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.

This year’s London Film Festival boasts a stellar 30 SP members within their generous shorts programmes this year. We can’t spotlight them all, so here are five short films you may want to see. Members, please share your films and screenings in our bulletins, so everyone knows where to see them. In the meantime, a cross section of some, below.

Starting today, it’s Encounters. Alongside our event programme preview, and our interviews with some SP members with films in the festival, below we spotlight some more of the great short films made by the Shooting People community, with links to where you can see them.

Ahead of Bristol’s Encounters Festival we’ve spoken to several of our very own shooters about the festival. These filmmakers with films in the competition told us about their entries, motivations, and what got them to where they are now.

Across some of the best work in Open City Documentary Festival‘s shorts programmes, one connecting thread could be drawn. Many of the selected films explored ways of documenting the workings (or failures) of the mind, batches of short films that look at mental health and cognitive failures, or acts of remembering and forgetting, learning anew. These films often used experimental forms to express psychological states, or mixed found and recorded materials to cross timelines and connect generations. The best of them evoked the sensation of being inside the heads of those involved, without exploiting the difficulties that entails.

To celebrate the release of Tomas’ Leach’s latest documentary The Lure, Bertha DocHouse have arranged a special treasure hunt so that the SP community can join the search.

One of, if not the, premiere event(s) in the UK short film calendar, Encounters Festival commences its 23rd edition in late September. We’ve swept the breadth of their ever extensive programme to find the treats hiding in the corners. Here’s five event picks from us that give a sense of something of what the festival has to offer.