It rains a lot in Manchester.
A lot of people refer to it as the Rainy City.
Indeed, it is raining now while I sit here listening to Bob Dylan, writing sentences then deleting them and then writing them again slightly differently. I am not a perfectionist.
I'm just not very good at this.
But I'll get over it.
At 1.30pm tomorrow Joseph Patrick and myself are going to meet with Andy Noble. Mr Noble is a film producer held in high regard by the British film industry and is - amongst other things - responsible for producing this piece of cinema. Then, at 2.30, we have a meeting with Paul Andrew Williams, the award-winning writer-director of London to Brighton and The Cottage.
I'll stop for a moment to assure you that I'm not bragging. Honestly. This is not my life. At least it wasn't until Tuesday, 10th February when - much to our mutual joyful surprise - Joe and I received the following email:
Hi Joe and Tim,
I am really pleased to announce that your ‘HIV and Stigma’ entry into the Ctrl.Alt.Shift Short Film Competition was successful, and that you will now go on to have your film produced and premiered in London.
Congratulations! We were very impressed with your treatment; it was thorough, well-researched and interesting, and you obviously have a good knowledge of the film-world, so we’re very much looking forward to working with you in the coming months and hope you enjoy this fantastic opportunity!
Now, what comes next. For the time-being we need you to sit tight as we are opening the People’s Choice voting shortly. This is the stage of the competition where some of the entries go through to a public vote, for the chance to join you and the other winners in having their film produced. Once this is over we will be pairing you with your director mentor and discussing the production schedule and all other details. In the mean time, I hope this has made your day, and speak soon!
Kind Regards,
Hayley,
Ctrl.Alt.Shift.
Joe got the email first. I was eating bread and houmous in the kitchen of my flat when the phone rang.
'Are you ready for this?' He shouted, then proceeded to read Hayley Myers's email aloud.
I think we both reacted in the same way. Disbelief. Realisation. Understanding. And a lot of excited trembling.
The next day Joe sent me a text that said:
I. Feel. Brilliant. And. You. Should. Too.
I did. I still do.
Wait. Maybe I should backtrack. I should tell you what I'm talking about.
Okay. What did we do to come by this amazing opportunity?
We entered this competition.
When we received the 'Congratulations!' email I don't think either Joe or myself knew how big this project was going to be. And it just keeps on opening out into something newer, more exciting and more worthwhile every day.
Last week we went to London for the initial meeting and met with the kind folks at Ctrl.Alt.Shift. and Amplify. The other winners were there too. Five films are being made in all. Each one will tackle one of the following issues:
War and Peace.
Gender and Power.
HIV and Stigma.
The competition is a brilliant and beautiful idea and it is looked after by people who really care about the issues at hand. Ctrl. Alt. Shift. are less concerned with preaching to people and more interested in engaging them. Everyone involved with making the films is an extension of this principle.
As Little White Lies explained:
It’s rare to find a film competition that incorporates a superb brief with an unmissable prize and also works towards helping to eradicate poverty, hunger and issues of injustice in some of the world’s poorest countries.
And so I can only end this first blog post by telling you that Joe and I are excited, grateful and humbled to be a part of this. We are doing something we love and its all for a worthy cause. At present we are finishing writing the script. Tomorrow's meeting will serve to help us do that.
There are some suitably caffeinated times ahead...
Love. Peace. Harmony.
Tim x
