Weekly Meander #3: Connections new & old
And my favourite Substack experience so far
Each week I'm documenting the stuff I've got up to in my working life, whatever that looks like. This is mainly for my own benefit – I seem to get to the end of most weeks feeling like I've barely achieved anything so it'll be nice to start to build up a record of what I have done in any given 7 days. But hopefully some of it will be fun and interesting for others to read too. Thoughts, comments etc always happily received.
And in case you're new here and wondering who on earth I am, do check out my hero post. TLDR: I'm a documentary filmmaker currently exploring/expanding into new professional avenues whilst also navigating parenting & perimenopause. Some balls may be dropped!
This week there's been a lot of family & kids stuff happening – my daughter's birthday and balloon-themed birthday party; my mum's birthday; volunteering at a PTA party for reception/Year 1/Year 2 at school with massive bouncy castle & slide; and World Book Day. Phew! Oh and it's Mother's Day today. Though my lot don't go really in for the whole pampering mum business so it's mostly just the usual madhouse 😄
My partner was also away with work for a couple of nights again this week, so there was all the usual up-and-down-the hill, here-there-and-everywhere business of getting the kids to and from school & nursery. The longer days are really helping with that though – it's just so much easier to drag myself up and out the door when it's still light and on a couple of days this week, even actually quite sunny! Springtime is so nearly here, I can taste it.
Anyway with such a lot going on, I'm pleased to say I actually feel I managed to get a decent amount done in my work hours this week too. Am really trying to take a glass half full approach and celebrate what I did achieve rather than beating myself up about what I didn't – this weekly post is part of that of course.
Every stone added to the path makes it that little bit longer, even if I don't always know yet exactly where the path is heading...
WORK WINS THIS WEEK
It wasn’t necessarily planned this way but my overall professional vibe this week has definitely been connecting - some nascent working relationships I hope may bear fruit down the line, a deepening sense of finding community with people here on Substack and a moment of re-connecting with past colleagues, in my memories and in the here and now.
1. Meeting with talent management agency
This was one of those 'you never know where this might lead' kind of things.
Last month I went to my old secondary school to talk to some of the 6th form about my experiences in TV and independent documentary. The school careers lead subsequently introduced me to the founder of a London talent management agency, who also runs an entrepreneurs network.
I arranged an online meeting with her and her head of film & TV which happened on Monday. They were interested in my nuclear doc and represent a couple of nuclear scientists who do a lot of media work so thought there might be some crossover there.
I also talked to them about a long-gestating passion project of mine – unrelated to nuclear – which I think could work as a docu-fiction hybrid or straight fictional drama, since I know they work with a lot of writers too. But that didn't really seem to strike a chord.
My sense was that they really need a commissioned TV project to be on the table before they can get properly involved in anything and so with nothing concrete on either side, this was very much in the category of speculative networking. But it was a very friendly conversation nonetheless and it's always good to meet new people in the industry. Sometimes a seed planted a long time previously can germinate and turn into something at some unforeseen point in the future.
2. Approached a long list of American universities about potential screenings of ‘The Atom: A Love Affair’
It's now almost 4 years since I first released my nuclear history feature doc, back in the dizzying early pandemic days of May 2020. We’re very much at the back end of distribution now but having had a really positive response to the film from British universities, I really wanted to make one last push for educational screenings on the other side of the pond too.
Even though I'm kind of over sending out unsolicited enquiry emails at this point, I committed to pushing through that as I feel sure there's both an audience – and income – to be found over there.
Honestley, aside from the fact that I obviously want as many people as possible to see the film1 I just can't afford to be leaving money on the table. Making any money back from independent films is HARD (check out one of the many excellent newsletters from
on this if you want to learn more/commiserate/help envision a better way). And this is the kind of legwork you need to do, so I’m doing it.The good news is I got a pleasingly positive response with a number of academics replying promptly and enthusiastically. One even talked about the possibility of licensing the film to show to students year on year, which would be fantastic. Hopefully I'll have more positive news to report on this front in future Weekly Meanders…
3. International Women's Day Daisy Chain Flower Crown
I ended up spending a lot more time on Substack this week than I’ve done at any point since I started writing shortly before Christmas last year.
The reason for this was that I decided to respond to a really inspiring invitation I’d seen a few weeks ago from
and several other writers, to contribute a post for International Women’s Day, on 8th March, as part of what they called a Daisy Chain Flower Crown.If you haven’t seen it, here’s the post I wrote:
I actually wrote this fairly quickly - once I’d hit on the basic concept and structre, the words came quite easily. But what really ate up a lot of time (and this is by no means a complaint, just to be clear!) was reading and responding to the many, many other posts also written as part of the daisy chain - something I still haven’t finished doing even as I write this.
I’m learning about this community I’ve joined, about how to make the most of being here and above all, about how to write (I certainly wouldn’t call myself ‘a writer’ but as an English Lit graduate, I’m definitely a lover of language and admirer of well-written prose and one of the attractions of starting my own Substack was the chance to try and get better myself by writing more/more frequently).
WHAT I'M LOVING ON SUBSTACK THIS WEEK
Obviously I have to start with this. This note collates more than 50 posts responding to the call out, all of which are well worth your time – make a cuppa, curl up on the sofa and take a few moments out to think about the women who matter to you.
This is a great post all about Baz Luhrman's 'Sunscreen' track, full of sage advice to the 'Class of '99' (of which I was one!) - like reading the directions, not reading beauty magazines, being kind to your knees... and flossing.
was luck enough to meet the great man himself. If you don't know the record, or if you remember it like it was yesterday, either way this is a lovely little read, reminding us all not to worry too much. And here’s a link to have a listen for yourself:
A post about notebooks. I mean, what's not to love.
Watch my film on Netflix (in Europe) or Vimeo (everywhere else) - or see trailer, reviews & bonus content HERE
Find me on X /Twitter & at LinkedIn
Life stories website – coming soon...
Love the roundup! Thanks for sharing this week's Slice of Pie 🤩 and for flagging the virtual daisy chain, looking forward to diving into some of those!
What a lovely roundup and so so glad you were able to take part in the daisy chain! We’ve had 66 posts written it’s just all been so magical and inspiring! Good luck with your film stuff - sounds very exciting! ✨✨