Catching Up with Alumni - Lounge Trip

Thankyou for taking the time to talk with me today. It’s great to sit down with you. I came along to Lounge Trip’s screening of The Handmaiden and I love the films you programme and all the extra's you put into your screenings including the artwork you commission. I’d like to know what was your experience of making films and your knowledge of the film industry before taking part in the BFI Film Academy Short Course?

Betsy - I grew up with parents in the film industry so I didn’t take filmmaking too seriously as it was happening around me from a young age. Before joining the BFI Film Academy Short Course delivered by Broadway, I didn’t take advantage of it or engage with it too much. I went down a more academic route studying my A-Levels in Fine Art. I had very little technical experience coming onto the course but I had developed over time, a passion for wanting to learn more. I was interested in the creative aspect of filmmaking such as writing and directing but I had a very open mind to different roles, although, I knew that I wasn't the most technical.

Going into the course, I loved films such as ‘Jennifer’s Body’ and ‘Booksmart’ - I found watching female filmmakers very inspiring but I also knew I needed to broaden my scope of filmmaking in general.

Charlie - Before taking part in the BFI Film Academy Short Course I completed a BTEC in Film and TV production with Confetti College which helped me to come to grips with the technical side of filmmaking. What I wanted to gain from the Short Course was an understanding of the industry, how to access it and to understand the details behind how a film goes from script to screen. 

When did you join the BFI Film Academy Short Course and what influence has the Short Course had on your work now?

Betsy - We took part in the 2021-22 BFI Film Academy Short Course delivered by Broadway from October to early February, which was delivered as a hybrid of digital and in-person sessions and workshops. 

To sum it up we wouldn’t have made the film which we have just finished if we hadn't taken part. 6 out of the 20 Short Course alumni from Broadway were on our shoot with us and two BFI Film Academy residents from 2022 joined us from the Birmingham and Sheffield cohort 

After taking part, Ella Townsend - Course Lead of Broadway’s BFI Film Academy Short Course took us to Short Stack (a short film night held at Broadway for regional filmmakers) where we met one of our current Lounge Trip members Matilda Osbon. As part of the wider BFI Film Academy work Ella provides for the Midlands, and as we used to present film nights at Broadway, Ella invited the 2021-22 cohort to curate and host a screening of 'Portrait Of A Lady On Fire' which inspired us to start-up and found Lounge Trip, in October. 

Charlie - I remember thinking when I was applying to take part, that I've been to Confetti and I didn’t want to take the space from someone else, but now I know, if I hadn't done it then I wouldn’t have started making films now. If I could talk to myself before I started I don't think I could explain how much I got out of it. The BFI Film Academy Short Course delivered by Broadway taught us how to tell stories and how to be a person telling stories. 

We’re grateful to be a part of Nottingham’s BFI Film Academy Short Course alumni, as Ella continues to keeps us up to date with opportunities, such as - traineeships and events as well as regional and national BFI Film Academy Residential Programmes - which I went on in 2022 as part of the NFTS Craft Skills Programme. 

I’ll be returning to Nottingham Trent University for my second year of filmmaking BA (Hons) and Betsy will be starting her studies at Central St Martins/UAL for BA (Hons) Fine Art.

It's amazing to hear that you both have exciting projects and life-events coming up. We hope that you have the support you need and continue to grow.

How did you find the industry support you received whilst on the BFI Film Academy Short Course delivered by Broadway?

Betsy - Getting support from local and regional guest speakers made our whole experience so much richer. It makes a difference in comparison to a school setting, we weren’t learning to answer questions, we were learning to gain skills and apply our knowledge to create tangible films.

The range of available speakers was broad and showed the full scope of the industry. We all got the opportunity to speak with someone relevant to where we wanted to go in our careers. 

Me and Charlie got to learn from Wellington Films - Al Clark, who shared their knowledge on producing and what the role of a producer comes down to. We also got the opportunity to speak with Susan Pennington (‘This is England’, ‘Nativity Rocks!’ and ‘The Gallows Pole’) from Spool Studios based in Nottingham, who talked to us about on-set and post-production sound recording and mixing. 

We’ve aimed to carry on this way of working on our recent short film production as part of Lounge Trip. We wanted to make it accessible to people coming on-board as we felt we had such a good experience that we should continue this way of working. 

Charlie - I particularly got a lot from the directing sessions that were part of the course. Invited guest speakers and key members of staff from The Television Workshop came in and we were able to work with real actors who were our age to practise reading over the script and it was our first experience of giving direction.

Is there anything you would say to people who were unsure whether to take part?

It is genuinely the best thing we’ve ever done. If you get onto the course, you’ll get the most from taking part, if you also do the work outside of it and find where you can take it further.

Taking part in the BFI Film Academy Short Course delivered by Broadway opens so many doors, we know at least one person who is now in the film industry. 

Charlie - Before I started the Short Course I had always seen Broadway as a flashy cinema from the outside and was hesitant to visit as I didn’t feel I was the right fit. Taking part in the Short Course made me feel like I belonged there and by the end, I had spent a lot of time getting comfortable in Broadway’s smallest cinema space - the Lounge, which inspired our film collective name. Ella offered the space for us to watch films outside of the scheduled session, with my peers, sharing our favourite and personal film library, and I tried to watch as many as I could from the cinema programme too. 

Betsy - I kept a Letterboxd list of all the films that I watched during BFI Film Academy Short Course delivered by Broadway and I’d seen 14 out of 34 in Broadway’s Lounge. We did try to use the space as much as we could during the course for our own personal and professional CPD,  and would encourage new participants to do the same. 

Lounge Trip programmed a season of films for the UK-wide BFI season Cinema Unbound: The Creative Worlds of Powell and Pressburger in 2023

BFI Film Academy Short Course at Broadway is currently open for applications.

Find out more about the BFI Film Academy Short Course at Broadway and apply here. Deadline for applications is 15 September 2024.