Since the summer I have been involved with Diversity Films in their Starting Block project. My own film idea got through to the final fifteen but was not one of the six chosen to go into production.

What did happen though was even more interesting, I was asked to Direct one of the accepted short films, “For the Love of Lugosi”

I attended one of the two development weekends back in July, where eight of the fifteen projects all spent time together. We watched short films, developed our ideas and got inspiration from everyone including the course mentors. The bonds that were made during that weekend ensured that I would be willing to help any of the projects, in any role, if I was asked. The weekend may not have fully prepared me for the amount of hard work that lay ahead, but it did give me the motivation to see it through. The credit for this goes to everyone who participated in Starting Block and the excellent way Diversity Films had organised it all.

“For the Love of Lugosi”, is a dramatised documentary about one mans love of the Old Gothic Horror genre. The documentary side of the film is about Dereks life and living with Asperger’s Syndrome. What I think is special about the film is how through Derek “dramatically” asking the the viewer to give classic horror movies a chance. You learn more about the man than any sit down interview would have ever delivered, and hopefully sheds some light on a condition that publicly there is little known about.

Directing “For the Love of Lugosi” has been a brilliant introduction into the world of film making. Being a photographer I have always had a visual eye but I have nearly always worked on my own. In film making I don’t believe I could do a project justice by attempting to do it all myself. I have learned so many things during the project, but none more so than it’s amazing what a small team of people pulling in the same direction can achieve.

Our film gets locked off today, graded tomorrow and “dubbed” at 422.tv Glasgow on Wednesday. It will premiere at the Glasgow Film Festival in February and I hope it will get shown at a lot more film festivals. Not because I think we have made a piece of genius( although obviously we have!) but because the story deserves to be seen.

This post is my thank you to everyone involved in the Starting Block projects and of course all the wonderful people who run Diversity Films. In a year where a lot of things did not go as hoped, you have allowed me to be part of something that has given me purpose.

All the Best

Andy