What I want to achieve in 2023

This year I’m looking forward to delivering a project that I can’t really say a lot about yet. It’s something for a cause that we’re all quite passionate about so I’m really excited to get something out there in like a short and snappy way, but make a difference.

I know it’s not sexy. I know it’s not exciting, but better financial reporting. By making all the data available to me and to the team, we’ll be able to make faster decisions and just grow the company and make better work. Which for me is really exciting… and sexy.

I would love to see what AI can do for the more tedious, repetitive sides of production. I want to see what’s out there to then be like “Oh, hey, that’s cool. I hadn’t thought of that, that looks interesting” and then integrate it into our processes.

And then picking up some juicer shoots would be great fun for 2023.

Actually using TikTok properly. If 2022 proved anything it’s that short-form content isn’t going anywhere and how that snackable, entertaining content can be used in a B2B space.

I’ll be honest, I’ve been scared of TikTok because it makes me feel very old so I just really want to challenge myself to properly understand how to create Tiktoks in the TikTok App rather than just creating everything in premiere pro in 9×16 and calling it day.

Make more for myself. I think it’s easy to kind of sit back and be like “You know, I made this thing that’s cool a couple of years ago, but now it’s out of date”. I love working on commercials, but documentaries are definitely at the core of who I am and the stories that I want to tell. So yeah, it’s keeping in touch with that.

Finally, shoot a short film. I have a few twinkling ideas and I’ve been speaking to a couple of different directors and scriptwriters about potential ideas. So fingers crossed one of those floats together naturally so then I can attack it properly and go from there.

I want to play a more active role in the creative scene. I definitely want to attend more networking events and at least one festival, hopefully, more. I’ve always wanted to go to Annecy Festival in France. I’ve heard it’s a beautiful, picturesque place with lakes and animated films. So what more would you want?

Develop my skill sets and champion the world of sound design. I think there’s so much about sound design that can elevate a project that can lead to or bring the viewer into the world. And I always see it as just as important as the visuals on screen.
I want to develop my knowledge and technical abilities around that for myself to grow as a general creative, but also to start pushing that into the creative work we do here at Storm & Shelter.

For me, it’s learning, growing and confidence when it comes to producing. By the end of the year, if I can look back and know that I’ve done the courses, I’ve got the certificates, the workflow, the processes, they’re all much smoother… I’ll be pretty happy.

Trying to do it even more with our clients. When you’re working on a project with a client, it often sparks a lot of ideas in the team, and sometimes these ideas don’t go anywhere. My goal for this year is to make sure that those ideas don’t get lost, but we cultivate those ideas and communicate them back to clients so we can have a productive conversation about making them a reality.

Increase my technical knowledge of DaVinci Resolve. By the end of the year, I really want to be comfortable taking on projects from edit and then going all the way through to the grade and then getting those files out at a standard I now expect in a grade compared to what I would have done a few years ago.

Smashing the APA Masterclass out of the park. A lot of my training and my learning has been on the job, so I’m really looking forward to sitting in a classroom, cos I loved school, I was a big nerd. I can’t wait to have a full armoury… a quiver with lots of production arrows.

Actually getting my arse out there and networking. I learn a lot from other people and I really want to focus on growing our international network. Some of our most exciting work has come from international partners outside of Cardiff and the UK, so I think that’s quite a big thing for me.

Also being able to do some cool projects as well, because who wouldn’t want that?

Being more creative and experimental with my character designs. I usually set general goals for my own personal development, but I realised I’m never going to stop learning or trying new design styles and so that feels more like a constant thing. That’s why this year I want to focus on a small area and see how wide I can take that, as I think that will be interesting.

I just want to make cool s*** all the time. Question it and then make it better. I didn’t start that long ago, and I’m quite excited to be part of a new team. I’m really keen to learn from them, learn new things and sort of push my work a little bit more where I want it to go — and it feels like being at Storm is something that’s going to help me do that.