2012 has left the building

As is traditional for the season it's time to reflect on the year that has been, and to look forward to the year ahead. 2012 was a bit of an odd year for me. For me it was not particularly productive, and yet very successful from a machinima point of view (more on that in a bit). However my 2012 was blighted by some health issues which sapped my creativity quite a lot. Fortunately nothing life-threatening, but it was a bit of crap journey this year.
However, on the upside I did manage to get some movies shown on the big screen at several local events, including the Red Carpet Screenings which takes place in my home town of Basingstoke. But the highlight of the year must surely be the Machinima Expo. I had entered the Chapelside Deception for the Expo, which saw a total of 150 films submitted for consideration. Of those, ten were put forward to the independent jury and I was lucky enough to be joint winner of the Open This End award. Then to my amazement I went on to with the Jury Grand Prize! This recognition is a huge honour for me - I never take any of these awards for granted especially considering how strong the other candidate movies were. I think I'm right in saying that I'm the only director to have won the Grand Prize twice - I am humbled!
There were many brilliant films in the Expo, but two that I particularly liked (both were award winners) are Wulf and Eadwacer by Hypathia Pickens, and Unfinished Paintings by Miron Locket. Go ahead and check them out!
So what for 2013? Well, if you were listening to the interview I did on TMOA radio last night you would have heard me announcing my "retirement" from making machinima. By the end of the interview I'd been talked out of it! I still have plenty of ideas, both in terms of stories and visual style. It would be a shame to completely stop now so instead I'll take a little break before coming back to it afresh.
I'll sign off now by wishing you a happy and prosperous 2013!