Day Street
Thank you for taking the time to visit our fundraising page. We are a group of talented filmmakers and designers from the University of the Arts London working in partnership with Industry professionals to create our graduation film Day Street.
Set on a council estate in Hull in 1982, Day Street tells the story of a precocious 11-year-old Sammy, as she tries to navigate the struggle of wanting to be like any other child her age while having responsibilities that no child should have. From often having to help with family chores to taking care of her 4-year-old sister, Sammy must learn to accept her life to make it a little easier for herself and her siblings.
Real Events
Day Street is inspired by real events from the director's mothers childhood. When she was growing up life was not easy for her. Like many children growing up in difficult situations and with dysfunctional families, she found it hard to deal with her circumstances. Her father was a fisherman, like many in Hull where she grew up and was often away at sea. However, when he was home, he wasn’t the best father to them, often drinking and betting away the money he had earned. Her mother was a functional stay at home mum and would often make Sammy, the eldest daughter, do a lot of the household chores like going to the laundrette to do the families laundry and having to take care of the youngest siblings.
"I have wanted to tell this story for a few years now but it has taken me a long time to know how I want to tell it. However, through all the darkly comic stories my mum told me, I realized that I just wanted to tell my mum's story; what it was like for a young girl to grow up in that situation and how she dealt with it. Although Sammy is a precocious character who is having to deal with things no child should have to, she still finds some magic even in the darkness of days. However, unlike most stories about dysfunctional childhoods, Sammy can’t just run away at the end and find somewhere to live ‘happily ever after’ because that isn’t a reality and Day Street is centred in reality, but from a child’s perspective where not everything can be understood". - Writer-Director, Paige Neilson.
What you'll help us Achieve
By supporting us, that be a social media share, a donation of £1 or £100 or endorsement can help us in so many ways. This isn't just another student film, this is our final graduation film. The one that we will leave university with, the one that will be our advocate for success after university, the one that will be entered into BAFTA accredited film festivals around the world. By supporting us making Day Street come to life, you are supporting the future generation of filmmakers and designer begin their careers in the industry.
About Us
Writer/Director | Paige Neilson: Paige Neilson is a passionate filmmaker from Hull, who has wanted to make films since the age of 10. With experience in producing short fiction films, she has decided to write and direct her first short film whilst at her final year of study at University of the Arts London.
Producer | Rebecca Gill: Rebecca, originally from Lancashire, is an award-winning film producer based in London. With several years’ experience producing films around the country and the world, Rebecca continues to work in various mediums of moving image while completing the final year of her degree at University of the Arts London.
First Assistant Director | Ekin Ilkbag: Ekin, originally, from İstanbul, Turkey, decided to pursue a career in the film industry when she was in high school during the Film Studies Certificate Programme of International Baccalaureate. In 2016, she moved to London to study BA Film Practice at University of the Arts London after completing a Creative Writing course at Oxford Royale Academy. She is now completing her final year of study at university while focusing on offline editing and directing in both documentary and fiction films. In the past, Ekin has had her photography work exhibited at the Mitanni Arts Gallery in Istanbul and has directed and produced a feature-length documentary in Turkey.
Director Of Photography | Rian Shafi: Rian Shafi is a Director of Photography from Blackburn. He recently worked on a short dance film for Channel 4's Random Acts scheme called Crashing Waves. The film was selected for various BAFTA qualifying festivals including Aesthetica, Iris Prize and London Short Film Festival. The film was also selected as a Vimeo Staff Pick and later aired as part of Season 5 of Random Acts on Channel 4.
Assistant Camera | Natalie Key: From a young age Natalie was the family film buff, too busy experimenting with her dad’s video camera to do her homework, it wasn’t until she attended college that her journey into the industry began. Understanding that she wanted to transition into London (the hub of the media industry in the UK), she went on to complete a film and media course which earned her an unconditional offer into the University of the Arts London. A nerdy and bubbly personality, Natalie comes from a place of wanting to investigate the world of storytelling. Whilst she focuses so much of her time on filmmaking she does also have a love of the other mediums, such as video games and TV, believing that to perfect a production you should be willing to take inspiration from all walks of the industry.
Head Of Production Design | Sian Midgley: Sian first found her love for film and design when studying both an Extended Diploma and Foundation Diploma in Art and Design, specializing in 3D work and Theatre/Film Set Design. After being accepted at the prestigious Wimbledon College of Arts to study Set Design for Screen she moved from her quaint village in North Yorkshire to London. She is now in her third and final year at the university and has worked on productions for ITV such as the new series of Vera and Endeavour. She mainly enjoys designing and concept art, as well as being on set and making the world in the script come to life.
Art Director | Alice Sutch: Blighty born and raised, Alice is completing the final year of her degree in Production Design at the famed Wimbledon College of Art at University of the Arts London. Alice has worked on productions such as Britannia, Top Boy, Endeavour and most recently, Wonder Woman 2.
Costume Designer | Tom Holman: Tom has always had an excitement for creating little worlds where films burst into life. He found his passion for film while studying an Extended Diploma in Art and Design at college where a teacher introduced him to telling stories through a camera, instead of using pencils and paint brushes and has never looked back. Since then Tom has found a passion for constructing sets and costumes.
Sound Recordist/Designer | Tyler Ward: From an early age, Tyler had a passion and love for making films. He attended college and read Art and Philosophy, where he experimented with video-art and installations. Whilst studying Art, Tyler developed a love for manipulating sound and building ‘soundscapes’. After college, he applied and got a place at University of the Arts London studying Film Practice and was able to expand upon sound design, homing techniques to a professional level.
Editor | Maya McAllister: Born in Paris, Maya started making small films with her friends at the age of 10. Starting as a fun game and a way to extend playing make-believe into adolescence, she soon realised that this was the career she wanted to pursue. Having previously edited short films, music videos, showreels and promo videos, she is very excited to now start working on Day Street, a project she feels is unique and powerful, with a truthful and heartfelt story to communicate.
Assistant Editor | Sam Matthias-Stanley : Growing up in Stoke Newington, London, Sam has held a passion for filmmaking ever since he presented a film instead of an essay to his geography teacher when he was 12 years old. With experience of video installation, documentary and fiction shorts, he’s interested in exploring different styles of filmmaking as he pursues his career in film.
Graphic Designer | Feli Yaucat: Originally from France, but grew up in ‘Romford, Essex’. Feli’s journey as a Graphic designer started in Barking & Dagenham College. Since then he’s been given the opportunity to work as an intern in companies such as Signlab London & RM Renovation. He’s now completing the second year of his undergraduate degree at University of Arts London, studying Graphic Branding and Identity.
Budget
Of course, making films isn't a cheap business. This is the reason why we are reaching out to you asking for you're helping. Our producer has created a budget for the film which can be seen below in the form of a doughnut chart. This outlines what we will be using the money raised for.
Why this Story, Why Now
We feel that this film needs to be told now as it’s the story of a young, girl having to grow up too fast in an environment that maybe not everyone has had to live in. The perspective of a young girl is something that has not been told as often within British film, in fact within a lot of social realism films in Britain, the stories of the working class are often told from the perspective of adults, and the ones that focus on children a lot of the time focus on young boys. We are in a time where young girls and women’s stories are starting to be heard more than ever before, and we feel that this is a story about a young girls strength and courage whilst being up against a lot of adversity that needs to be heard.
Ways to Help
We would be eternally grateful if you could help us raise funds to make Day Street a reality and there are numerous ways to do this. You could choose to donate directly or choose one of our perks on offer so you get a lovely little memento of the film in return. You could share our Fundraising campaign on your social media such as Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin or Instagram. Or should give our social media pages alike and share, this way you'll be keeping up to date with the latest news on the film and you'll also help us spread the word. You can like, share and find us on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram.
Once again thank you for taking the time to read our campaign and thank you for all you're help and support. All the best,
The Day Street Team.