Jon Ellison

 Once again, it's that time of year when Christmas draws near and the worldwide population commence their plans for celebration and shopping for gifts, ingredients for Christmas dinners and so forth. You might be thinking "what has that got to do with the main topic of this article and vice versa". With Christmas around the corner, it's worth noting that Disney films have been broadcast on terrestrial television during the holiday season for years. I even briefly mentioned this when I celebrated Disney's 100th Anniversary . So putting those things into consideration, and as I promised, I thought I'd give my thoughts and ideas on what films Disney could produce. I realised that the organisation has not experienced a brilliant year, financially. So consider this a little bit of help that I'd give to them. In no particular order, here are some ideas; Fantasia 3(000?) Since its release in 1940, Fantasia, which is probably the first film I ever watched (we did ...

 Before I begin, I want to talk briefly about the content I used on my previous article. I'd like to apologise to anybody who may have been put off by what I wrote regarding the censorship which Roald Dahl's books have recently faced. However, when it comes to reviews, whether positive or negative, I always try to sound as constructive as possible. Like many creatives, I never intend to cause offence. Though there have been numerous articles i.e. in the Guardian where similar arguments have been stated. It just so happens that I personally agree with them. I just thought I'd make things clear and again, sorry for any off-puts. Now onto the main topic for this article. Recently during the last few days, two filmmakers had passed away. I refer to those filmmakers as unsung heroes, particularly because they've achieved a lot over the years, but despite that, they have hardly been referenced through public discussions and so forth much. Firstly, I shall talk about Burny Mat...

 So apparently, today's the 12th day of Christmas. I say apparently because I never fully believed that there were actually twelve days of Christmas, aside from Christmases Eve and Day and Boxing Day (December 24th, 25th and 26th). I'd've thought it was just some silly carol that suggests that there are 12 Days of Christmas. But my family follows this tradition and that is; when it comes to the 12th Day, i.e. 5th January, now's the time to start taking the Christmas decorations down. I would've thought it was Boxing Day, but in our family, we have a few other traditions each Christmas and this holiday just gone was no exception. For us, Christmas Day is family time and not only did I spend time with my parents and my older brother, but we were all invited to join some of our other relatives for Christmas Dinner. We had a mixture of turkey and pork and some vegetables and we had music associated with the holiday playing in the background. Sounds familiar doesn't ...

 One weekend per year, a film-making challenge is held in the Midlands - where local filmmakers team up to produce a film in relation to the genre provided to them and within two days precisely. Being how dedicated I am to film-making, I had developed my experience within the field and so far this year, I've worked on three films (one short), all of which I worked on as a boom operator. Despite this, and due to the two years before then, it felt longer. Because since early-July, I had not worked on another film... Until this weekend gone by. Because I was one of those who participated in the challenge. I worked with a few other fellow filmmakers from Leicester on a short film which for this year had to be an "urban fairy-tale". I had a go at writing a script for the short and I was thinking to myself what could count as an urban fairy-tale. Could it be like E.T. The Extra Terrestrial which is a sci-fi family feature with a sort-of fairy-tale feel to it? Or one of the more...

Hello once again. Before I start, just a few updates. Firstly, I've taken part in a mentoring scheme set by Screen Northampts, a film-making-related organisation based in Northampton. Basically, what happens is that Screen Northampts arranges for a staff member to mentor those who are pursuing a career in the film industry whether it be sound production, editing, writing and so forth. My main career ambition is of course writing and my mentor has offered me some great advice so far on which sources to try for script promotion ideas. Also I've started some counselling sessions due to recent mental health issues. These related not only the impact that the lockdown had on me, but what has happened since then, residential life and work life. Either that or I maybe experiencing a quarter-life crisis. But that's another story for another time. Last Friday evening, I was watching a documentary feature at the Phoenix in Leicester, my hometown. This film in particular contained a se...

 In one of the blog posts I wrote last month, Happy International Women's Day (2022), I gave a brief tribute to Lynda Baron. This time, I'm writing this post as a tribute to another celebrity who has died earlier this month. As you probably can tell from the title, I'm referring to June Brown. June Brown is probably best known as the actor of Dot Cotton/Branning in EastEnders. Now for those of you who don't know, EastEnders is a UK TV soap opera that is set in the fictional London-based town of Walford and has aired since 1985. On estimation, it has been one of my most frequently watched shows in history along with other shows such as the Simpsons. As far back as I can remember, my earliest memory of watching EastEnders was when I was six; I had come home from Beaver Scouts and it was broadcast on BBC1. Out of every soap, EastEnders is sort of the only one I've watched properly. It has rivaled Coronation Street, a longer running soap and I did watch that show occasi...

 Hello everybody, I was going to write my monthly blog post earlier this month. However, very unfortunate events, which are another story, had occurred to me recently, causing a slight delay. Now those who have read some of my previous posts will know that although my main speciality is writing, I possess some additional experience in other film-making roles such as editing and camera operation. 30th October 2021 was the night of the premiere for a feature film in which I was involved in the production for. The film is called A Kidnap and it was produced by Greenhough Films. It is a British psychological thriller in which an adopted brother and sister are abducted and are on a mission to escape before the kidnappers and their twisted relationships implode. Details are included in the link below; https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9863778/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1 For the production, I was the sound recordist. The origin dates back to when Lee, the director, advertised online stating that a sound ...

 Just recently, I've entered one of my short films into a monthly film festival known as Lift-Off Sessions. The film is one which I made just a few years ago. It was shot in my hometown, Leicester, and partially in association with Seven/Five Productions, which was then a collective of independent filmmakers across the county of Leicestershire. I was recommended Lift-Off Sessions by a friend of mine who I knew through Seven/Five when he told me about it during a screening at a festival in Coalville. At the time, that very same film I was referring to was being screened there. For those of you who don't know, Lift-Off Sessions is an online monthly film festival based at Pinewood Studios. What happens is that they screen each film that has been entered on Vimeo for a certain period of time and provides the audience an opportunity to cast their votes, whichever film gets the most votes also gets shown at the Los Angeles Lift-Off Film Festival. All that have been entered are scree...

 Hello everybody, before I start, just a little update; the script that I submitted to Wiki: The World's Fastest Screenplay Contest had entered the quarter finals and has since been labelled as an Honourable Mention. So my next step shall be to try and get the script submitted to a film production company. As some readers may know, a few months ago, I achieved a masters degree in Creative Writing. Through my early posts, I mentioned that I mostly write film scripts. That being said, each of us had to write an essay about meeting one of our favourite writers. It was pretty much more like a story than an essay and the project itself didn't exactly have to be true. Some of us eventually made up our stories.  I originally thought about writing about how I met Shane Rimmer at the National Space Centre in Leicester, but it was hard to think about what to write around it. Eventually I decided to eventually write about how I "met Quentin Tarantino" instead. Just to point out ...

 Hello blog readers. So, here's a bit of news. I have submitted one of my feature film scripts to a couple of festivals. One is the Best Script Award festival which is based in London, England, and runs on a monthly basis. The other is the Los Angeles International Screenplay Awards festival. The film is a family adventure drama. Without giving too much away on what the film is about, I'll put it this way; it includes a working-class family, a TV game show, and sabotage. I first began developing the idea five years ago and also submitted the script as part of my dissertation. I guess I should talk about some of the family movies which influenced my writing. Not all of them have influenced just this one project of mine in particular, but are most likely to serve as influences for other projects as well. Some of the influences are very loose. I must warn readers that there may be spoilers. Also, this list is in no particular order. Films Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory ...