British Special Mention Award 2009
Winner's Diary
Sam Firth

Going to the NFTS

Last week I got back from doing the course in Directing Actors at the NFTS with Bryan Gilbert who directed Wilde. It was a fantastic experience. I got to use the NFTS studio with my own crew and professional actors at least one of whom I am fairly certain I will be working with in the future. I realise now I should have got someone to take some pictures for this blog. Apologies. I’ll make sure I take my camera if I get to go to any film festivals with the British Council.

There were some really interesting people on the course and it was just what I needed. Everything Bryan taught made sense and chimed with my screenwriting training. Bryan was very encouraging and has given me the confidence to start preparing to shoot a short drama which I wrote nearly ten years ago. My plan is to film here in Knoydart in the autumn. Claudia my main collaborator has been hounding me to get this particular script out dust it down and do it justice for years now.
The course was intense and I came back exhausted. I had to start rehearsing my actors on the second day of the course and had one evening to prepare the scene before meeting them. I was also trying to spend a small amount of time with my family too in the brief window that I was in London. But I came away wanting more. To do more directing and more courses at the NFTS. So thank you to DepicT! and the NFTS for a brilliant prize really.

I’ve also made contact with Antonia Bird my BAFTA who has a really busy schedule and I’m really grateful that she is going to try and take time out to meet me in Edinburgh. It looks like we might hook up on the day I have to do my final pitch to the Scottish Documentary Insitute for their Bridging the Gap scheme before they announce their commissions, so a pep talk from her might be just what I need. Fingers crossed for the 16th March.

Otherwise all is well here in Knoydart it’s been very cold and we didn’t get much post last week because there’s been so much snow in the highlands, but here it has been beautiful, clear blue skies and very calm. We are expecting the prerequisite storms to come soon though as we don’t usually escape a winter without them. I think being eternally pessimistic about the weather is part of being a highlander. The good days are always a pleasant surprise to be cherished. Especially when the hoards of tourists haven’t turned up yet. So I am enjoying lots of breaks walking along the coast and saw an otter last week which made my day. Couldn’t be further away from the NFTS now, but I’m taking it all with me and feel very much inspired and enthused, so watch this space.

More soon.

Sam

This entry was posted on 02 Mar, 2010.
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