A big thanks!

I really want to get the chance to thank everyone involved with mPOWER, this has been an amazing experience and if I was told a year ago I would be involved in a project like this I wouldn’t have believed them!

When I applied for a film development internship with mPOWER I never thought about how much I would change over the process. I now have a real sense of independence and am equipped with the knowledge and skills that I will need in order to achieve what I want in life. I’ve met the most amazing people; whether its industry professionals, the mPOWER staff, the macrobert team, Forth Valley College or the other young people who are involved the project, you guys have made the project so vibrant and a privilege to be involved in!

Here is a taster of the great things I’ve done whilst being involved with mPOWER and mFEST:

-wrote, produced, edited and was an extra in a first light funded film ‘REVISED’ which will be premiered before the festival
-script writing workshop with Mikey Murray and Peter Hynes
-directing workshop with Adrian Mead
-animation workshop with Julia McLean
-worked with Apple to make a music video shown at the Glasgow international Film festival
-sound workshop with Becky Thompson
-trip to the set of River City, Film City
-trip to the set of David Tennant’s new drama Single Father
-went to small majority offices to record voice overs with the Documentary team
-became the associate producer of a new festival act ‘RED’ being performed at the festival
-got a role in ‘Free?’ a new play by amnesty international adapted by a fellow mPOWERer Fraser Morrison
-CV work shops with Forth Valley College
-helping film at the Tolbooth’s Re-loaded events with fellow intern Sean

And that’s before the festival!

I’ve grown as a person through out the whole process and my confidence has soared resulting from the project. I know that I can rely on myself a lot more to keep to deadlines, also I learned a lot about working as a team and loved making my first short film with a great group of friends.

It’s honestly hard to find words to try and explain how grateful I am for this project; my life would be so different if I hadn’t been involved.

I now know the macrobert like the back of my hand, and know what amazing hot chocolate they make! Sadly enough I also know the bus fare to get from Denny to the macrobert, and the price of a smoked chicken panini with pesto (£3.75).

I’ve got to see some amazing performances at the macrobert during this time such as Conflux (spokes) and Motionhouse as part of the inspire events- which true to their name were VERY inspiring! I had never seen a dance drama before seeing these and I hope to see a lot more in the future.

Teenagers have been given a great chance in this festival, and I thank mPOWER for believing and supporting each and every one of us throughout the process- you’ve been so helpful and friendly! I really hope that this project happens again so that other teens like me can experience how brilliant it is.

I’m looking forward to mFEST and hope that all the hard work and hours that everyone has put into it will pay off, and hey, it’ll be great fun!

Lauren :)