Week 4 - 2023
Intro
Thrilled that our clients Stranger At The Gate were nominated for Best Documentary Short at the Oscars this week! Congrats to the whole team.
I spent much of this week continuing to prepare for my maternity leave and saying goodbye and good luck to our superstar Alana Jeffery (previously Head of Strategy and Development) who is moving on to a new career. Alana had her 1st day at Together on day 1 of lockdown in 2020 and has excelled in her ever-expanding role over the last 3 years. I’m going to miss her so much, and know whatever she does next she will be amazing!
✅ Stranger At The Gate nominated for Best Documentary Short!
We are thrilled that our client Stranger At The Gate was nominated for Best Documentary Short at the Oscars this week! This team delivered an impressive campaign all season and secured the support of Executive Producer Malala due to its authentic vision. We are keeping our fingers crossed for a successful outcome at the awards ceremony on March 12th.
I encourage you all to watch it via The New Yorker and let me know your thoughts.
✅ Saying goodbye and good luck to Alana Jeffery (previously Head of Impact Strategy & Development)
This week we celebrated the brilliant Alana Jeffery, who after 3 years at Together Films is moving on to a new career path. Alana had her 1st day with Together on day 1 of the lockdown in 2020, and it was therefore a wild ride of unknowns, constant pivots, and learning a thousand new systems as we attempted to navigate the changing landscape during COVID. Originally starting as my Exec Assistant, Alana quickly increased her skills and was promoted multiple times to finish as our Head of Impact Strategy & Development. A brilliant team leader (nurturing our junior staff) and great client manager (working on multiple high-project projects such as Battleground and Fashion Reimagined), Alana helped to reframe how we approach our strategy process and increased her skills in fundraising. Due to her diligent work, we secured some of our largest grants to date and improved relations with a number of potential donors.
Alana is a great example of hiring for personality/culture fit, aspiration, and future potential. She brought a sense of enthusiasm to her role, was constantly open to learning new things, and approached challenges head-on. We both couldn’t have imagined how quickly she would rise through the team when she started out, but on reflection, all the qualities were clear from her first day on the job. I highly encourage team leaders to bring people into their team who may not yet have direct experience in the field, but who show a passion for the work, and a willingness to learn. They can go on to do wonders for your organization!
I wish Alana all the best in her new career, and can’t wait to see how she thrives in the future. You can follow her on LinkedIn here.
✅ Kick-off call with JL Pomeroy about a new short doc project
I’m thrilled to be working with media entrepreneur and all round superwoman JL Pomeroy on a new project about freedom of expression and censorship. Having been introduced by a few mutual friends last spring, I supported the completion of her new film to guide the final edit into shape, ready for a 2023 festival rollout. This week was about setting our intentions for the film, how we wanted to position it in the market, and what our ideal launch path could look like. At the start of the release process, there are so many potential routes for a film, and it’s important to align on objectivess (both impact & commercial) to ensure the whole team is working towards the same goals.
We hope to be able to announce a festival premiere in the coming months when we can share full details of this impactful film.
Feedback this week
“This has been such a useful session, I have always struggled to understand the sales/distribution process and how to navigate it, and now I feel like I have a plan” - one of our consultancy clients, following a deep dive into navigating sales & distribution when attending market festivals