Guest post by Elkie Yates
LSF is a professional event, full of professional writers and the like. People getting paid actual money for scripts, they probably speak using big words and have diaries full of very important meetings. Whereas I’m, I’m a single parent, a teaching assistant, a working class self-taught filmmaker who lives in a council flat with her two kids. And skint, I mean totally skint. I live down South but I’m originally from the North. I left an okay job to go to University and retrain to become a teacher but along the way I got the filmmaking bug and so totally went off the rails. I wanted to work in film when I was a kid, but this was unheard of where I lived – how are you going to pay rent when you’re a filmmaker?
Well, it’s 20 years on and I’m happy to say I’m about to tackle my first feature film.
LSF was a last minute splurge for me. I had no previous intention of attending. The main reason being I was busy saving up to study a degree in Cinematography. LSF was the last thing on my mind.
The evening prior to purchasing an LSF ticket, I had read a post written by a regular attendee. It hit a nerve. ‘Why, as a screenwriter was I not attending this event? How could I not afford to go?’ It turned all my excuses on their heads. I took my money I had saved up so far for University, closed my eyes tightly and bought a ticket. It was 11.30pm at night. A session called ‘Meet the Experts’ was about to close. I thought sod it! I’ve nothing to lose and entered. Shock horror! My entry was accepted!
The next few days I spent rushing around trying to arrange childcare and find accommodation. I managed to book into a youth hostel. That first night at LSF I shared a room with eleven men.
The next day, I left the hostel early and arrived at LSF (via a quick wash in the Regent’s loos!) Everyone was so lovely, not at all as I had imagined. I cannot tell you how great that feeling was to be surrounded by other filmmakers, writers and nutters all as passionate about film as me; it was like finding your ideal family. That morning I practiced my pitch for a psychological thriller feature film I had written called ‘Deluded’. It was my first feature film as a writer and director and I had a hit a huge wall regarding finding funding. No one wants to take a gamble on a first time feature filmmaker with no money. We spent two years chasing this route but to no avail.
Meet the Experts was nerve wracking. The team were brutal but honest. They gave me the advice I had longed to hear – I had to stop pussy footing around and just get on and make the film. I thought we needed to raise XXX amount of pounds and get experienced professionals on-board, meet all the criteria of Creative England etc. I had spent so much time trying to do this that the actual film had been left at the wayside.
Fast-forward a few months and we have just finished shooting the trailer for the film. We plan on raising funds via a crowdfunding campaign. We have scheduled the shoot for this summer and we plan to film it in blocks, this way we can raise funds between filming dates. I’ve taken on a couple of extra part time jobs and I’m scouting the South for free film locations, props and whatever else I can get my hands on. This is where Facebook comes in really handy! We have a new crew now. They’re not as experienced as the last but they’re keen, eager and as passionate about this film as I am.
I myself am really happy. I’m doing what I love best – head down, getting on with it.
For anyone who has hit a brick wall with their film, I recommend you apply for ‘Meet the Experts’ at LSF. It’s tough, but it says that in the panel’s description. I’m glad I went, it was a huge wakeup call and now I’m doing what I love and that is…making my film.
Elkie Yates
P.S. I booked my ticket to LSF EARLY this year…!
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Posted by a member of the London Screenwriters’ Festival team.
