Yasmina El-Khatib and our BFI Film Academy Southwest mentee Amy Smith tell us about their internships at Aardman Animations.
Over the past few years we have undertaken small business coaching with Esme Filsinger and it has completely transformed the way we work at Black Bark Films - and brought our business further inline with the way in which we see the world.
Here are a few of the positive changes, thoughts and feelings we garnered from our time with Esme.
Our business should work for us.
We didn’t create Black Bark because we wanted to stride into the filmmaking and television industry with guns blazing, to bag loads of cash and make a name for ourselves. We are both deeply curious about the world that we live in - and we love people. We are committed to both listening to and sharing people’s stories in a careful and caring way. We created Black Bark because of this, and the business should reflect that it is an extension of ourselves, not just a money earning project (although we are so grateful to both be full time filmmakers making our income from Black Bark!).
Communication is key.
We are both deep reflectors. We reflect before, during and after projects; we embed action learning and check-ins into our business; we have worked hard to communicate well with each other (which can be tricky when working with one of your best pals). But how do we communicate this to our clients and collaborators? Together with Esme’s prompts we have put together an ethical manifesto of how our business values live in the way that we work (which you can see below), and we now have a workflow including how we communicate with our clients and collaborators.
Blue sky thinking is important.
We are a very real company operating within a very real world, representing real people as authentically as possible. But we dream widely about the world we want to see, about the people who we want to follow, who we want to see on our screens, and of the stories we want to hear. We also think widely about how to make our work better, and how to be humans in the world. Then we take a step by step approach into making those dreams a reality for us both - and for the business we run.
Abortion Helpline, This is Lisa from Topic on Vimeo.
Hello, World!
Updated 9th July 2021.
Using precaution we have agreed to start shooting once again. Please read below for the Covid-19 precautions, and do get in touch if you’d like to work with us, but feel nervous or unsure due to the current climate. We will assess filming on a case by case basis and may postpone work if we feel it may be unsafe for ourselves, or for our clients and collaborators.
UK Government advice on Covid- 19
What we will be doing to stay safe and keep you safe:
PRE PRODUCTION/ POST PRODUCTION
All pre-production will take place online via zoom, skype, email and/ or the telephone, if necessary.
If a face to face meeting is requested, we would prefer to meet in an outside space. We will wear masks if you would prefer, and have anti bac in our pockets.
We will keep our workspace sanitised and clean and minimise the amount of people sharing our workspace.
PRODUCTION
We will organise shoots to fit your needs around coronavirus, which may include; wearing face masks, keeping 1 - 2m distance between ourselves and vulnerable peoples; cleaning our equipment thoroughly; placing used equipment in plastic pockets to be quarantined until we get it back to our studio.
We will wash our hands thoroughly before and after the shoot, and use anti bac as needed in between.
If possible, we will shoot outdoors (if noise and weather limitations allow us), or we will discuss inside spaces ahead of the shoot to ensure good ventilation and space allowance.
On the 7 days prior to, or on the day of the shoot, if one of our crew displays any cold/flu/Covid-19 like symptoms such as having a temperature or a dry cough, we will contact you to reschedule, if possible.
If you or any of the contributors either 7 days prior to, or on the day of the shoot, display any cold/flu/Covid-like symptoms such as having a temperature or a dry cough, please notify us, and we will reschedule the shoot, if possible.
If you have been in contact with anyone in the last 7 days who is experiencing symptoms or who has tested positive for Covid-19, please get in touch as soon as possible to reschedule.
We will bring our own water vessels and food.
Please contact us if you have any concerns or would like to discuss any of the above at blackbarkfilms@gmail.com
