10 tips of Networking for "new-born" film-makers in London

I guess no one is simply born as a film-maker, just one day we are bitten by film-contagious beasts and become "new-born" film-makers, suckers for films and inspiration.
But film-making is a team-sport so we need other people to make our dreams come true. One of the essential skills for new film-makers is networking as in any other business - we make our own luck.

So here are some of my tips on how to network in London:

1. Memento

Remember the power of little notes that Leonard Shelby used in Chris Nolan's film. Use his tips even if you have not "this condition" - use the power of business cards. Take and collect them from anyone who gives them to you: you might not know when you need a help of make-up artist or a professional florist. Make your own business cards especially for your film-making "you". If you are a student you can use some cheap resources - like free business cards templates or www.vistaprint.co.uk

2. Extras

Take part in other film project's - you never know how many people you can meet on set - your potential actors, writers, cameramen, technicians, make-up artists. Make friends with them, talk in coffee-breaks, exchange business cards. You can start as an extra in various student or short films shootings. Use resources like http://www.starnow.co.uk/ to find these opportunities. Remember you'll never meet as many people interested in films as you meet on set.

3. Twitter

Join twitter and follow actors, film production companies, PR companies, film journalists and film enthusiasts. There is always a huge amount of news, ideas and information on twitter. That is how personally I met wonderful people from heyuguys and started writing reviews for them. You can also learn a bunch of great stuff from great directors like Jason Reitman and Duncan Jones who use twitter a lot. For the start you can follow my film list on twitter here film list

4. Small talk

Talk to different people about your film project or just about your interest in films. Use small talk not just to discuss weather but mention your passion for films. If a person is somehow interested or related to film-industry they will probably will to tell you about it. The other day I had a small talk with a shop-assistant at Westfield and just mentioned a recent film that I watched. She told me that she knows that stuff as her friends run a small film production company. I know some people who were writing script for TV series and they met a film producer when they were walking their dog in the morning.

5. BFI

Become a member of British Film Institute (for 40 pounds a year) or just simply subscribe to their email newsletter and go to special previews and screenings with Q&A (they are at the affordable price range of 6-15 pounds). Not only you can watch a film before its release in cinemas and listen to directors/actors, - you can also meet a lot of interesting people there. Stay after the screening and hang out in the bar.

6. BAFTA

We all not BAFTA for its awards that have just taken place in London, but BAFTA operates all year round. SO subscribe the to BAFTA newsletter and look out for events master-classes that are open to public - always try to purchase ticket immediately (it's around 10-15 pounds) as they sold out quickly. But this will allow you to enter the BAFTA home in Picadilly street, hang out in the bar and enjoy the event. Sometimes BAFTA holds special master-classes for film students for free. Last year I went to the screen-writing masterclass by the writers of LOST.

7. Raindance

If you don't know about Raindance yet, well you should, as they have a variety of interesting and useful courses for you. Subscribe to their newsletter and look out for "Boozin'n'Schmoozin' networking event or just go to one of their courses and stay after the course to hang out with other crazy filmmakers.

8. Meet-ups

Go and hang out with movie geeks - most of them are just nice people to hang out with anyway, besides they are passionate for films. Check http://geeksoflondon.com/ and subscribe to their newsletter for upcoming geek events. My fellow guys from www.heyuguysblog.co.uk organize meet-ups for film-lovers as well so stay tuned.

9. Ask questions

Don't be afraid to ask questions. I learnt it myself, being a shy person I would prefer just to sit there and let the others talk. But if it's a movie geek event, or Viggo Mortensen's Q&A - there is your opportunity to stand out from the crowd by asking a smart or a silly question. Q&A is really a great chance to address a famous filmmaker or actor and ask them whatever you wanted. Go first - most of the times people are afraid to ask the first question so everyone will give you credit for being brave and hopefully remember your face.

10. Stay in touch

It's as easy as it is - to send email Christmas cards to your film networking or birthday greetings. You will be amazed how some people get excited and surprised that you actully remembered it's Christmas and sent them some good wishes. And think about yourself - whom would you rather help - an old classmate who never even sent you a message on facebook in 10 years or someone who always sent your little birthday wishes?

Let me know what you think of this... :)

BAFTA awards

Just less then 24 hours to go before the famous British Film awards.
BAFTA events are usually classy and with no political references but lots of humour and love for films.

Last year we saw lots of similarities between BAFTA and Oscar choices so for those who look forward t Oscars that's an important day too. Although BAFTAs are good on tis own as well.

I like BAFTAs because they are not afraid to reward those who are weird, like famous last year come-back from Mickey Rourke. He get no award at Oscars but at least he made BAFTA an unforgettable experience.

It follows British tradition of theatre and takes place in a beautiful Opera venue. Plus it does value great acting from British talents and has got a special prise for a bes British Film (this year it's An Education, Fish Tank, Nowhere Boy, In the Loop and Moon) and an outstanding British debut (I hope this year it goes to Duncan Jones - director of Moon).

And BAFTA likes film lovers, like me - students or people who have got inspiration for films and desire to share and discuss it with others - tomorrow I am going to tweet live from such an event, so you can follow my twiiter at www.twitter.com/victoriarusso

Otherwise stay tuned to live updates from @baftaonline and my colleagues from @heyuguysblog and on its website www.heyuguys.co.uk


Meanwhile let me choose my awards from BAFTA nominees - full list you can find here http://www.bafta.org/awards/film/film-awards-nominations,949,BA.html#jump2

But before I say anything about my choices - one bitter and sad word - THE ROAD. It's aint nominated for anything despite being one of the best films of this season. Based on a fantastic book by Cormac McCarthy it shows the journey of life and relationship between father and son and the rest of the world. Just in 2 hours it evokes the emotions and feelings of fear, love, hope, desperation and happiness. It has everything you need for a movie to be names as a great example of Art - a masterpiece: mesmerising cinematography, great story, simple and exciting composition, universal problem, tears and laughs, life and death, youth and Viggo Mortensen. Viggo is such a great actor that he doesn't need Bafta or Oscars. He is the magic on screen. Maybe that is why it's always hard for academics to consider him as a best actor - you can easily forget that he IS an actor - for he doesn't act - he exists.

My choices for BAFTA - let's see tomorrow if I was right -

Best Film - AVATAR

Outstanding British Film - MOON

Outstanding Debut by British writer, director or producer - Duncan Jones - Moon

Best Director - Kathryn Bigelow - THE HURT LOCKER

Original screenplay - THE HURT LOCKER - Mark Boal

Adapted Screenplay - Up in the Air - Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner

Film Not in the English Languange - A PROPHET

Animated film - UP

Leading Actor - COLIN FIRTH

Leading Actress - MERYL STREEP

Supporting Actor - CHRISTOPH WALTZ

Music - CRAZY HEART

Cinematography - THE ROAD (!!!!!) yaya

Editing - DISTRICT 9

Orange Rising Star Award - Carey Mulligan

Film Battle: The Informant Vs. An Education

Don't ask me why exactly these two films, it's just happened that I watched them in one evening. The funny thing when you are watching two films the same day: it's much easier to tell, which film managed to engage you, make you laugh and which film you remembered next morning.

+ Matt Damon	Carey Mulligan +
funny, pathetic, annoying	naive, funny, sweet +
+ Satire, sad and not so funny towards the end	Light-hearted jokes, serious towards the end
Office locations, not so cool FBI agents	London glamorous locations, pretty young people +
Scott Bakula	Alfred Molina +
WTF I hate them all! Money first, prison second	Education first, don't be stupid +

So the winner is An Education

Avatar for a girl

Picture above generated at http://www.mcdonalds.at/avatar/


Have you ever dreamt of flying giant birds?
Have you ever dreamt of mesmerizing green and blue colours?
Have you ever dreamt of yourself being not yourself any more?
Have you ever dreamt of waking up in a magical world full of new and scary adventures?
Have you ever dreamt of being in love with an alien?
But any person of an opposite sex or mind - is an alien.

These dreams are scary, hard and hurting. But so rewarding - no matter what. It is such a pleasure that James Cameron and Co were so brave to show us their dreams.

As a little girl at heart - I like simple and romantic story-tales - until now only my imagination and Studio Ghibli could draw these stories up to my expectations.

But here came AVATAR. Born from James Cameron's childhood, creativity and cinematic dreams - Avatar for a girl is a crazy wonderful love story come true. As a wild emotional girl of a city jungle I wish to meet an alien - just as Jake was an alien for Neytiri. He is so simple, pure-hearted and honest. Not so honest, to be frank, but, well, no men are.

Love always makes you vulnerable - especially when you're in love with an alien heart. Alien heart can and most surely will hurt you. For they have no idea what they do - or what they really want to do - time is needed to decide. But love also makes you stronger -a woman in love and a brave man are the best warriors on this or any other planet - including Pandora.

I haven't seen a more beautiful world than in Avatar except probably for one place... - my and your dreams.

~~~

- Let it go, - father Nicholas said in a low confident voice.
- No, I can't - for I love.
- Let it go and walk with me.
- But you always taught me to fight for love...
- When I want you to fight - I will give you a sword.

Everyday Miracles

Just thought I can share with you little miracles that happen in my life from time to time and that remind me that life is really full of surprises and dreams do come true, just stay positive :)

~1} Once I went to Starbucks to buy a cup off coffee, there I saw a nice chocolate cookies and I really really wanted to buy one but I didn't have time and just bought a cup of coffee to go. One hour later I had to go to the bank and while I was waiting in the queue one of the stuff of the bank came along with a tray of cookies to celebrate bank's anniversary or something. On the tray were the very cookies that I saw an hour earlier in Starbucks. So I ate the chocolate cookie, chocolate dream came true.

~2} This logo of 30secondstomars, my favourite band's album. This logo is featuring a red rose as you can see. So one Monday I put this as a wallpaper on my laptop and every time I looked at it I hoped someone would give me a long beautiful red rose. On Friday that week I was taking a bus home late at night and there were only two people in the bus - me and one guy sitting at the front. He stand up and came up to me, I got afraid a bit, but knew that driver could see me. The guy said to me: " next stop is mine, but before I get off I want to give you this" - so he gave a beautiful red rose and disappeared in darkness.

3} I was reading this popular book "Secret", maybe you've heard of it. So there was an exercise to do in order to check "the law of attraction". Basically it claims that the more you think of something - the more it's attracted t your life. The exercise asked readers to think of something for several days like a feather for example and it will come across. I didn't want to think about feathers, so I started thinking about a bouquet or red tulips as these are my favourite flowers. Next day (basically 24 hours later) after Uni when I came home, on the table nest to my flat was a bouquet of red roses (ok, not tulips, but whatever) with a note on it "Take me". So I took it.

4} Me and two of my friends were all going to London from one city, we decided to take the same train, but couldn't buy tickets together as we all were in different cities and bought tickets at different times, so we just thought we'll figure out how to sit together when we are in the train. When we were ready to take the train and checked our tickets - the places we had were in the same coach and they were: 2, 3 and.... 4

5} I was writing a story "Nika is flying to Mars" that you can read on my blog as well, and I couldn't come up with a name for one of the main charachters. So one day in the morning I decided on "James Summers". Later in the evening I was going to the cinema and lost my way, it was heavily raining, when I was trying to figure out where I was I came up to the street sign and it was "Summers place". I was shocked. Later that night when I was in the club my friend introduced me to her friend whose name was... James.

6} One day I went to Starbucks (again) and when I was paying I saw a note on the counter saying "It's my birthday", so I asked whose birthday it was and the girl serving me said happily that it was hers. So I paid for my drink and chocolate medal and then said "Happy birthday" and gave that chocolate medal to her. She was very happy. I was too. Next week in another Starbucks when I was paying for drinks and panini a waiter kept flirting with me. When I got me cup of coffee and panini, inside the bag there was.... chocolate medal.

7} One evening I went to see the play "Now or never" with Eddie Redmayne, one of my favourite actors, and everything was wrong, my friend couldn't join me, tube was slow and I took a wrong line, so I was a bit frustrated. After the play, whic was amazing, I went to ladies, and you know these queues to ladies' restrooms, bloody long. By the time I left, all the main doors were shut and I had to use another door. When I went to the street, guess who was smoking alone at the corner? yes, Eddie Redmayne.

Under the rain

Little shiny balls of rain are falling down. They are very warm and they are flying from sky towards earth surface with such a passion... as if they got a mission. A message to deliver.
I am walking towards the bus stop, which as according to my memory is supposed to be somewhere there, 500 meters away.
I wonder what that message would be? "Don't be afraid" or "Don't run away and go back" or maybe "Be strong".

It's quite late, 3 am. Not sure there will be a bus. Oh, yes, there should be. My memory reminds me that this bus is 24 hours. It's good news. However the decision is to be made, and I know my bloody heart that it can change its decision before the bus takes me away.

As if geographical distance means more than emotional distance. How f**ing weird, but it does. "Away" is the only word that is not from here. It's from somewhere there - far away. And how many people can break that word?

Here and Away are only two words that matter. That doesn't matter if you're away, somewhere deep in my heart you're here. Here and Away don't have so much of a difference now, do they?
Right now at 3 am rushing somewhere I kind of wish you can come and save me from all the troubles. And you will tell me and my sisters a great story about little dwarfs sitting on the clouds and gathering little girls' tears. Then they make rain from these tears. So the more we, little girls cry - the more rain there is. Me and my sisters will believe you, for there is no way not to believe.

It's enough to believe and wait for someone who will just appear in the silver needles of rain and save me. That's not silver needles that hurt, that's my memory that is slowly waking up and reminding me that three years ago this very day, you died. People die, that's a kind of a journey end. Especially if they are 76. Especially if they're grandparents. Nothing to be crying about?

And I am not, who said I am? That's all rain drops on my face. And I am not running away from anything, just went for a walk under the warm rain. Here in this real world you are dead. But in my dreams you are always alive and lively. And you keep telling me something. Like a message. I just can't catch it. My memory is failing me again.

I wonder why it is raining? Why people cry over someone who is already dead? They are rarely crying over those whom they hated. They mostly cry about those who they loved. So these tears are warmed up with love, just like this rain is.