MESSY COLLECTIVE is London’s most chaotic community for writers and filmmakers.
Celebrating the process for work that’s on the way to perfect.
Run by the Messy Women
⭐️ Isobel, Jess & Jess ⭐️
Created as a safe and fun space for women, NB and trans folk to connect over their work - and make some friends on the way, Messy has been around since November 2022, when it was just a few writers meeting up at cinemas once a month to talk. Now, Messy is an integral part of London’s filmmaking community, with over 3,000 people in our network.
Subscribing to our Substack is the easiest way to be invited to our events and hear what we have coming up. We share resources, insights into the lives of writers at different career stages, and news and deep dives into contests, opportunities and development programmes.
WHAT WE DO
🍾 We hate ‘networking’ so we throw monthly parties to help people get away from their computers and start making meaningful relationships with people working towards the same goals, with the hope that these will lead to Actual Friendships, or project collaborations. Find them here.
📝 We host weekly communal writing sessions to help people actually sit behind their laptops and get words down, surrounded by other people doing the same. Every Saturday at the BFI bar, 12pm-4pm. RSVP here.
💻 We run Bootcamps online that have helped over 200 writers reach their project and productivity goals - with quarterly challenges and an always-on guide. COMING SOON.
📱 We know it’s hard to find People Like Us*, so we run a huge WhatsApp community for writers and collaborators to chat, celebrate and commiserate. Read our GUIDELINES and join here.
🤝 And alongside that, we’ve partnered with organisations including BFI, Margate Film Festival, Women X Film Festival, WGGB and Vaults Creative Arts to bring our unique brand of Messy chaos to more people.
✨We’re actively looking to partner with more film festivals, event spaces, brands and organisations who share our mission, and the Messy founders are available to talk about the importance of community building for creators in the film space. Get in touch if you’d like to talk more.✨
Basically: Be inspired. Become part of our community. Have fun. Make friends. Make your greatest art. Make #memories.
WHO WE ARE
The Collective exists in the souls of the Messy Women and their trusty team.
We organise these events and online spaces in our own chaotic fashion because we ADORE the quirky, hot-but-doesn’t-know-it community we’ve accidentally built, and we want to help talented artists connect and create great work.
The Messy Team are:
Founder Jessica Riches (she/her) is a screenwriter who also directs and produces, specialising in climate storytelling. Jess is a fellow of UCL’s Climate Policy Creative Storytelling Fellowship, a participant in Climate Spring’s Hot House programme supported by Film London and BBC Writers, and alumni of Zurich Film Festival’s Academy, CineStory’s episodic Lab and BFI’s Creative Producer training. She’s made several short and funny films about romance in late capitalism in the UK and Nashville, a 5-part podcast series about the moon landings performed by Stephen Fry, and has 2 original features, an adaptation, and a sitcom in development. She also consults on climate storytelling, working with organisations like the UN.
Founder Isobel Bruce (she/her) is a writer/ producer/ director who founded Ingenue Theatre to bring new writing from around the world to alternative spaces across New York. She has worked as a producer for independent theatre, as producer and content specialist for Secret Cinema, and managed the global short film festival, Future Shorts. In her spare time she has a full time job as Global Head of Campaigns at social impact agency Purpose, working with organisations including TikTok and the UN on how culture can create genuine change in the world.
Content manager Jessica Mackie Hunter (she/her) is a Czech/Scottish writer/director based in London. Her first short film, ‘Rabbit’, was screened at a BIFA-qualifying festival and has played at festivals across Europe. She is an alumni of the Torino Film Lab, Boosting Impact and ELBE DOCK IFF.
Writer-in-Residence Santiago Guerra (he/him) is a Mexican writer/director/juggler residing in London. He does plays, films and copy. He loves tacos (of course), coming-of-age novels (obviously) and to dramatise his life, whether for the page or for his friends and family.
Admin Mollie Semple (she/her) is a writer and actress recently moved all the way from Buckinghamshire to South West London. She writes for the stage, the screen, and the Substack and then gives herself the best roles. She loves a pub quiz and would always prefer to be lying on a beach reading a book.
Admin Rowan Allen (they/them) is a screenwriter, script editor and reader from northern England, though you'd never tell from their accent. They can often be found watching French movies in the dark or out in the woods looking for mushrooms.
Admin Luyanda Unati Lewis-Nyawo (they/them) aka three raccoons in a trench coat! They are a chronically online actor, writer and massive nerd! They love shiny dice math rocks and their cat Garlic Bread! Here to smite finance bros and take names or something 😂
[And we would be remiss not to mention our beloved OG Messy co-founder ~ SORCHA KURIEN-WALSH ~ screenwriter & script editor who left us to write on Rivals on Disney+ and other great projects ~ but still comes to all of our parties & events 🌸]
