We attended an event by new initiative Proudly In York last night.
I’m very wary of backslapping/networking events in general as there are too many of them but this is the exact opposite; full and enthusiastic support from the local community, a chance to meet other creatives and celebrate the diversity and ambition of the arts and culture of York and its people as we look toward the future.
A few of us gave speeches and I was one of them. I wanted to express how important a sense of community has been to us in our filmmaking.
Picture by Aliz Tennant
Here’s that speech. I meant every word and I’m excited about what the future may bring:
We started making films when we were kids and thankfully, that spark of excitement has never gone away. Filmmakers are often asked, ‘Why don’t you go to London?’ in order to get a film career going. We’ve known people who have gone there and either been absorbed into corporate work, been generally overwhelmed or come back because they didn’t get the support or sense of community that you get in somewhere like York. Rather than seeing this as not being able to hack it in the big city, I’ve always seen it as trying to develop York as a filmmaking city rather than run away from it because it was ‘a bit quiet.’
There’s much talk in small towns about being a big fish in a small pond and I’ve always hated that expression; that’s not a reason to stay in York and is a very cynical outlook, as if we all want to be megastars or something, idolised by the ‘little people.’ What Proudly and One & Other represent is the evolution of the idea of community; it’s not even ‘Yorkshire pride’ which is another phrase I’m uncomfortable with. It’s about a particular place and the people who happen to live in it or are drawn to it, the people who try and evolve the arts and culture of that place… and this is just about the most exciting time to live here.
What Proudly stands for, I think, is looking around and noticing & appreciating the immense talent, skill and industry that exists in York. In filmmaking terms, it was very important for us to break out of that provincial ‘small pond’ view and start getting our films into international festivals but remaining very much a part of the York film community and encouraging new filmmaking talent, so that film students leaving Uni don’t graduate asking, ‘So… what the hell do I do now?’ York is a very attractive city for filmmakers, not just aesthetically but for ease of filming and friendliness of locals.
MilesTone Films have two features coming out this year, both made in York, and we’re off to Cannes in May to prep for another – also to be filmed in York and which we hope will bring money and industry into the city – and it’s largely due to York people and York talent that the industry has sat up and started taking notice of our little town.
We want to evolve the York filmmaking scene so that the industry can thrive and grow. It’s not about taking all the gold and buggering off to Hollywood, it’s about bringing something back to a community that has nurtured and supported us and many others. It’s a privilege to be here, now, in this town amongst such creative people, and we thank Proudly for recognising and bringing together all this talent and representing the true meaning of community.
Hello! This is a very special blog entry that’s also a plea for support like you’ve never given before.
Actually that’s not true; you’ve all given maximum support over the years and that’s why we’re at this stage: MAKING THE ZOMBLOGALYPSE MOVIE!
I can’t tell you how excited I am and what a dream this is, but I’ll try, without sounding like an Oscar recipient.
Making this film represents a lot of things: The culmination of years of toil to get the kind of recognition and budgets we need to make films in the way we want but with the degree of independence and ferocity of spirit that we greatly treasure; to make the kind of big, funny, exciting films that we grew up loving; to give our friends and colleagues in the York Film Community the film work they deserve after years of working on low and no-budget films… and so many other things.
The film will create money and industry in York & Yorkshire, something that we sorely need in these troubled times. There may not be a real zombie apocalypse but we shall fight with the Dunkirk spirit to make sure the future is bright, not bleak and mouldy!
For me personally, the Zomblogalypse movie is something for which we planted the seed almost five years ago: a big, bold, British, balls-out slice of entertainment that encapsulates the spirit of three friends with a comically bleak world view: we may all be going to Hell in a shopping trolley, but by GUM we’re going to have fun doing it!
We have started making this film for no money: writing the script, filming a funding campaign, starting talks with the crew. We aim to continue making the film with your help and your money – for which there are many treats including being in the film and coming to the premiere – then going to Cannes to do the deals necessary to get this film into production.
If you’re from York, this film is going to be a fun and exciting part of our lives for the next year and we hope you feel the same way. If you’re from outside York, we aim to serve you up a sparkling piece of cinema you’ll never forget.
PLEASE HELP in any way that you can and become part of filmmaking history:
- SHARE the above banner/change your Facebook image for the month…
- DONATE as much as you can in exchange for some truly fun perks… (click that link to see our IndieGoGo campaign including a new episode, concept art, videos and tons of fun stuff)
- RECOMMEND the series at ZOMBLOGALYPSE.COM to your friends, family, cousins, enemies and pets…
- SHARE, PIMP, TWEET and WHORE the Zomblog movie around the internet like you’ve never whored before!
We’re truly grateful for every sliver of help, money and support you can throw our way, and we’ll repay you by throwing ourselves into this film to make it a huge, cinematic experience you’ll never forget. This means a lot to us, hopefully something to you, and even more perhaps to York and the indie filmmaking community.
JOIN USSSSS!
It’s been a long and tough and great and frustrating and amazing year, and like so many people, we’re taking stock of it all.
We learned a few lessons, made another feature film, an ambitiously handsome short film, relaunched our web series, played with CGI and green screen, were hired to make another feature and made significant steps in developing the indie filmmaking scene in York for the future.
Which means 2012 is going to be even more amazing.
Here’s 2011 in twelve glorious pictures, followed by a retrospective of the stuff we put out there this year.
Our third, somewhat experimental feature, Amber
Celeste Wong looking stunning in our short film Gallery, directed by Paul Richardson
60s icon Emma Keaveney taking a break during Amber
Green screen fun with Tony's anime-style fight film Journey's End
Striking final composite shot in Journey's End
More Zomblog tomfoolery with Hannah back in Blighty
The wonderful cast & crew of Amber
Jonny Dobbs, this season's resident zombie in Zomblogalypse
Indiana Will, sound man extraordinaire, on the Amber set
Filming near Clifford's Tower for Tony's short film A Simple Investigation
Doing our latest movie deal with Sam Robinson (case full of money for comedy effect)
More zombie fun with the Zomblog Olympics
And here’s the stuff we put online this year:
5 more demented episodes at ZOMBLOGALYPSE.COM
The Sorry Kisses have been busy too: DESERT MINE MUSIC
Amber will be coming early in the New Year, as will our fight films Leaf and Journey’s End, our ‘anti-romantic comedy’ Gallery and Tony’s short proof of concept film A Simple Investigation.
If this doesn’t happen first:
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OUR SUPPORTERS AND ALL WHO’VE WORKED WITH US.
We were on Leeds Indie Radio this week talking about filmmaking, Twilight, monstrous celebrity children, poo poo, computer games in urinals and other scorching topics. We had such a fun time recording it and we hope you enjoy listening to our verbal diarrhea. Squelch.
Thanks to Steve Shooter 
Last night, Tony Hipwell, Sam Robinson and I sat around a table.
That’s it, bye!
Another film we made
Okay, we sat around a table and drafted out the entirety of our new feature film and everything in it. So thus begins six months of production on our next feature, the black comedy we’ve been mumbling about for months.
The script is ticking along nicely and the story, by Sam, is so strong that we’ve already made the film in our heads. If we could invite you all in to view it, we would. But that would be messy. What we actually have to do is write it down, find locations, gather crew, build sets, cast actors, that kind of thing.
Cameras will roll April/May/June 2012.
Okay okay, we're making CrimeFighters 2...
Rest assured (and thanks to all who’ve emailed us) if you’re an actor or filmmaker who’s keen to get involved, we will let you know how and when.
This is a tight production both in terms of crew and in keeping the finer details secret, but because we want to keep people in the loop and aware of what’s going on, we’ll be releasing little tidbits/titbits (whichever you prefer; I’m suspecting the latter) as we go.
We’re very much YAY YORK FILMMAKING, and as much as possible we’re keen to champion the army of talent in our fair city, and we want to create a lot of buzz (hate that word but everyone understands it) around the film so as usual, any and all support will be welcomed with open arms.
'That's how it always begins: very small...'
We’ll be hash tagging anything to do with the new film on our Twitter page as #NewFeature and teasing out some snaps and bits of info as we go. Because it entertains us to do so, and we hope it entertains you in the process.
That’s it for now, but consider us officially launched on pre-production!
