Destiny’s Films

Wassup peeps, It’s been a while.

So, what am I up to? Well, I’m writing a teen comedy. I’ve let a few people read it (few meaning my agent) and she thinks it’s funny so at least there’s that. I’m attached to direct a feature called Gone Too Far, a coming age story written by the brilliant award winning Bola Agbaje. It’s based on her play of the same name. It won an Olivier Award. Yep, believe. As you can imagine, this kind of stuff takes time casuing me to be off the radar, so imagine my surprise when I saw this write up about my film Tight Jeans on IndieWire’s Shadow & Act. It was really nice to see that I was still being supported so I just wanted to give a massive shout to them.

You can read the article HERE

Peace and hair grease xx

Hey guys!

Check out the new music video for singer/songwriter Marli Harwood that I directed. The concept was thought up by Olivier Award Winning Playwright Bola Agbaje in honor of Prince William and Kate Middleton. Basically, imagine if Will & Kate lived on an estate. Check it out here

Dxxx

Yes it’s true, my year as a Creative In Residence at The Hospital Club has now come to an end. I can honestly say, that it was one of the best years of my life. Screenings, parties, networking, parties, meetings, parties, socialising, parties and so on. It was great! They even asigned me a life coach (Emily Man) which I can honestly say has changed my life. As I write this, a lump forms in my throat, yes, I know I’m a pussy wimp but what can I say, the place touched me (not in a naughty way you perv!) I already miss the other ‘Creatives’, they are a wonderful bunch of people with amazing talents. Luc Mollinger with his opera theatre shows (he actually makes opera look cool) Niall & Jordan and their company House of John (think urban, artisic architects) Dean Quinn and his fabulous fashion designs (he will design my Oscar dress) Alex Shepeheard and his Visual Art (he made an eye ball look interesting), Peter Gregson and his classical music (beautiful, just beautiful) and last but not least Joel Horwood, a brilliant playwright. I had the priveledge of working with Joel on a short film called A Bloody Muddle. He wrote it and I directed it. We shot it in one day on film at The Hospital Club. It was one of the best times that I had there. It was so much fun, I loved it.

Yes, I miss being a ‘Creative’ at the club and I miss the others but I’m also happy because now I’m gonna get to see how they all take over the world and then I can bum money off of them. See, theres always a bright side…

Here’s a link to all of them before it disappears… Sniff

http://thehospitalclub.com/cir/residents/

Dx

Here’s an interview that I did about my short film THE PARK with the BIRDS EYE VIEW FILM FESTIVAL last year. I figured I’d put it up.

Click HERE

Peace x

So I was invited to do a talk for the launch of Film Nation: Shorts. Basically it’s a really cool scheme that allows 11-25 year olds to make short films and upload them onto the Film Nation website. Click here for more info.

When I got there, I thought that I’d be talking to kids. To my surprise the room was full of adults. I was already nervous and then they sit me one seat away from Lord Puttnam! He’s a really cool guy. He said that I should give him a shout out when I win my Oscar : )  I met Nicholas Houlst, Georgia  Groom and Thomas Sangster and they were really nice. I managed to get through my speech okay and ultimately had a really cool time. Check the pics below x

Director, Destiny Ekaragha, Actors Nicholas Hoult and Georgia Groom attend the launch of Film Nation: Shorts, a nationwide film-making competition for the London 2012 Olympics at BAFTA on March 22, 2010 in London, England.

Director, Destiny Ekaragha attends the launch of Film Nation: Shorts, a nationwide film-making competition for the London 2012 Olympics at BAFTA on March 22, 2010 in London, England.

I’m a member of The Hospital Club!!! Okay, so what’s The Hospital Club? Well, it’s a really cool members club in Covent Garden and a lot of the members are from the creative industries. 

The Hospital run a scheme every year called the Creatives In Residence. I got shortlisted to represent film and won! I’m joined by 7 others that represent different creative outlets like fashion and music. They’re really cool so I’m having a great time. The first time we all met I laughed a lot and ended up getting drunk. That’s always a good sign.

On the night of the launch I got called up to the stage when my name was announced as the film representative. When I got up there a camera flash went off and startled me. All I could see were all these faces staring at me. I freaked out and stumbled on my speech. It was rubbish! I got given a cocktail with a strawberry on top afterwards however so it weren’t all bad.

The scheme includes me getting hooked up with a mentor and a life coach. I’ve never had my life coached before so should be interesting … 

They’re also gonna show Tight Jeans for two weeks before each of their film members screenings! They’re gonna do the same with The Park the following two weeks which is amazing. If you’re a member, be sure to check them out!

Ok, so it’s been a while since I’ve blogged so let me update you.

My film The Park got into the Birds Eye View Film Festival! It’s run by a bunch of cool chicks that were really nice to me. They hooked me up with interviews on Colourful Radio and BBC London Radio where Jason Solomon said that Tight Jeans was the best short film of the decade! It was a lot of fun.

On the way to my last screening, I got a phone call from one of the organizers telling me that BBC news would like to interview me. I was like “great, I’ll be there.” When I got there, I saw the interviewer sitting at a table with a couple of the Birds Eye View organizers. As the woman had a bunch of notes, I assumed that the interview was gonna be tape recorded. I sat with them and answered a bunch of questions. Next minute I know, a camera man appears. It turns out that that was just the prep, it was gonna be filmed. I was like “cool.” I get a little nervous in front of the camera but I told myself that everything was gonna be okay. The news lady asked me questions about being a female filmmaker and the pros and cons attached to that. I think that my answers were okay but not perfect. When the news lady signed off, I asked her  if she would like to do it again. She looks at me perplexed before saying “Oh, you can’t that was LIVE.” I start shaking, one of the organizers holds me and says “I left a message on your phone saying it was live, I thought you knew.” I couldn’t believe it, I have the worst rep when it comes to bad language. All I could think of was thank God I didn’t swear! That would’ve been awful, can you imagine ? “Oh fuck, I messed up that line, can we do it again?” I properly lucked out on that one. 

Here is a links to the Colourful Radio Interview

Colourful Radio

Okay, so I got asked to give a talk in Cheltenham yesterday at the Screen Writers Festival and I really enjoyed it. I showed my latest short film THE PARK and it seemed to go down really well. Afterwards I met up with some friends for dinner.

My train was at 9.25pm and I missed it by the skin of my teeth. I didn’t mind however, I just thought, if there are no other trains then I’ll just crash at my friend Cynthia’s. When I got to the station there was still one more train running. I asked the train lady which train should I get to London. She told me to get the train going to Bristol and from there, there’d be a train going to London. I was like ‘cool’. When I got to Bristol, I was looking for the London train but I couldn’t see it. I asked one of the train drivers. I was like ‘Excuse me, where can I get a train to London?’ she was like ‘There ain’t no trains to London. The last one is long gone.’ I was like ‘What time was the last one?’ She was like ‘at 10.30pm’. I was like ‘How can the last train be so early?’ She’s like ‘Well, we can’t work 24 hours, we have to go home too.’ She said it with attitude. I couldn’t believe this shit! She told me to go ask one of the other workers. I asked one of the train dudes. I asked him if there was any way for me to get back to London. He told me that there were no trains, I asked about a bus or a coach. He was like ‘Well, I don’t know about the buses. You know what, go and ask the information people, they’re on the other platform.’  The information was closed and I know that he knew that. I couldn’t believe it, these mutha fucka’s were shooing me away. I’m a lone female stranded in a place that I’ve never been, it’s night time and they couldn’t give a shit.

At this point, I started to get angry and when I get angry I cry and when I cry I get even more angry because I’m crying and I don’t like to cry in front of people. When I get to that point, I will seriously fuck someone up and that would only land me in jail. I said a prayer, asking God to calm me down. I gain my composure and ask another worker for some advise. He tells me to ask a taxi driver for directions to the nearest B&B. The taxi driver tells me some long directions that I forget quickly but luckily I spot a Holiday Inn and the bottom of the road.

When I get in there, the manager informs me that the nearest B&B is a 30 min walk from there. I ask him how much their rooms are and he tells me that they’re £85. That’s way too much for me so he tells me that there’s a pub down the road that has rooms. He gives me the directions and I follow them – or so I thought. I end up at the wrong pub and not only are they closed, they have no B&B. I walk back to the Holiday Inn only for the manager to tell me that I went to the wrong one. He gives me the directions again and this time I find it. When I get to the right one it’s closed however I can see the owner sitting down. I start to wave my hands around and knock on the door. He gets up and just then an older woman, ( I’m guessing the other owner) comes in. They both look at me, give me a dirty look and then leave. I’m standing there, thinking that they’re coming to the door. It’s only after a few minutes that I realize, ain’t nobody coming to the door. Can you believe that shit!

I start to walk back and consider cotching in the station for a few hours until the next morning. I phone my friend Tam to let her know the situation just in case something happens to me. She tells me to go to the Holiday Inn, ‘just use your credit card’ she say’s. On the way to the Holiday Inn I can hear footsteps behind me. Every time I hear the step crunch upon an autumn leaf my heart skips a beat. Suddenly £85 doesn’t seem like that much money.

I book a room and fall asleep whilst watching Graham Norton. When I wake up, I get ready to make the first train out of there which is 5.30am. However when I get to the station a train worker tells me that my ticket isn’t valid until after 8am. I go back to the hotel and chill in their breakfast area… for 3 hours. I finally get on the train thank God. I just got home an hour and a half ago. I’m fuckin’ exhausted.

I just want to thank Darren Jones, the manager at the Holiday Inn and Amanda, the morning train worker. They were the only people that were nice to me in my moment of crisis. It means a lot to be nice.

The rest of those insensitive mutha fuckah’s can go to fuckin’ hell.

Last month I was invited to the Athens International Film Festival. I met some really cool people, the programmers were especially wonderful and I was very well looked after. Athens is really loud which I loved because I’m city through and through. It’s warm but not stifling and everybody’s cute! I visited Acropolis which was beautiful. I found it strange to be walking on and touching something that was 500 years older than Christ. It was really high up and I’m afraid of heights. It’s not the smartest idea that I’ve ever had but I had to experience it. It was well worth the vertigo, just stunning.

A filmmaker dinner was held and  Jorgen Leth was there! He’s not just a film legend but also a really nice guy. I was just thinking ‘what the fuck am I doing here?’

I was in Athens because Tight Jeans was being screened. As the film is quite controversial, I wasn’t sure if the audience was gonna get the jokes so I was very nervous. The film was subtitled, however there was like a 2 second delay.So I’m sitting there, shitting bricks wondering if the film is gonna go down well. When the first punch line is said, the whole audience is quiet, I swear I felt the tumbleweed brush against my feet. As I prepare to sink into my chair a loud ruckus erupts all around me. I look around and it’s laughter, the whole audience is laughing. I quickly realize that they’re reading the joke 2 seconds after I’m hearing it. 

Relief? Happiness? I’m not sure what the feeling in my stomach was but it felt good all the same. 

I loved Athens, I only hope that my next film gets in!

So last month my friend Tamana hooked me up with tickets to see Spike Lee give a talk @ the BFI. When the Q & A’s came about I put my hand up to ask a question. The mediator said ‘Can you give the mic to the girl in the back with the low cut top’ Of course every eye whip paned to my breasts. When I got the mic I said ‘Hi Spike Lee, I’m just gonna pull my top up.’ He says ‘Hey, it wasn’t me that said it!’ That’s a moment I’ll neva forget.