I'm making a movie! And It's gay!

Sorry everything's been quiet on the blog front recently, lads. Most of my spare time has been taken over by one project in particular - I'm producing Spectrum, an anthology of LGBTQ-themed short films, all set over one night in Manchester's gay village.

And it's good to be back in the filmmaking saddle. I've not really taken charge of a project like this since Union back in 2013/14. Though I worked in TV and film on and off for the few years after graduating, in between freelance writing gigs, I never fully enjoyed the lifestyle, jumping from job to job and not being passionate about any of them. Plus, I couldn't enjoy my spare time, as jobs could come up at the last minute, even over the weekend, and I'd need to take them in order to pay the bills. So in the middle of last year, I made a change, getting a stable part-time job, one which I enjoy and which keeps my bank balance happy. Plus, I'd now be able to properly enjoy weekends, I thought.

That lasted about a month, at which point I decided to make a film. Bye bye, spare time.

Reading (in the ever-great Starburst... while I was meant to be proofing it) about an anthology horror film composed of interconnected short stories, I had the idea: this, but instead of horror, it's queer stuff.  Because, though there've been a few good gay films recently, there aren't enough bisexual films out there, or lesbian films, or transgender films, so why not gather creatives from this community and help them represent themselves, all in one entertaining package?

I knew that the first person I had to bring on board was my friend, and former university classmate, Abigail, and I was so glad when she agreed to take on this ambitious project with me. In the three months since, we've assembled a brilliant team, got a bunch of scripts in really good shape, and started seriously planning how to make the thing. It's a big job, and already we've had our fair share of stress, but it's that creative kind of stress I've missed from my student filmmaking days.

Plus, we've shot a one-minute short already, as a teaser for the project. Here it is!

We have plenty more films in the pipeline; Spectrum will be half an hour in total, and we're aiming for a 2019 film festival release. I'm excited to share these stories with as wide an audience as we can find. Abigail and I really do care about getting that range of underrepresented queer voices on screen, and doing justice to our diverse team of writers and the community we hope to fairly represent. 

However, we of course need to get funding in place to shoot the rest of the stories. In order to make some of that money, we've launched a crowdfunding campaign.

However much we raise, we will make Spectrum this year. I'm determined about that. I've gone too far to stop. But the more money we have, the better we'll be able to make it.

If you feel like donating, that would be amazing. There's a range of great perks that I hope make it worth your while, not least the fact that any donation of £5 or more gets you a chance to see the finished anthology - that was a decision I was adamant on, as I don't like campaigns where half of the funders don't even get to see the film they're helping make. Give a bit more and you can have some bespoke shot glasses, or a ticket to an exclusive screening.

If you can't donate, please consider sharing the link below and helping spread the word.

http://www.igg.me/at/film-spectrum

Right. I have some casting applications to sort through so should stop waffling.

xxx