Meet Jennifer Canning
Jennifer is a Writer/Director based in Newcastle Upon Tyne, she began working as a runner in Film and Television whilst studying a BA Film and TV Production. She now writes and directs short films whilst working freelance as a script supervisor. Her most recent project is a short dystopian Science-Fiction film due to be release in June 2021.
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Where did your work within the industry begin?
My work within film and television began as many peoples do with runner roles, initially my first roles were within advertisements but I knew it was working within a set environment I enjoyed and advertisements were not the direction I felt my work would eventually go towards.
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Knowing corporate video content wasn't for you, where did you decide to go from there?
I knew that fictional storytelling was where the ideas in my head usually gravitated towards and I've always been intrigued by how a film can convey a story so I decided to study a degree in Film and TV Production in order to not only develop skills as a filmmaker but also learn more about the workings of the industry as I was unsure how to gain entry level positions without this.
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How has your worked changed from the start of your degree until now?
Initially I began directing short documentaries as I was interested by meeting new people when moving to the North East and the stories they had to tell. I still would love to make documentaries especially if it involved stories from around the world and travelling. However I found myself gradually more drawn towards allegories of the real world represented within Science-Fiction from films I constantly gravitated towards such as Avatar and 2001: A Space Odyssey. Now with my film 'Girl of My Dreams' that I am currently Writer/Director of which is the first science-fiction I have instigated, I know that this is a genre I will continue to explore as my career develops.
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What should people expect from your upcoming film 'Girl of My Dreams'?
Whilst writing the film, I knew I wanted an audience to constantly be unware of what was happening, even when they think they have sussed out the character and plot. The story itself is one that asks a viewer to question their own boundaries of humanity vs technology and ask themselves how far is too far?
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