Trailer!

Here it is! Our trailer! Hope you like it!

Don't forget that public booking is now open for our BFI run, and tickets are still on sale for our special preview at the Riverside Studios. More soon.

- Alex

From Education to the Abyss - Share your stories!

While working on Life Just Is, we came to realise that everyone has a story to tell about entering 'the real world' after education. As Justine explains below, WE WANT TO HEAR YOUR STORIES! Post a video reply on Justine's video, sharing some of your experiences, thoughts, funny moments or heartbreaks from that time of life. This is a social experiment to get the conversation going about life after uni. We hope that by sharing these stories, we can shine a light on the issues faced by young people leaving uni today.

 

And, to get the conversation started, here some stories we've added ourselves:

What You Can Expect, and When You Can Expect It!

As you can imagine, we're busy beavering away getting things ready for our release in the UK and Ireland in December, and in celebration we have a host of things planned for the coming weeks. So I thought it might be a good idea to just quickly note down what you can expect, and when you can expect it!

w/c Nov 5th
From Education to the Abyss: Next week we'll be kicking off our video campaign, 'From Education to the Abyss'. The idea behind the campaign is to open a discussion about what happens during that awkward first year after you've finished University: we're sure that the characters in LIFE JUST IS aren't the only ones who have had life-changing (and life-challenging) experiences during that time. Launching on our YouTube Channel, we'll be inviting video responses to spark off the discussion. So, whether you have a funny story, a heartbreaking anecdote, or a terrifying tale, get ready to tell us about it! We want to hear all about your horrendous jobs, your disastrous love affairs, and your hilarious adventures… but most importantly of all, we just want to hear YOUR voice and find out what happened to you when you entered the gaping abyss of 'real' life!

w/c Nov 12th
The Trailer: The moment many of you have been waiting for – the official launch of the LIFE JUST IS trailer!

w/c Nov 19th:
The Stills of Life Just Is…In Motion: As we approach our release, we look back to the shoot with a unique behind-the-scenes documentary made from the stills taken on set by photographer David Lau. I'm particularly pleased with the way this has come out and wish we'd have had it in time for the DVD… be sure not to miss it!
Facebook Profile Picture campaign: A double-whammy this week! As well as releasing the video, we'll also be asking you to help us spread the word by changing your Facebook profile picture to an image with all the details of our release. As a small, independent production, we really need people like YOU to help us make our film a success.

w/c Nov 26th:
Andrew Hawley Improv: During the shoot it became apparent that some dialogue I'd written for the character of Nick (played by Andrew Hawley) wasn't long enough for what I needed from the scene. So I asked Andrew to improvise. Which he did, to hilarious effect. Unfortunately for me, the first few takes were ruined by our lead actors Nathaniel Martello-White and Will De Meo being so amused that they couldn't keep a straight face. Luckily for you, we're releasing this footage as a special bonus. Another one not to be missed!

w/c Dec 3rd:
Fiona Ryan Set Tour: Another look back to the shoot, this video features a short tour of the set, in which lead actress Fiona Ryan takes us around the film's main location and introduces us to the cast and crew in her own, inimitable style.

So, there you have it – what you can expect, and roughly when you can expect it! With any luck there will be one or two further surprises along the way, but hopefully this is enough to get you excited for now!

More soon.

- Alex

BFI Screening Details

Full details of our BFI screenings are now available below. From the Guide: 'An independently made British debut with a difference, Alex Barrett’s look at the difficulties faced by a group of friends confronting the ups and downs of post-uni life avoids the usual clichés. First, the concerns of the two sets of London flatmates are not all to do with sex ‘n’ drugs ‘n’ rock ‘n’roll; work, professional ambition, even religious doubt get a look in. And while sympathising with his vulnerable characters, Barrett doesn’t indulge them; deft dialogue, careful compositions and naturalistic performances leave room for wry humour as well as keen insights.'

Screenings:

Dec 7th: 18:40
Dec 8th: 16:20, 20:50
Dec 9th: 18:40
Dec 11th: 18:40, 20:50
Dec 12th: 18:40
Dec 13th: 20:50
Dec 14th: 20:50
Dec 15th: 18:40
Dec 16th: 16:20, 20:50
Dec 18th: 18:40
Dec 19th: 20:50
Dec 20th: 18:40

Tickets for members go on sale Tuesday 6th November, while non-members can book from Tuesday 13th. Click here for more details.

Tickets now available for Riverside Preview

Just a short one today, to tell you all that tickets are now available for our Preview Screening at the Riverside Studios: http://www.riversidestudios.co.uk/cgi-bin/page.pl?l=1350056750. Hope to see you there!

- Alex

Books

We are pleased to announce that we will be publishing two books to tie in with the release of LIFE JUST IS – "LIFE JUST IS: DIRECTOR'S JOURNAL" and "LIFE JUST IS: SCRIPTBOOK". We'll be bringing you more information about the books in due course, but for now here are their blurbs:

LIFE JUST IS: DIRECTOR'S JOURNAL

Graduating from a university film course in 2005 at the age of 21, Alex Barrett had an idea: he wanted to make a feature film. Flash forward seven years, and the idea has been realised as his debut feature LIFE JUST IS, nominated for the Michael Powell Award for Best British Film at the Edinburgh International Film Festival 2012. But how did a young graduate with no industry connections manage to get a film made, sold and distributed? And why did the process take so long? And what was the toll it took?

LIFE JUST IS: DIRECTOR'S JOURNAL offers all these answers and more. Giving an unparalleled exploration of what it takes to get a debut microbudget film made, the journal presents a fascinating glimpse into the conception, development, production and postproduction of a film.

Alongside its insight into the development of a film, LIFE JUST IS: DIRECTOR'S JOURNAL also builds a vivid picture of the development of an individual. Edited as it is from seven years of daily entries, Barrett's passions and frustrations are laid bare in full, while his honest, open and engrossing journal entries are filled with anecdotes, musings, reviews and thoughts which slowly build into a coherent philosophy of film and of life.

LIFE JUST IS: SCRIPTBOOK

Throughout the production of LIFE JUST IS, writer/director Alex Barrett has been documenting the process of the film's creation. In keeping with this open exploration of the making of the film, LIFE JUST IS: SCRIPTBOOK presents not only the final draft of the script, but also the first draft, thereby offering a unique insight into the film's development.

LIFE JUST IS tells the story of Pete, Tom, David, Claire and Jay, a tight-knit group of friends who share neighbouring flats in London after recently graduating from university. As they hang out, throw parties and navigate the new responsibilities of adult life, romantic tensions and existential crises begin to simmer beneath the surface.

UK RELEASE DATES

Further to our last update, it brings us great pleasure to give you more information about our UK release, and offer you the first glimpse of our DVD cover artwork.

 

First up, we will be having a special preview of the film at the Riverside Studios on November 26^th. This screening will be followed by a QA with writer/director Alex Barrett and actors Nathaniel Martello-White and Fiona Ryan.

 

The film will then open theatrically on December 7^th, with a two-week run in the Studio at the BFI Southbank, before being released on DVD and VOD on December 10^th.

 

Tickets for the theatrical screenings will go on sale in the coming weeks, and we'll post more details here as we have them. The DVD, meanwhile, will be available from all good retailers, and you can pre-order yours from Amazon right now by clicking on the picture or link below!

Life Just Is [DVD]