For the first time in ages, I didn’t switch the PC on to do any work this weekend. It was a choice borne out of my own physical and mental exhaustion from the last six months or relentless work.

Actually, I did switch on my PC (doh!) to do some backing up and moving around of digital data as I was archiving all the Gone Fishing assets – sound, Avid projects and media, sound mixes, everything – onto a single drive which I will clone later this week. I knew this would be on e of those ‘set it off and check it every three hours’ kind of tasks, ideal for a weekend where I was staying away from blogging, writing, surfing, editing and tweeting… my normal PC behaviour.

It’s about 1.5GB of data in total and was sprawled over four drives. It took two days to compile onto a single drive for archiving. It still amazes me just how long it can take to copy, move or clone a terabit of digital content. And it’s a wake up call for any indie film shooting digitally to make sure they have both the storage and man hours to ensure their original media (what came off that 5D MkII card for instance) is backed up in at least two separate locations, ideally three.

OK, so this weekend coming, I am running my 2 day Guerilla Film Makers Masterclass up in the midlands… There is more information here (pic above is from the the Australian workshop I ran last year).

It’s my flagship workshop and I have only run it once in the last year and a half, so this is your chance to come along. There is past attendee feedback here on our website.

For those of you who do attend, I can promise an exhaustive weekend that will galvanise you into action immediately and inform those actions you take in such a way as to significantly improve your chances of the film you are making being the ‘breakthrough’ film you need for your career.

I will also be running it in October in London, so if you can make this weekend, there is always October.

Here's a few words from the Australian workshop I ran last year…

'It was truly an empowering experience and one that I know Jason, Greg and myself absolutely needed. In fact it was precisely what we needed. Chris was unquestionably the most honest, candid, and generous film maker I have had the pleasure to meet. He met each day with extraordinary energy and crammed those days not merely with information, but with affirmation and ultimately inspiration. He treated every participant with such wonderful respect and patience regardless of experience, and offered to us not only tools and ideas but himself. To be honest, I learned more in those two days than I have in years of filmmaking, not just about the craft, but about myself. If I was weary, frustrated and uncertain of my standing in a filmic world when I arrived, I have departed, energised, focused and tremendously excited about taking our work to the next phase. In short- a life changing experience.'
Shane Emmett, Film Maker, QLD, Australia

'After producing a string of award-winning short-films and doco's, and frustrated at not being able to move to the next stage with our concepts, we were feeling spent and disillusioned. Then we met Chris Jones' at his Guerrilla Filmmakers workshop in Gympie, Australia. Wow, man he put the steel back into our rod. The passion is back…we are on the road again…watch out world…here we come'
Greg Hall, Producer – The Treehive, Australia

'I just wanted to say thank you so much for coming all the way to Australia to do the Guerilla Masterclass! Even though there were almost 30 other people in the room, it felt like everything you were saying was directed right at me – it was everything I needed to hear and learn.'
Candice Deere, Writer/Producer from Maryborough, Australia

Onwards and upwards!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author
www.livingspirit.com
mail@livingspirit.com