2014 will mark the 15th anniversary of the Bridge Film Festival. In recognition of this milestone, the BFF is collecting interviews of our filmmaker alumni.
Simon Waldock, Ackworth School '09, Ackworth, UK.
In 2009, Simon entered the BFF and won a Judges' Choice Award for his documentary film, "Ackworth School." The film, with over 3,600 YouTube views, is a circumspect and professionally crafted exploration of what a Friends school education at Ackworth has to offer.
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BFF - How did you learn about the Bridge Film Festival, and what was it like to enter your film?
SW - My former Head of English, Mark Birch, set up the film club at my school and entered our film "Semantics..." into the Bridge Film Festival. I joined the club after having made several short films with my friends and family, and I discovered that it was my one true passion and that it was something I wanted to continue in later life.
I had the pleasure of then organizing the festival in 2009 to be held at my school in England, which was a fantastic experience.
BFF - After graduating from Ackworth School, what college/university did you attend, and what did you study?
SW - I attended the University of Westminster in London, England, from 2009-2012. I studied Film and Television Production and graduated with a First Class Honours Degree in 2012.
I wrote a dissertation about the changing nature of film presentation (cinemas/home video and download), and produced a graduation film.
BFF - How did the experience of making a film for the BFF that required you to "depict Quaker values in action" influence your future storytelling?
SW - I think that Quaker values have influenced me as a filmmaker and a person more than my future storytelling. I find that I take a moment longer to consider what I am doing rather than rushing into things as others may do, which result in a greater end product.
Entering the BFF was a fantastic experience and it truly helped to spark something inside me that I have picked up on and taken on as my career. I had an amazing time entering and being a part of the Bridge Film Festival and it has truly helped me to be where I am today.
BFF - Which of your film projects are you most pleased with?
SW - I am most pleased with the graduation film that I produced in my final year of university. Titled "A Human Vice," it is a lighthearted comedy that tells the story of "the worst cupid in Heaven's history," who is given one final chance to complete a love assignment before being demoted from Heaven.
It is a 21-minute self-financed £10,000 film, of which I was the producer and co-editor. It has won several International Film Festivals and can be seen online here:
http://www.vimeo.com/simonwaldock/ahumanvice
We also have a website for the film here:
http://www.ahumanvice.com
BFF - What personal or professional projects are you currently working on?
SW - I am now a freelance shooting director of corporate, content, and commercial projects. I started my own production company (http://www.clipstoneproductions.com) with a fellow university graduate and we are working on several projects.
I also freelance for Across the Pond, a production company in central London that is the in-house creative agency for Google. Amongst other things, I edit on their Youtube Original Channel, Guinness World Records: OMG! (http://www.youtube.com/gwromg). We have over 140,000 subscribers and over 10 million video views.
BFF - What are you plans for the future?
SW - I would love to expand my production company to be a full-scale agency with a workforce. I feel that we are well on the way to doing this; two large-scale long running projects are on the go as we speak and I feel that by the end of 2013, we will have made great progress towards this goal.
I also would love to continue to work on more creative projects. I have written a short film I would like to see produced, and I am currently writing both a novel and a screenplay that I will continue to work on in the coming years.
BFF - What advice do you have for filmmakers currently attending Friends schools?
PK - I think the best thing to do, if you want to get into filmmaking, is to take every opportunity that comes your way. I said 'yes' to everyone in my first year after graduating, doing many small scale and unpleasant jobs, but now I am in a position to choose the kind of jobs I would like to do. Companies and clients need the time to see you are trustworthy and hard-working; when they do, they'll give you the opportunities.
SW - My former Head of English, Mark Birch, set up the film club at my school and entered our film "Semantics..." into the Bridge Film Festival. I joined the club after having made several short films with my friends and family, and I discovered that it was my one true passion and that it was something I wanted to continue in later life.
I had the pleasure of then organizing the festival in 2009 to be held at my school in England, which was a fantastic experience.
BFF - After graduating from Ackworth School, what college/university did you attend, and what did you study?
SW - I attended the University of Westminster in London, England, from 2009-2012. I studied Film and Television Production and graduated with a First Class Honours Degree in 2012.
I wrote a dissertation about the changing nature of film presentation (cinemas/home video and download), and produced a graduation film.
BFF - How did the experience of making a film for the BFF that required you to "depict Quaker values in action" influence your future storytelling?
SW - I think that Quaker values have influenced me as a filmmaker and a person more than my future storytelling. I find that I take a moment longer to consider what I am doing rather than rushing into things as others may do, which result in a greater end product.
Entering the BFF was a fantastic experience and it truly helped to spark something inside me that I have picked up on and taken on as my career. I had an amazing time entering and being a part of the Bridge Film Festival and it has truly helped me to be where I am today.
BFF - Which of your film projects are you most pleased with?
SW - I am most pleased with the graduation film that I produced in my final year of university. Titled "A Human Vice," it is a lighthearted comedy that tells the story of "the worst cupid in Heaven's history," who is given one final chance to complete a love assignment before being demoted from Heaven.
It is a 21-minute self-financed £10,000 film, of which I was the producer and co-editor. It has won several International Film Festivals and can be seen online here:
We also have a website for the film here:
http://www.ahumanvice.com
BFF - What personal or professional projects are you currently working on?
SW - I am now a freelance shooting director of corporate, content, and commercial projects. I started my own production company (http://www.clipstoneproductions.com) with a fellow university graduate and we are working on several projects.
I also freelance for Across the Pond, a production company in central London that is the in-house creative agency for Google. Amongst other things, I edit on their Youtube Original Channel, Guinness World Records: OMG! (http://www.youtube.com/gwromg). We have over 140,000 subscribers and over 10 million video views.
BFF - What are you plans for the future?
SW - I would love to expand my production company to be a full-scale agency with a workforce. I feel that we are well on the way to doing this; two large-scale long running projects are on the go as we speak and I feel that by the end of 2013, we will have made great progress towards this goal.
I also would love to continue to work on more creative projects. I have written a short film I would like to see produced, and I am currently writing both a novel and a screenplay that I will continue to work on in the coming years.
BFF - What advice do you have for filmmakers currently attending Friends schools?
PK - I think the best thing to do, if you want to get into filmmaking, is to take every opportunity that comes your way. I said 'yes' to everyone in my first year after graduating, doing many small scale and unpleasant jobs, but now I am in a position to choose the kind of jobs I would like to do. Companies and clients need the time to see you are trustworthy and hard-working; when they do, they'll give you the opportunities.
