“By telling the story of five older women, I hoped to depict a snapshot of real people rarely seen on screen. Weaving in details from their day-to-day lives, Wannabe tells a story that accurately reflects their lives in austerity-era Britain. Anita, a cleaner who plays Scary Spice, for example, has seen her increasingly precarious job become outsourced more and more while her shifts are cut. As a woman in her mid-70s, chances of finding new work in an economic system that favours young, male and physically-abled bodies are slim. The reality of struggling to make ends meet affects her mental health on a daily basis, and as anyone living in rented accommodation knows, there is little margin for error or misfortune.”

Dorothy Allen-Pickard is a filmmaker and multidisciplinary theatre-maker from South-East London. In 2019, she received the BFI New Talent Award and was named as one of Broadcast’s Hotshots. She has a particular interest in merging aspects of documentary, fiction and theatre to explore subjects such as mental health, disability and the social and political changes that affect those who are marginalised. She’s the co-founder and video editor of the film journal Another Gaze and a member of the award-winning multimedia theatre company Breach. Recently, Dorothy completed an MA in Directing Fiction at Goldsmiths University and is currently developing her debut dramatic feature, Weekend Dad.

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‘I was interested specifically in exploring issues of aging in the LGBTQ+ community. I was also really drawn to the grandfather/granddaughter storyline.” Erik Gernand is a playwright and filmmaker whose award-winning short films have screened at more than 100 film festivals around the world including SXSW, Cinequest, Chicago International Film Festival, and Outfest. His films have been broadcast on IFC, PBS, and the Logo Channel and have been distributed by First Run Features and Strand Releasing. Erik is a senior lecturer in Radio-TV-Film at Northwestern University.   Website

“I’ve worked with Bill Doan on other projects about his struggles with anxiety and depression but this was the first one in which we zeroed in on his childhood and the ways in which toxic masculinity clouded his path towards understanding his own mental health. The first iteration of this story was in the form of a solo performance Bill wrote in 2021 called, Man Up. When I saw the performance, I realized the importance of widening the circle of conversation around the effects of toxic masculinity on children with anxiety and depression. The story about a small child learning to walk through this world with so much shame and loneliness broke my heart and spoke to aspects of my own childhood. I loved the idea of flipping these archetypal relationships on their head and elevating the voice of the victim. We need to hear more stories about overcoming obstacles that stunt our potential. Bill’s story is about a man who finds his truth through creative practice and learns to nurture himself through the act of drawing. I’d like to believe that being true to who we are will help set us free and become better advocates for ourselves and others. This is a positive message we can all take away from.”

CYNTHIA WHITE is a documentary filmmaker whose projects have broadcast on television, at film and arts festivals, and at conferences around the world. Cynthia’s work aims to further the understanding of, and create dialogues about, the intersection of art and science. Her work includes teaching courses about digital media, community health and social justice.

ALEXANDER WHITE received his BFA from Bard College in sculpture, animation and drawing. He has exhibited his drawings and animated films in New York, London, Barcelona and Los Angeles. Film and animation festivals include Atlanta Film Festival; Slamdance Film Festival; New York Independent Film Festival and Art Forum, Berlin. Alexander currently lives and works in Geneva, Switzerland

This film was commissioned by Devon Partnership NHS Trust to talk to children and adults about the realities of living with a parent with mental ill health. Following the stories of Anya (age 9), Macauley (age 11) and Erin (age 12) these positive and incredible children share their story and advice.

Directed by BAFTA winner Emma Lazenby, produced by ForMed Films CIC in collaboration with Dr Joanne Black and Devon Partnership NHS Trust.

“The film was originally designed to help mental health staff who work with adults to keep in mind the children in their families. It will be used for staff training and to share with families to help other children feel less alone.” (Dr Joanne Black, consultant psychiatrist DPT NHS)

Emma Lazenby has worked in the animation industry for over 20 years (Channel 4, BBC, Aardman and Disney). She made ‘Mother of Many’ in 2009, an animated film celebrating midwifery and childbirth. When this won a BAFTA Emma realised that animated film was the perfect medium to educate people about medical issues. Emma launched ForMed Films in 2015 to make animated films in collaboration with patients, charities and health professionals to help people talk about and understand medical and health issues. Emma also mentors young film makers and is an associate lecturer on BA Digital Animation at Bath Spa University.

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“In any year, our lives would come to a screeching halt without truck drivers like Tamara, and—like many women of color in this country—she is at a particularly perilous intersection of barriers during Covid-19. She is vulnerable, underpaid and overworked, without guaranteed paid sick leave nor hazard pay, and yet she is an essential worker. But this is not a social issue documentary. The film celebrates Tamara’s autonomy and resilience, pertinent themes in our lives in 2022.”

Dana Reilly is a documentary filmmaker. Her films are intimate and collaborative, exploring how work, love, and family shape women’s sense of self. She is grateful to those who share their stories and time with her.

Her work has screened at SXSW, Big Sky, Hot Springs, and Cinequest film festivals. Her most recent film, MS DIVA TRUCKER, won the Jury Award at the PBS Shorts Festival and is currently available to stream on NoBudge.com.

Born in New York City, she spent her formative years in London, England and currently lives and works in Austin, TX where she recently earned her MFA in Film Production from the University of Texas at Austin.

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Andrew Carter is a director & writer from Riverside, Connecticut who remade Jurassic Park with action figures in his backyard when he was 12. He is still proud of this work. He graduated from Chapman University in 2011, and since then has worked behind the camera on movies like THE WAY WAY BACK and SUPER TROOPERS 2. He directed the independent pilot REVENGE TOUR, written by Kahlil Maskati, which won awards at the LA Film Festival and SXSW. It was also selected for the 2019 Sundance New Voices Lab. His next short, MARVIN’S NEVER HAD COFFEE BEFORE premiered at SXSW 2021 and also played Palm Springs International ShortsFest 2021. Andrew is represented by Stride Management and Gersh. He lives in Silver Lake with his incredible wife Zoë and their insane dog Bill.

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“Being young and chronically ill is incredibly lonely. When I first became ill aged eighteen, I had to drop out of university and I spent the subsequent year in bed, isolated from friends and unable to experience much of life. I felt like an alien; different from my peers and sitting on the sidelines.

During this time, going online was a lifeline. Access to social media connected me with the outside world and showed me that there were actually loads of other young disabled people out there. Slowly, I formed the seed of “ill, actually”, a blurry idea for a short film about chronic illness and young disabled identity. Over three years, I worked with Zoe, the film’s director, to develop the idea.

As we spoke to over a hundred chronically ill young people during pre-production, it quickly became clear that this relationship with the internet wasn’t mine alone: for so many of the young people we spoke to, the internet provided community and connection. But in other ways, it created a feeling of FOMO and a sense of even greater isolation. We wanted to investigate this tension.

I hope that the unLonely audience finds some comfort or resonance in “ill, actually”. It’s been interesting to see how the film has taken on a whole new meaning during the pandemic, since all of us -disabled or not- have in this strange, disembodied time, had a taste of how it feels to be isolated from the wider world.”

-Celestine Fraser, producer

Zoe is an award-winning writer and director. Her work has been broadcast on the BBC, funded by the BFI, programmed at the Barbican and performed at theatres such as the Arcola and the New Diorama. Most recently, Zoe wrote and directed short fiction film Some Kind of Window which won Script 6’s This Covid Life competition and played at BIFA qualifying festivals in September 2021. Pre-pandemic, her 30 min long creative documentary Our Fathers was commissioned by the BBC & the SDI and premiered at the Glasgow Film Festival in February 2020. Her previous BBC & BFI funded short film, ill, actually screened at BAFTA qualifying festivals. Her debut fiction film, Lara, screened at Manchester Kino Film Festival & Ealing Film Festival. Her first play, “Cecilia”, was produced at the Kings Head and shortlisted for the Yale Drama Prize. “Gap in the Light”, her collaboration with Engineer Theatre, was Off-West-End nominated, and her play “Laird” was shortlisted for production by the Traverse Theatre. She has been part of numerous writers’ residencies and is a BAFTA x BFI writer/director. She is currently working with Celestine (“ill, actually”‘s producer) on her second fiction short, “BETTER”, a film exploring ableism and sibling relationships.

Zoe’s Website | Glowworm Film’s Website

Hannah Eugénie Tookey Creative Producer & Fundraiser

Filmmaker’s Instagram | Producer’s Instagram

“The Process film, created in collaboration with my good friend and artist Samora Pinderhughes, got us both through the past year. It got us through the multitudes of deaths; it got us through the quarantine period; and, as we edited it, it became therapy for the stages of grief we go through daily. This film is for all those in mourning, all those just putting one foot in front of the other to get through each day, and all those supporting each other. “

Christian Padron is a New York based artist, director & photographer. His work celebrates culture while addressing our complicated status in society at large.

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“South Louisiana has been fortunate enough to maintain its cultural identity for many generations. At the heart of that culture is the French language. Sadly, this integral part of my heritage is slowly fading away. 50 years ago, there where an estimated one million French speakers in Louisiana. Today that number has dwindled down to a mere 100,000. René and Odile are total and complete strangers until their paths cross; the French language being the thread that connects them. Through the character René, we see the struggles of American culture, but from the perspective of an outsider. Assimilation is something that we’re pushed to accept. We’re told that it’s a patriotic duty, but in reality, it can be a sacrifice that fundamentally changes who a person truly is, rippling out to future generations. This film is dedicated to those moving forward, but still find themselves looking back.”

Logan LeBlanc is a writer, director and cinematographer based in Louisiana. After working in the camera department on several features and music videos, he decided to become a full time cinematographer. He’s since written, directed, and photographed several narrative, documentary, music video and commercial projects. He’s been fortunate enough to make work as a filmmaker for over fifteen years now and cannot wait to see the next project that finds him.

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“Growing up, we both were bullied as being the “weird” kids. It left both of us with a sense of being “outside” and, like many others, this sense of separateness led us to explore our creative side as artists. Part of this story is diving into what it means to feel like one doesn’t quite fit in. Just as Gwen straddles two worlds and sits in the center of that conflict, creative artists often feel torn between the hustle of modern society and the desire to explore the fringes.

With THIS IS NORMAL, we asked the question, “Well, what if you could just wave a magic wand and change the thing that makes you feel like an outsider? Would your life be any better?”

Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe both.

I think the answer might be different for all of us, but for Gwen… well, you’ll see. We hope you enjoy the film!”

Justin Giddings and Ryan Welsh are two actors who joined forces to become one of the hottest new writing teams in Los Angeles. After meeting on the set of the hit zombie comedy series BITE ME (a Machinima/Lionsgate series with over 70 million views on YouTube alone), the two have since gone on to write and direct the festival-winning films THIS IS NORMAL and OUTPOST. Never content to wait for permission to create, they are currently in development or pre-production on four features – the supernatural thriller DARK WINTER, the monster movie THE TRESTLE, the indie action film SO GO THE LIVING, and the indie LAST OF THE WILD BUFFALO.

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