Blowing Her Own Saxophone

Nicola is an experienced graphic designer (including work for Disney) and LRPS qualified photographer. Over the last few years she developed an interest in filmmaking and has acted as a stills photographer, focus puller, production/lighting assistant, runner/driver and twice has had a small cameo acting roles for several small independent films (and occasionally as a Supporting Artist (extra) in professional TV/film productions). She completed the Film Foundation Fortnight at London Film Academy where she was DOP and co-writer/co-editor on Slasher, a one minute short.

She was stills photographer in Curtains, a short by director Nathan Evans, which screened at the BFI Flare Festival and Rough and Ready, a comedy which starred page 3 girl Peta Todd. She was also a photographer at the Raindance Film Festival, photographing Joanna Lumley, Johnny McDaid and other celebrities.

Her first short that she wrote, produced in partnership with Brendan Lonergan (creature effects artist in the film industry), was What did you do in the war Grandad?, which won Best Documentary in the We Make Films Not Excuses film festival in 2020. Our second short film Attrition is currently doing the festival current and has won Best Director and been selected at Official Selection in several other festivals.

She has also written a feature film about her uncle’s WW2 RAF career (The Ghosts of Wellington x3757) which has just won Best Feature Screenplay by a London Screenwriter in the New York Script Awards and has a second feature script in synopsis stage (initial title: Betrayal in Alexandria - a WW1 story inspired by a real life family story), and 2 more feature scripts in early ideas stage.

She is currently enrolled on the MA in Film Practice at Bournemouth Online University and undertook a Ways into Screenwriting course at City Lit in September 2023, where she wrote the short script Ashes to Ashes, based on happenings around the death of her mother, which is a Finalist in the Barcelona Indie Awards 2024 and has just won Official Selection in the New York Script Awards. Her other short script The Eyes Have It was an Official Selection in the London Lift Off Festival in December 2023 and has also just won Official Selection in the New York Script Awards.