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Michaela Kenny
Filmmaker | Photographer | Editor | Social Media Creative
Bringing your vision to life, one frame at a time.
September 2023- May 2024
During my final year of university, I worked alongside fellow students to
create our graduate film 'Mr & Mrs Wilcox', a short comedy film that
follows parents, Jim and Mary, as they try to stop their daughter, Emily,
moving out with her unorthodox boyfriend, Leon.
This project was a big passion of mine as I have always loved comedy
films and had wanted to create one myself before graduating university.
I undertook many roles, with my primary being the editor, and, alongside
my peers, navigated the challenges and processes of creating a student
film.
Within this project my various roles included:
- Assistant producer: completing risk assessments, dealing with budgets,
and even doing the cooking on set!
- Social media manager: creating social schedules, organising social
content days, editing social content, and managing social accounts.
- Editor: collating and backing up footage, completing the offline edit
and creating graphics for the online edit.
- Sound designer: organising on set recordings of foley, ADR, VOs,
and more, sourcing and creating sound effects in post, and mixing the
sound levels in post.
June 2022 - June 2023
During my placement year, I worked as a Creative Intern for The Walt
Disney Company, as part of the National Geographic Creative Campaigns
team. As a creative intern, my job lay in telling the amazing stories
through social media and on-air promotional pieces. I worked to gain
viewership on our channels and encourage interactions with our shows
to boost their engagement both on and off air; I also provided regions,
within the company, with the resources to promote worldwide; the assets
I created aired in, not only the UK, but countries across Europe, the
Middle East and Africa.
Throughout my time at Disney, my placement consisted of both
on-air (linear) and off-air (social media) work. At the beginning of my
internship, my role was focused mainly on the off-air side of promotion,
creating assets that aired on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. After a
few months of social work, I ventured into creating linear assets to
promote shows on TV.
For socials, I created: scene lifts (137), bespoke pieces (19),
reversions (30) and social promos (8).
For linear, I created 5 linear promos, each with a 15" and 30" version,
as well as 1 On Demand promo, with a 30" and 60" version.
June 2023
During my placement year, I was given the chance to go on set as a
runner for a promotional shoot for an upcoming show, "Building
Impossible with Daniel Ashville". Shoots weren't common throughout
my internship so I was very privileged to be given this opportunity
and it was one I felt I learnt a lot from.
Although a small, green screen shoot, there was so much to take into
consideration. As the runner, I was on hand to undertake any errands and
support the cast and crew to ensure a smooth shooting day.
This involved jobs such as:
- Smoothing creases in the green screen to ensure the editors could
remove it in post-production easily.
- Collating props and re-dressing the scene after each take.
- Helping to move equipment such as crash mats and pads.
I was also able to shadow the crew, learning from them about on-set
practices, equipment I had never used before, and their roles in general.
June 2022 - June 2023
The social assets that I have created can be grouped into 4 categories.
For scene lifts, I watched the chosen episode of a show and selected the
most engaging scene. I then put our branding on them and subtitled them,
if required. I have created 137 scene lifts for a variety of different shows,
which have aired on our social media platforms. A few have also been
posted by Disney and Gordon Ramsay!
Each month, I also had a bespoke asset to create. These assets required
me to create a pitch deck of 3 to 4 creative concepts which I then
presented to marketing I would develop it using graphic designers and
audio engineers to enhance the asset, ready to be delivered to markets
as well as our own UK social media. I have created 19 bespoke assets,
with one of my most successful pieces receiving over 2 million
impressions on Facebook.
I also created 30 reversions and 6 social promos. Reversions are assets
that have been created by other regions or departments, which I added
our branding to and ensured that they adhered to our guidelines. Social
promos are assets that I created from the linear promos, again, putting
our branding on and changing the aspect ratios to fit social media.
I also won the award for best social/digital asset in the
June 2023 Creative Review!
June 2022 - June 2023
Further on in my internship, I also began creating some linear assets to air on TV. I have created 4 linear promos for the following shows: Egypt's Ancient Mysteries, Last of the Giants: Wild Fish, Magic of Disney's Animal Kingdom, and The Incredible Dr. Pol.
For each promo, I created a 15" and a 30" version for promotion.
I also had the opportunity to create an On Demand spot for Mysteries and Legends, consisting of a 30" version and a 60" version.
Throughout this process, I presented my developments to the marketing department and took on feedback from them.
This consisted of creating a pitch deck of 3 ideas and then further developing 1 of them in the edit. I would also attend WIP (Work In Progress) meetings to discuss the asset and respond to any further suggestions.
I would then book graphics time to work on any graphical treatments to the footage, and audio time to record and mix the voiceover and tags for the show.
June 2022 - June 2023
I participated in the Disney Intern Development programme, a course
for Disney interns which aimed to help us develop skills and grow in
confidence over the course of the year.
One of the modules focused around how to create and present a
coherent presentation. I learnt about preparing a deck/PowerPoint,
ways to keep the presentation engaging, and how to successfully
present to audiences big and small. I was then able to put this
information into practise throughout my internship, presenting multiple
bespoke pitches to the marketing team and a pitch about social
guidelines to regions across EMEA and the UK.
Some of the other modules included: time management, effective hybrid
working, emotional intelligence, and teamwork.
After completing the programme, I was awarded a certificate
and attended a celebration event with other interns in the cohort.
April 2023
During my internship, I helped to deliver some assets showcasing the
National Geographic Explorers. On the 20th April 2023, I attended the
National Geographic Explorers Festival.
The National Geographic Explorers are exceptional individuals who work
to protect the world through their research, education, and storytelling.
The event gave a handful of the explorers the chance to tell us about
the amazing work they have been doing, as well as showcasing the
videos that members of the National Geographic team had created.
Some of the speakers included:
- Manar Elkebir, an environmental activist who discussed her work in
tackling the plastic crisis.
- Ndimuh Bertrand Shancho, a species conservation activist who
discussed his efforts to preserve the world's largest species of frog
as well as other amphibians.
- Obayomi Anthony Ayodele, a documentary photographer and filmmaker
who discussed his work telling the stories of social injustice and
cultural preservation within his community.
The 14 explorers who spoke at the event provided insights into the
incredible work that they were completing and it was an inspiring
event to have the opportunity to attend!
October 2022
Near to the start of my internship, I had the honour of attending the
Promax Nominations Night, where National Geographic competed
with other contenders, such as Netflix and BBC, to be awarded
nominations for the Promax awards.
This event was a great networking event as I had the opportunity to
meet, and talk with, creatives from various other companies. It was
also a chance to celebrate the work created by my colleagues at
National Geographic, across all areas of design, promotion, and creativity.
In amongst the nominations we received was a nomination for the
"Charity Challenge", a project that I participated in alongside many
others. It was amazing to see the hard work we had put in pay off
and it felt incredible to be part of the team nominated for a
Promax award. We even went on to win silver in this category, coming
runners up to ITV!
June 2022 - July 2023
Throughout our internships, my partner and I moved to London for the
year. This was an incredible new experience and gave us the opportunity
to explore the capital and everything it had to offer. We created a
series called "Alphabet Dates", in which we explored a different area
of London once a fortnight, beginning with each letter of the alphabet.
We filmed our adventures and then edited each one collaboratively,
creating a series of 26 videos to document our year in London.
Some of the places we explored were:
A - Aquarium
C - Crystal Palace Park
D - Dopamine Land
G - Go Ape
I - Illuminature
N - Natural History Museum
S - Sciene Museum
W - Wimbledon Park
Z - ZSL London Zoo
This series gave us the chance to be creative and continue to
develop our skills in cinematography and editing whilst having fun!
Esme's Song
April 2022
During my second year of university I participated in a module called
"Fiction Filmmaking". As well as creating my own film, "Good Grief",
I helped out with another film, "Esme's Song".
"Esme's Song" is a film about a girl who loves music; we follow her
journey as she struggles to continue with her passion following a car
crash that leaves her hard of hearing.
My main role on set was the BTS photographer. I was on set for 2
of the 4 days of the shoot, capturing behind the scenes content of
the cast and crew in action.
This was something that I really enjoyed doing as it helped me to
further my photography skills whilst also getting the opportunity
to engage with other students and professional actors.
It was amazing to watch the talented crew at work and I learnt so
much from them about creating a good working environment,
overcoming challenges, and working together to create a great
film whilst having fun!
The photographs I took formed part of the social media campaign
to promote the film, as well as being sent out to investors in the
film as part of the BTS content "thank you" package.
January 2022 - May 2022
During my second year of university I participated in a module called
"Fiction Filmmaking". Within this module, I was part of a group that
made a film called "Good Grief"; the film was about a queer son, who
was estranged from his family, returning home following the death of
his abusive father.
My main role on this film was as the editor. Throughout the course of the
production I collated the footage from multiple shoots: the
crowdfunding campaign, the teaser trailer, and the film shoot itself.
On set, I acted as the DIT, transferring footage from the cameras and
sound kit to my laptop, backing it up, and organising and labelling each
take, ready for post production.
I then edited the film, and helped with colour grading and sound
mixing.
Being on set was a great experience as it gave me the opportunity
to work within a fast paced environment and enabled me to
develop my organisational and time management skills. Dealing
with lots of footage was a challenge, but one that helped me to
learn from mistakes and continue to grow in all areas of
post-production.
We completed a 2 day shoot, sticking to a tight schedule and
trying our best to fit everything necessary into our timeframe.
March 2022 - May 2022
During my second year I participated in a module called "Documentary
and Factual".
Within this module, my group created a documentary about a mental
health charity that uses music to help rehabilitate people.
As our group was only small, I took on multiple roles within
production. During pre-production I was the producer; I organised
all of the shoots, filled out RA forms, completed contributor
agreements and liaised with various different people to ensure the
film could be made.
During production, I was the 1st AC and sound recordist. Sound
was a very important aspect of our film so my role in recording the
songs during rehearsals and performances was vital. I also helped
out as a 1st AC, manning one of the cameras for the concert shoot
to ensure we could get full coverage of the event.
During post-production, I was the editor. This role involved
collating and backing up the footage, editing the film together,
colour grading the film, and sound mixing.
This film was really enjoyable to make and gave me the opportunity
to try out a different genre of film (documentary) as well as a variety
of other roles. It was very challenging to have so many
responsibilities, but it was also rewarding to branch out of my
comfort zone and learn more about different aspects of filmmaking.
July 2019 - January 2022
Aside from my university studies, I have made the most of any other
opportunities that have come my way! This includes:
- Photography shoots
I have photographed a variety of models, from musicians, to actors,
to street artists. This practice has enabled me to develop my
photography skills and given me the confidence to shoot events such
as weddings, engagements, and live talks. My photography has
come on leaps and bounds and I have even started editing my photos,
enhancing them using Adobe Photoshop and learning more about
composition and colour grading.
- 48hr Film Challenge
During my second year of university, I took part in the 48 hour Film
Challenge. For this challenge we were given a genre and quote that we
had to fit into the film. We then had the weekend to write, film, and
edit the film; working to a tight deadline really helped to improve
my time management skills and enabled me to develop the ability to
prioritise tasks efficiently.
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