Five Minutes Till Noon - An Update

As my readers may or may not recall, last year I did a crazy, impulsive thing and joined a team for the 48 Hour Film Project, as the art director and wardrobe co-ordinator. That was a ride in itself, pure craziness.

Then we had the city awards, where our film, Five Minutes Till Noon, kind of swept the board, taking home over ten different awards if I'm not mistaken, including Best Film for the city, as well as best Production Design (the awful trophy is still standing proudly on my bookshelf. As much as I dislike trophies, this one has a special place in my heart).

Then came the long wait for March 9th, the international 48hfp awards ceremony in New Orleans, where grand prizes for the 2013 tour would be announced, and our film, being a city winner, was up for awards too.

At some point the whole saga kind of slipped my mind. So imagine my surprise, confusion and delight waking up to this Whatsapp conversation yesterday morning at some ungodly hour:

Gran: Were you not in charge of costume and art design in the 48 hours till noon?
Me: Yep that was me, why?
Me: No Gran, it was Five Minutes Till Noon, not 48 Hours Till Noon
Gran: But Jess that is fantastic!
Me: What now, you've known about it since last year?
Gran: You must know you won
Me: Yes but we won last October
Gran: At the international, in New Orleans
Me: The international hasn't happened yet
Gran: Look on Facebook!

So I hit the Google-machine. And Gran was right. Five Minutes Till Noon won two awards at the international awards ceremony, Best Art Direction and Best Costumes. Both of which I was in charge of. I just, can't believe.

I remember the day I saw that Facebook post. Kyle Peters was looking for someone to take over art direction and wardrobe. I had the time and I thought I might have enough knowledge to run with it. So I responded, and straight afterwards I panicked. What the heck have I just gotten myself into? These guys are pros! I'm going to make a fool of myself! And then the prayers. Jesus, please don't let me make a fool of myself. Please let me be able to actually help this team out and no matter what happens, let this just be for your glory. 

It looks like he heard me. I seriously had so much fun doing this thing, I would do it again, awards or not. I hope though, that maybe these awards mean I get more chances to partake in similar film industry adventures. This industry needs more of the father's light in it, I'd be so honored to be one of the people who gets the job of bringing it in.

Keep the dreams alive my friends

Shar-Lee Jessica

I found a moment

Life has been so crazy busy lately. In the last two months I've moved house, started working full time, and I still have to keep up all my after hours commitments, including keeping my label afloat, getting my freelance work done and keeping my French lessons on the go, while at the same time still having time for connecting with friends and getting some reading time in.

This week I added another crazy flavor to the plate of my life, I'm taking part in the NYC Midnight short story competition. So I have seven days to write a 2500 word story in the fantasy genre, with the subject mathematics and a pro athlete as a character. It's been chaos, and I am exhausted and loving it. I'm currently about 1300 words in and trying to pace myself. Hand in is on Saturday.

I realized recently that in all the chaos I have forgotten to draw. Drawing is my lifeblood. I literally can't remember the last time I sat down with pad and ink, focused on capturing the moment around me. I'm an artist and I live and breathe the visual, creating is food for my soul. This was a shocking revelation and my fingers started itching and aching immediately.

Problem is, I just don't have the time. How do you find the time when you don't have it? So I decided to keep a sketchbook on me always, and look for tiny moments. My moment ended up being Sunday morning, in church, sitting on the floor listening to Ross do an incredible teaching on the multidimensional presence of the kingdom. Breathtaking stuff. And then I realized there was a perfect picture right in front of me, and out came the notebook. And I drew. What an amazing feeling, the release of pent up creativity. It made me so happy.

So now my pledge to myself is to keep looking for moments, to keep my creative eyes open and to make art part of my life once again. I need to, it's the air I breathe.

Shar-Lee Jessica

P.S. Keep an eye on my blog for the official release of my currently unnamed short story

you are so lovely

So Cayly from Bloom Studio is working on this amazing project called Lattes and Love, where she shares women's stories. I was lucky enough to take part, and get to talk about a bit of my story, and how school bullying played a part in it. 
I regret not going in to a bit more detail in the interview, the path I walked in trying to redeem my fragile self-esteem while battling the minefield of adolescence and growing up took me to strange places, from a name change at thirteen to getting into an abusive relationship at seventeen, and battling a vicious bout of social phobia and depression in my early twenties. 
I am one of the lucky ones though, Jesus found me, and now my identity is wrapped up in His sacrifice. I only wish every child who has to endure the emotional torment of being bullied could have the same prize at the end. 
Now, there are things I'm grateful for. On the worst days at school, books were my refuge and friend. Now I'm a writer. I'm also a multi-award-winning artist, and heaped up ridiculous amounts of cash prizes for my creative work during my studies. 
I want the privilege to be able to share my story with those awkward kids who never quite worked out the formula for fitting in. I want to tell them it's okay. You have so much ahead of you, you are so, so lovely, you are so precious. I want to tell parents, build up your children's self-worth. Bullies are broken kids caught in a vicious cycle. Kids with a strong sense of self-worth lift up other kids around them. 

We can break the cycle. I hope one day I can get my story out there. For now, I have a blog, and I have Lattes and Love. Enjoy.

https://vimeo.com/81309145