In January we’re celebrating Shooting People’s 20th anniversary by launching SHORT CUTS, our new career development focused film competition.

We’ll also be in conversation with writer/director Hope Dickson Leach (The Levelling) and producer Manon Ardisson (God’s Own Country). We’ll be discussing their breakout feature projects this year and all the work that led into them, and hearing their insights on navigating the industry as an independent filmmaker. After the talk there’ll be time to meet other filmmakers over some complimentary drinks.

The launch party will be from 7pm on the 11th January at Rich Mix in Shoreditch. The event is FREE and open to all, but please RSVP to let us know you’re coming.

Tristan C Anderson, a Shooting People member and BAFTA winner, is releasing #SOUNDTRACKS, his new solo album, and accompanying documentary project, something new and exciting sounding in format and approach. Tristan, is the co-founder of Doc Heads, the UK’s leading documentary screening, networking and membership organisation.  He is a London based, director, producer and musician.  His music blends folk, electronic, trip-hop and orchestral strings.

The London International Animation Festival (LIAF), an annual celebration of contemporary, international animation, have release their programme for this year’s edition. The festival is a 10 day comprehensive, up-to-date overview of the international indie animation scene: every style; every genre; every technique.

Taking place from December 1st through December 10th, LIAF 2017 will include: International Programmes; Abstract Animation Showcase; Animated Features; British Animation Showcase; Retrospectives; Music Videos Session; Late Night Bizarre; Masterclasses; Workshops; Special Guests; Animation Industry Events; Best of the Festival and much more. Screening will be held at the Barbican, with additional programmes at The Horse Hospital and Close Up Centre.

Screenwriters, BAFTA’s lecture series will this year feature screenwriters Mark Boal, Sean Baker, Edgar Wright, Dee Rees and Anthony McCarten.

The 8th edition of BAFTA’s Screenwriters’ Lecture Series, the programme exists to “celebrate screenwriters’ authorial contribution to film, and gives esteemed writers a platform to share highlights and insights from their careers.”

Go to any film festival around the world, and you’ll encounter the same hierarchy of condescension. More interesting than the films in the main competition are those in the experimental sidebar, you’ll be told; and more interesting still, are the films found in the classic cinema retrospective. This considered, it is interesting to look at the London Film Festival, a spectacle that is very much about new cinema, as a site for the presentation and discovery of old movies. Smuggled inside the thematic strands are those new restorations of oft forgotten classics, the festival’s self-proclaimed ‘Treasures’. In this year’s festival, three punchy, political feature debuts released over three consecutive years at the tail end of the 1960s, stood apart from the pack.

From the London Film Festival, two films depicting relations between (largely male) groups where complexities emerge, where codes of sociability were subverted or compromised, by factors both external and internal. Below, an exploration of how ideas of individuality and community functions in both films.

Ever wanted to know what it’s like to direct a primetime television series in the UK or the US? 

On Tuesday 7th November, join Shooting People for an open discussion with director/writer S.J. Clarkson (Orange is the New Black, The Defenders, Dexter, House, Bates Motel) and director/writer Charles Sturridge (Strike (J.K. Rowling), Brideshead Revisited, Da Vinci’s Demons) about what it’s like to write / direct some of the most renowned international television shows.

London’s Underwire is a celebration of the best of the UK film industry’s female talent, and this year’s festival is fast approaching. We are thrilled to learn that several of our very own Shooters have films in the bill, so we’ve compiled a list of events to look out for if you’re attending.

BAFTA and British Council Film present, in association with SP, SHORT SIGHTED, an annual all-day event dedicated to maximising the impact of your short film.

For the unfamiliar, Short Sighted is a series of presentations, panels and conversations devoted to all aspects of making shorts and getting them seen, distributed and appreciation, alongside some great networking opportunities and a chance to visit BAFTA’s premises in Piccadilly Circus. There is always some very useful insights, great people to meet and lots to take away. so we recommend you make it down to what is always a very popular event.

Final details are still to be revealed, but we will update with those confirmed once we have them. So far, representatives from London Short Film Festival, BFI Flare and the makers of BAFTA-nominated short Tough (an SP favourite) will share insights on navigating the festival circuit, developing your film festival strategy and crowdfunding your way to success.

The event takes place on 11th Nov, in London, and in Bristol on 2nd December. Tickets are on sale, and have been selling swiftly. SP members can get tickets for £25 (usual price = £35), via our code (email us for that).

Book fast, see you there. More details soon.

The BFI’s London Film Festival is shaping up spectacularly this year, with screenings across 15 cinemas in London’s West End showcasing a whopping 242 films. We’ve trawled through the catalogue and selected five films that are well worth watching on the big screen.