Hey people,

Some of you might remember me from when I used to be an active member of this forum answering peoples general day to day questions about the varying aspects of film production as I feel as though Im very knowledgeable, as you'll know if you ever saw any of my original posts.

So I just want to introduce my self to the people I havent spoken to before and get a feel for whos out there and what you guys are working on as I would love help guide you in any way possible if I can.

Introduction.

So my name is Michael McCleary, I live in a city called Birmingham in the UK.

I started film production like most people as a part of my A'level course at college and made a couple of short films with in media studies (Which was self protensious like most college productions), which was my first exposure to filmmaking back in 2004/2005.

It wasnt until 2006/2007 that I started took an active part in film production, but I started writting an idea for an urban drama called 'Intimmidated and out numbered' about a family that move from one rough housing estate to another, and how the family cope with mental health problems. Which developed that much it was planned as a feature length film.

I had every thing planned properly right down to a tee for this production and still have all of the original planning to this day. But I started with a strong foundation in that I had a compelling narrative (Which I beleive should be the foundation of all film productions) that really spoke to my audience on a different level than any thing that was being made at the time.

When I wrote this production I was youthful, aggressive and organized which is some thing that i feel served me well as it gave me the passion and drive to get out there and teach my self more about film production. Which meant searching online for as many different information resources as I could find (Which was significantly less then).

So I slowly started to build up a strong sense of where I had to go with this idea and what kind of planning and preparation had to go in to this production (Which is by far and large the most important aspect of film production).

Then once I had every thing set in my mind that this production was ready and I was able to answer any and every question with regard to the production I started to look to a wider community to network and meet people with in the industry by attending short film screening and seminars (Which unfortunately no longer run here in Birmingham, tho Im sure there are still networking opportunities where people come together for drinks).

How ever I put film production on hold come 2008 when I started my HND media course, how ever at this point in time I was also working with the young people around me with in Grime (Which is an urban musical youth movement) in its infancy in the UK so i started to used music to build my audience as a grime audience fit in perfectly with my films target audience.

So I kind of got side swept by college and urban music, which kin of diverted both my attention and creativity away from filmmaking!

But one thing that I still have, and always have had. Is the ability to direct and organize people. But most importantly the ability to tell a compelling story thats as shocking as it is realistic, as realism is some thing that I have always valued above every thing else. So in that sense Im not a traditional Producer/Director as I have some thing to say and don't care how that enegry is percieved by the industry as I only care about the end result, which is getting a brilliant performance out of my actors and conveying it in a way that allows my audience to understand what it is that I am getting at.

Which brings me back to the precent day, its 04:46 in the morning and Im sat in my kitchen writting a short drama, acting things out to my self in the reflection of my conservatory window. But I feel good about every thing that I just wrote as it gives me a great sense of purpose to be a part of this community again which will in turn give me a greater sense of direction and understanding.

So thank you if you have taken the time to read all this as it means a lot to me, and dont hesitate for a single second to approach me for advice cause im the most open person you will find on this forum as I enjoy helping people.

All the best,

Michael McCleary.

www.youtube.com/yoursayvideos