Goodbye 2016 (you bugger!); Hello 2017!

With Chris Newman on the set of Songbird. This month marked half a decade of us two working together! (Photo credit: Motion Click Productions)

   It's become tradition, at the end of each year, for me to do a lengthy review of the past twelve months, and to reveal what's coming next. This year I hesitated; it's a year that no one really wants to remember, and to gloat about success amid all this year's atrocities seems in bad taste.

   When Britain chose to leave the EU (by a troubling tiny minority) the country seemed to be in shock; the streets were silent, and the future felt uncertain. It still does feels that way. I didn't think anything as frightening would happen again in 2016 - then Donald Trump won the American Election. Both events left me feeling physically sick; under their new rule, both countries decimated their environmental efforts within the first week. If that's one of the first things they've done, I shudder to think what will come next.

   On top of this, we had the constant stream of high-profile celebrity deaths. Not just the standard list of about ten 'golden era' stars who had reached a natural end, remembered only during the awards' season 'in memorium' list; these were all household names, many taken well before their time, after terrible, shocking, sudden illness. There were Hollywood icons: dear Alan Rickman, Gene Wilder, Carrie Fisher and then her mother, Debbie Reynolds, to name just four; we lost the comedians and quick-witted people we grew up watching as children - Ronnie Corbett, Victoria Wood, Caroline Aherne, Liz Smith, Terry Wogan; we even lost sporting royalty Muhammed Ali. But the public seemed most shook by the music and style icons we lost - Prince, George Michael, Leonard Cohen... and of course, David Bowie. I was sadly late to the game with Bowie, and didn't appreciated his genius until a couple of years ago, but I know that he was a huge inspiration to so many people I've worked with over the years, and in particular to my own partner, Edward Harvey, who so dearly felt Bowie's loss. There will never be anyone like him.

   And of course, as well as this long list of famous deaths, there were many more losses whose names will not be remembered, who will not be featured in the press. War and poverty rages on as it always has done, and the constant threat of terrorism seems to be moving ever closer to home.

   I'm happy to say that any traumas I had personally this year were on a much, much, much smaller scale. I had a couple of health issues (one scarring injury and lots of breathing difficulties), but I look to tackle some of these in 2017, as I have joined and already started going to a gym. 2016 was the year I lost my beloved pet Manny, aged six, who had been with me through numerous house and career moves (and various video diaries!). But I'm thankful to say that no one from my actual family was lost this year; for the most part, they have remained in good health, and we've grown an extra branch in the form of my Uncle's lovely new fiancee.

   And, in terms of career, 2016 was actually the biggest, most successful year I've ever had. It goes without saying that this year will always belong to Songbird; this time last year myself and my team were busy prepping for our iShorts interview, which came at the end of January 2016. Although we didn't progress further in that competition, the film still took off more than we ever could've predicted, through the casting of lead actor Janet Devlin (of X Factor fame), who is wonderful on screen and off. We raised over £1000 in the first 24 hours of launching our funding campaign; only a few days later, it was fully funded - and then the total kept on rising! The support for the film continues to be amazing; we even had a mention in a recent article in OK! Magazine!!

Directing my wonderful leading lady, Janet Devlin, on Songbird. (Photo credit: Forged Films)

   Songbird is the biggest film myself and Triskelle Pictures have handled to date. None of us expected it to become this big, and it has been challenging at times, but everything is worth it. Myself and a small film crew, around the size of the Fellowship of the Ring, braved extreme heat, torrential rain, and long days trekking over fields and through forests to get some of the most beautiful footage I've seen in a short film in a long time. Early in 2017 you'll get to see this footage for yourself, when we release the film's trailer during the 'festival booster' campaign. I expect 2017 will be equally dedicated to Songbird, as we need to get through the challenging and all-important edit stage, followed by the music and sound design, and visual effects. Then we'll be moving into the most daunting prospect of all: releasing it into the world for judgement.

   Speaking of which, the other success story of the year has been Night Owls. That project also enabled us to start the year on a high, when it premiered at London Short Film Festival in January. Filled with pride, we hoped that it would open the door to more festival acceptances, but - apart from a lovely little screening in Poland - that wasn't the case. Our festival run went very quiet for a few months, and I started the usual vicious dance of doubting myself, doubting the film, wondering what would've happened if we had hired a festival doctor as planned...

   But then Night Owls had another successful surge, as we started entering the next tier of festivals. The film won three awards in just as many days - two from LA Film Awards and one from Festigious - earning my dear friend Neil Oseman his first ever best cinematography award! And although it didn't get into Aesthetica (a festival I am so keen to crack!) it was shortlisted, and in the popular drama category too, which is still a great achievement, and closer than I've come since I submitted The Opening Night in 2010. 

With one of Night Owls' producers, Lauren Parker, and co-writer Tommy Draper, after the LSFF screening in January. You can tell we were buzzing!

   We have a few more festivals left to enter or hear from for Night Owls, then it will end its festival run in Summer 2017. The producers and I will be sure to release some more great content around that release, so our work on the film is not done yet. In the meantime, Night Owls is still competing for PromoFest's 'Short of the Year' award, and is currently in fifth place; the competition ends on January 21st, and every view will help it move closer to the prize, so please watch it and share it around!

   In terms of other work, 2016 was actually the first time I didn't work on anyone else's films, apart from some art department work right at the start of the year for Liam Banks' entry into Derby Quad's Shine A Light scheme. Due to my workload on Songbird, I had to turn down lots of wonderful offers, including jobs on Time, and Again and Wash Club - two brilliant short films that have just begun their festival run. If my availability changes in 2017, I hope to be able to collaborate more with people, as I have done in previous years.

   However, myself and Triskelle Pictures did release three music videos this year, which is a bit of a record for us. Two days after the Songbird shoot, we shot an underground session (underground in more ways than one) for Scribble Victory. Then, in November, I entered another Talenthouse competition, releasing a video for the Goo Goo Dolls, which gave me the opportunity to work with Emmeline Kellie, and Triskelle the chance to collaborate with Siskamedia. Finally, at the start of this month, The Oramics Machine released the video we made for the song Hubris, which was initially shot and edited way back in 2014. I also edited a suite of videos for Towersey Music Festival, which was a genuinely lovely way to spend the end of Summer.

On the panel for October's Film & TV Tweet-up, where we were interviewed about our work. (Photo credit: John Shelton). This is another opportunity that came from Emmeline Kellie.

   My day job, at video production agency Dynomite Productions, has also kept me busy. Very busy. The work load tripled this year, and so did the workforce, and I was delighted when my Night Owls editor Theo Leeds was employed there alongside me. It's been great having him in the office. I've also had the opportunity to use my directorial skills at Dynomite this year, when we shot some training videos in the Autumn, so that was a wonderfully satisfying experience for me. And while we're talking business, Triskelle Pictures as a company has grown considerably this year, in no small part due to Songbird, and I even made the decision to get an accountant because of this. I look to see this growth continue in 2017.

   And finally, myself and Triskelle have had a bit of a social media boom this year. I've always been a fan of social media, but it's been a bit of a slow burner this past decade. With the announcement of Janet Devlin's involvement in Songbird, the reach of the Triskelle Pictures Facebook page shot up; we were barely pushing 500 likes (after years of trying), and then we instantly shot up to 800, and those numbers haven't stopped growing. That announcement post alone reached nearly 70,000 people. So I've started paying more attention to social media, not only putting more effort into my own Instagram page, but also releasing the Triskelle Pictures YouTube channel and Twitter profile, finally. Myself and Triskelle's Laura C. Cann will also be releasing the Triskelle Instagram page in due course.

With my boyfriend Edward Harvey at Beeston Film Festival at the start of 2016, where Stop/Eject was up for Best Drama!

   There's a few things I'm not looking forward to in 2017; with such political unrest, I'm certainly not going to go into it with too much optimism. But, if the world remains in tact, I know that Songbird will keep me busy, Night Owls will end its festival run, and my business has a lot of growth potential. I intend on looking for not only new music video collaborations for my company, but I also want to push my own individual brand as a director by entering more training schemes and support bursaries (I'm starting 2017 as a Raindance member, which is a good start). There's also a project myself and Aislinn de'Ath have been meaning to get off the ground for a while, and I hope we'll be able to get the cogs turning for that again next year. Then, towards the end of the year, I might even look to start some new projects - I've just started writing a short sci-fi/fantasy script I've had in my head for years (working title: The Barn), and of course there's always that one project waiting at the edge of my mind: the Night Owls feature.

   Whatever next year brings, I hope that it is kinder to the world and the people than subsequent years have been, and I wish good health for all of you and your loved ones. Thank you to everyone who has supported me and my work this year.

Sophie

2016 - in Summary

Short films worked on - 2 (including Night Owls, although Stop/Eject did also continue to have some festival screenings around the world this year, so maybe I should make that 3?)

Countries visited - 2, just my home country and Hamburg on business. Must do better!

Film Festivals attended - 4. LSFF and The Short Cinema (with Night Owls), Beeston Film Festival (with Stop/Eject) and Derby Film Festival. Could've attended more. Need to also start attending more local film events again!

Music gigs attended - 3, very varied: Father John Misty, Josh Groban, and Janet Devlin! Not a bad number attended, for me. Still wish it was higher.

Holidays taken - 0. Used up all the time making Songbird or working on other projects!

Personal Resolutions for 2017 - try and find one day a week for 'hobby time' (sewing, painting, working on photo albums, even just having a Pinterest day); get the home 'cruelty free' in terms of cleaning products and toiletries; de-clutter my house, giving things to worthy causes where possible, and move out of Derby!