at my CV and thought I needed more work experience.
