My Mission Statement

Maybe I've been hanging around way too many Americans again, as I've just written myself a Mission Statement!

I'm all fired up, enthusiastic and raring to go - and to help keep me focused on what I want to achieve, I wrote myself a OTT, gushy, Oscar speechy and slightly poncey Mission Statement. It's great to actually put down my aspirations and share them with the world: "This is me, this is what I want to do, this is my philosophy" and I am hoping it's presence here on the net for all to see, will act like a cosmic ray, reaching out to likeminded film-makers on the planet. If it doesn't? I still have my plan to guide me and give me strength of purpose... A Mission. If it does? Bonus! I get some great company to make the journey of life more exciting and fun. It's a win-win situation!

Jen

MY MISSION STATEMENT
1. To write and produce entertaining films
2. To always aspire to be the best film-maker my abilities allow and to push the boundaries and strive for excellence in my work
3. To not let difficulties or obstacles deter my mission, but feed my inner strength and develop my problem solving skills.
4. To improve the lot and respect in the industry for writers
5. To encourage film makers to get the script right before pre-production begins and invest more time in script development and polishing.
6. To encourage film-makers to be more thorough in pre-production, so when in production the focus can be on creativity, not catch up and miscommunication.
7. To encourage more respect for post-production and use it more effectively and not just to 'fix' what went wrong in production
8. To raise the bar in British film-making and be more competitive and effective in the global market
9. To encourage British film-makers to be more adventurous and cinematic.
10. To build a more sustainable British film industry, not quite so reliant on outside investment and to promote a better quality cinematic experience.
11. To encourage the sharing of knowledge over self interest and ego
12. To discourage bulls**t, egos, takers and users who don't want to pay or respect their cast and crew, those that suppress talent to bolster their insecurities/ego and those that just want to work in the film industry, more than they want to actually make films. (i.e. they want to work in the industry to 'meet famous people', show off and give their ego a boost rather than they have an actual interest in film-making and producing something amazing)
13. To be loyal to those that help me and to collect together the 'good guys' of the industry; those who's passion for film is bigger than their ego and self-interest, those who don't need to use bulls**t and can be honest and true to the film, those that can respect their fellow technicians as equals and inspire them to do their best work.
14. To seek out and encourage genuine talent, nurture it, help it grow and inspire others to reach for their potential
15. To enjoy the process and put the fun back in film-making and the passion back into the craft.
16. To grow both as a person and a creative force and to learn all I can about the craft and to never stop learning
17. To change the world for the better through film and the expression of ideas

My New Official Blog

Welcome to my new site blog and news page!

I will post any site updates and news here, along with my own work related news.

My personal blog can be found on MySpace.

My old news page can be found here.

You may have noticed I've been absent a while and not so many items have been updated on the site as frequently as I would like and I haven't been fantastically fast in responding to my e-mail. I am also battling/recovering from an often debilitating, chronic neurological illness known as M.E./CFS, so it's slowed me down a bit - so apologies to all those waiting for updates and interaction. To counter this I have created a forum to make the site more interactive.

Jen's new Film-makers Forum!

The good news is I have been making a good recovery with the help of a very patient acupuncturist and an osteopath/naturopath. I have still some way to go, but the outlook is very bright. :) The M.E./CFS (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) may have made achieving my ambitions more difficult, but it has not been able to stop me, as I am determined to overcome this challenging period in my life and turn it into a positive! (More news about that in my next blog.)

My first hope is that this will inspire others to not let difficulties and obstacles get in the way of achieving their dreams. My second hope is to highlight this much, maligned, denigrated and misunderstood illness, which affects an estimated 240,000 people in the UK - That's roughly 1 in 250 people! This figure is rising, creating serious economic implications for the UK, which is compounded by a scandalous lack of government research and NHS services for people with ME/CFS. Useful links: ME Association and MERGE.

Thank you to everyone that has written to me giving their support, I very much appreciate it and hope I can return in kind. :)

Kind regards,

Jen