Close-Up Film is for people who are seriously passionate about film.
Close-up Film began life as a quarterly print magazine for Kent in December 2002 before fully embracing the dynamic medium that is the web in March 2005 to become purely an up-to-the-minute online Publication. In 2004 it was awarded funding from the UK Film Council from its Publications Fund, in acknowledgement of the magazine’s importance in helping to sustain a diverse and comprehensive film community in the UK.
Close-Up Film currently enjoys an average 3 million hits per month, 500,000 page views, from 90,000 unique visitors per month, and has a writing & editorial base of more than 40 professionals.
The Team:
Jean Lynch (Editor) – Jean founded Close-Up Film in August 2002 after graduating with a degree in Film Studies from the University of Kent, and having founded the university’s film society and its publication, Big Lens. She has worked extensively in the industry since 2000, co-founding the Summerscreen Film Festival for Young People and the annual 2 Days Later 48hr Horror Shorts Competition, followed by it’s sister event, the 2 Days Laughter Comedy Shorts Competition. She managed Cinema 3, Kent’s regional independent cinema, and was the film consultant to Sandwich Technology School‘s digital cinema. She has handled Press & PR for clients including Screen South, Kent Hothouse, Kent Film and South East Media Network and looked after the regional press for director Andrea Arnold’s successful Oscar campaign for her short film Wasp. Jean has produced several short films, including Three Way Split which was broadcast by Meridian TV. Jean relocated to her native Birmingham in 2008 and balances her role as Close-Up Film’s Editor with being Head of Communications for D-Media Network. Contact: Email jeanl@close-upfilm.com
Dave Smith (Assistant Editor/Web Manager)
Colin Dibben (Reviews Editor) - Colin has been a media based writer for 20 years and a big film fan for even longer. He has worked on several screenplays and is keen to expand his writing skills.
Carol Allen - Carol has been a writer and broadcaster on cinema for over 20 years, working for the BBC (2,3, 4 and World Service), LBC (cinema specialist), The Times, The Independent, Independent Magazines, Sunday Times, New Woman etc. She is a member of the Critics’ Circle Film Section and the Film Awards Committee and was part-author of the ‘Virgin Encyclopaedia of the Movies‘ (published Oct ’95). Besides these, she is a trainer for film, media and storytelling/drama workshops and has been the script supervisor for a number of short films.
Philippa Bradnock (Assistant Reviews Editor)
Events:
Close-Up Film co-ordinated the Close-Up Student Film Festival in November 2004, with a touring programme of over 50 films being screened at seven venues across East Kent. It also collaborated with the University of Kent for a Film Journalism Workshop, with guest speakers from Empire Magazine, Hot Dog, Film Education and Yahoo Movies.
2 Days Later / 2 Days Laughter:
2 Days Later is an annual 48hr horror shorts competition that was co-founded by Close-Up Film and Beeping Bush Productions in Margate. It began in 2003 and now, in its seventh year, it attracts entries from across the UK and beyond, and was recently ranked one of the top five events in the UK for new filmmakers by Digital Video Magazine. Generously supported by Screen South, Thanet District Council, Canterbury Christ Church University, VMI HD Equipment Hire and Raindance, judges have included James Moran , the screenwriter for ‘Severance’, ‘Dr Who’ and ‘Torchwood”; Kim Newman , the multi award-winning writer and broadcaster; Jon Holmes , writer and broadcaster, ‘Dead Ringers’, ‘The 11 O’Clock Show’, Louis Savy , director of Sci-Fi London Festival, and Philip Ilson, of the Halloween Short Film Festival and short film programmer for the Curzon Soho and the London Film Festival.
2 Days Laughter launched December 2007. It takes the 2 Days Later model and invites filmmakers to make a funny short film of no more than 5 minutes duration. It enjoys a successful strategic partnership with London-based Comedy Club, Electric Mouse, who boast 15 venues across the UK. Judges for 2008 included Jon Holmes, Brenda Blethyn, Tim Arthur (Time Out’s comedy critic), Oliver Double – stand-up comedian and leading academic on comedy, and Richard Coughlan, of Kent Comedy Inc. Patrons for the event are Brenda Blethyn, Omid Djalili, Jon Holmes and broadcaster and TV Times film critic, Andrew Collins.
www.2dayslaughter.co.uk
