Raindance Success Stories
Make A Film – Learn By Doing
I had been a community member of Raindance for a few years and during this time dreamed of making my own short films. As a mature aged actress, with a very independent and resourceful streak, I wanted to create. I am a compulsive learner and tried ‘teaching’ myself...
How to Process Our Pandemic Experience Into Art
Tomasz Śliwiński (director of short film “Ondine” screened at Raindance Film Festival 2020) We have all experienced this recently – the global COVID-19 pandemic. This experience is especially traumatic when you are a creative person with tons of projects and suddenly...
Aim High, and Aim Wide | The Story of Sad Beauty
Aim high, and aim wide. One day in July 2020 I got an email that I hoped for, but certainly did not expect: Official Selection of Raindance Film Festival 2020 – Sad Beauty. I immediately opened a bottle of champagne! Luckily that was not my only bottle, because a few...
How to make a Film during Covid-19 | An Ode to Tom Cruise
Covid has made the most basic day-to-day tasks near impossible, let alone the effort it takes to make anything artistic. Theatre, Films, Television-- all these art forms are group efforts and require people which Boris isn’t keen on at the moment. AND YET, at the...
Just do it! The story of Cityboy
The story of Cityboy After leaving my hardcore office job and writing an expose about it called ‘Cityboy’ that somehow became a best-seller I wasn’t too sure what the next step was. I was only 35 and I’d been slaving away in a job I despised for 12 years. All I knew...
The Last Video Store; making an incredible film with £35!
When I stumbled upon 20th Century Flicks, the World’s oldest video rental store, I instantly knew I had found the subject for my next film; I had a group of likeable characters, a cool setting, and a story steeped in nostalgia. I knew I had a film with potential. What...
What are you waiting for? By Writer/Director Chris Skarratt
What are you waiting for? As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster. No, wait, a filmmaker. I always get that wrong. As a kid my best mate had a VHS player and we’d watch everything from Stanley Kubrick to Sam Raimi (‘The Evil Dead’ and ‘The...
The Stars & The Stones, and the Story of James Hughes
The Stars & The Stones was the first success, but definitely not the last... I had wanted to be a filmmaker from a young age, but I knew no one in the industry and lived outside of London. Even those around me were not that interested in films. I could not have...
Everybody Flies, a Raindance Documentary taking cinemas and awards by storm-or sky
Everybody flies has been a massive success... Where does the air you breathe on a plane come from? Do you know? I was ill health retired as an airline Captain from exposures to contaminated air on aircraft. Something passengers are never told about and know very...
I Blame Star Wars: The Making of a Filmmaker
I Blame Star Wars 1977: I sat waiting patiently for the curtains to open. Two hours later I was convinced Star Wars was the best film ever made. Well, I was nine. 1994: After moving to Leeds, I discovered film festivals and independently made, zero budget, friends...