Cherry on the Cake - coming soon to a festival near you

Cherry on the Cake (2009)

Writer/Director/animator: Hyebin Lee
Producer: Michelle Eastwood
Production Designer: James Spencer
Cinematographer: Felix Wiedemann
Editor: Judith Allen
Sound Design: Gunnar Oskarsson
Sound Editor & Dubbing Mixer: Linda Brenon
Composer: Jon Opstad
Mother, Mary, Cherry and Berry voice : Michelle Archer
Father and Policeman : Rupert Degas

[IMDb]

.... yes, Cherry's been doing fantastically well on the festival circuit, and I'm very much hoping to be able to go to the London Film Festival's screening at the very least.

Director Hyebin Lee is now represented by Casarotto. Expect very interesting and fantastic things.

... I haven't had much to say lately largely because of a lack of editing work. A lack of freelance work (owing in part to the recession, no doubt in part to my lack of contacts having just emerged wide eyed and blinking from the NFTS) means that I've taken a staff job as a tech/ edit assistant at a small post-production house in Soho. I've learnt more about the technical side, advised people on how to set up what they need, and generally been "of use" to those who are working here. Plus it's a regular wage, which just wasn't happening on the freelance side. Hopefully soon I'll be able to get back into the paid editing/ assisting work.

Graduation film update

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXFx0YnzYoM[/youtube]

From the TV graduation project, 'TV or Not TV?', some clips have been uploaded to YouTube by the producer/director, Guy Press. Please rate and/or comment them!

TV or Not TV? YouTube Channel

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And the animation  which I edited, 'Cherry on the Cake', has had its DVD packaging finalised and it looks glorious. It's now ready to be sent off to festivals.

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Please follow the embedded links above for further information about the projects and how to contact the producers for any enquiries you may have.

New uploads - showreel, two sketches

Having just joined vimeo (username jaaed), I'm using the handy embedding feature to self-promote. Which of course is what blogs are for.... sort of.

So here's my new showreel, updated from the previous to include my graduation films from the NFTS and some of the animations I've worked on at the school:

Editing Showreel Jan 2009 from Judith Allen on Vimeo.

... and here are two of my favourite sketches from my most recent editing project, 'TV or Not TV':


TV or not TV - 'Corporate Woman' from Judith Allen on Vimeo.


TV or not TV - 'The Facts of Life' from Judith Allen on Vimeo.

End of an era, and the freelance fear

Barring the usual paperwork, signing-offs and graduation itself, my time at the NFTS is just about over. The cafetiere and coffee bean grinder have been taken home, the relevant exports have all been done - and copies made for me to be able to advise remotely on any unclear points. The animation is still going via Avid, as each shot is worked on seperately in the animator's After Effects and then exported in HD whenever we need to see the entire film or a sequence of shots, but I now have that on my own MacBook Pro and we can FTP new material whilst it's still being completed.

So now comes the fear. The freelance fear, of course. I'd like to think that by having a website, showreel of sorts, and profiles on the usual networking and jobseeking websites that I'm getting a good start on the background self-promotion, but as just about everyone says - it's the contacts that count. I'm certainly building them up - in no small part thanks to the NFTS, but they mostly seem to be the type which could be more useful in a few years' time once I've had a bit of experience. Agencies all want broadcast credits, and there's always the danger of getting stuck in a genre which isn't where I ultimately want to be.

The first step certainly seems to be the hardest right now. But by continuing to work on my online presence whilst keeping my eyes open and monitoring job-seeking and professional development websites, I'm keeping calm and not worrying too much..... yet.