A FITTING PLEA

PART 2    DISCOVERY

Back in December last year I received a call from an old colleague of mine who had discovered through the local press that I had been involved in various acting roles as a regular amateur player and as an extra in Susan Boyles' first film, "The Christmas Candle" that had used one of our local villages as a filming location.

As he himself was about to be involved in a short film project called "The Means", due to start in January earlier this year, he knew the production team were still trying to cast one of the lead roles and he thought I could possibly "fit the part". After a successful audition, I was in.

Right from day one, I was thoroughly interested in the whole process. The producer, Sachia Mooney, eagerly embroidered on the reasons why the project was taking place. As part of his media career path, as a teacher, he discovered that he enjoyed a lot more success, using his skills as a film maker, to educate his allotted flock with astonishing results, much to the surprise of his peers at the time. So much so, that he decided to take the next step into relatively unknown territory and form a, to-date, unique Community Interest Company created with the aim of providing a platform to produce media which would utilise members of the local community ... and .... as an education vehicle encompassing all age groups and abilities mixed with seasoned professional teams acting as mentors. "The Means" was to be the pilot for this approach. He had me hooked!!!

So... there we were, between 20-30 of us, many whom were meeting each other for the very first time, about to embark upon this exciting "journey" for 4 days continuously. By the end of it, we had become a solid unit, all thoroughly enjoying this unique experience, forming new friendships, learning new skills, using the abilities we innately possessed to evolve and improve the "end product" which you can see very soon. In fact, I enjoyed it so much, I asked the team to let me know if I could become involved in any future projects, ... they did exactly that.

Just a few short months ago, I was invited to join the company to help it move forward utilising my existing business skills as an established company owner. I didn't hesitate. I quite literally JUMPED at it.

We are now in the process of building our teams and actively seeking potential presenters and scriptwriters for starters as part of our intitial "3 year plan" so keep your eyes peeled for the recruitment "posts" to follow ...and next weeks blog I will take you on the 4 day fascinating filming experience from my own perspective.