2020. What a year it’s been. The year where most of the world went inside and pulled together to fend off the scourge of a global pandemic. Sounds like something from a film, doesn’t it? Not so, because this year, everyone has had to become accustomed to this being the reality in which we live. As filmmakers, we find ourselves looking at our own lives and the world around us through the lens of storytelling - it’s a difficult impulse to switch off - and so we thought we’d share a quick update with you about where Unified Films is at against the backdrop of such a massive global upheaval, and some thoughts on the themes of these circumstances as a way of making sense of them, just like we do to make sense of films and stories.
It’s a sobering and profound thought: the entire spectrum of good and bad being played out for people the world over as a result of the same challenge. Millions of individuals experiencing this pandemic in their own way, finding in it their own meaning and way through. Many have struggled to find meaning, or a way through at all. Thus, it feels like something positive is occurring, with the ways in which we live on an individual and collective level being reassessed for the better. But on another level, it is tragedy, with thousands losing their lives, loved ones, and suffering mental and economic hardship. The mind boggles, truly, with the overwhelming thought of the number of stories out there that regular people will have to tell as a result of the 2020 global pandemic. Just like in film or in the world of story, we notice underlying similarities beneath the veneer of vast difference - indeed, perhaps that’s where the meaning is found. And in our opinion, where we can begin to think of 2020 as the year where we wiped our eyes and began to see clearly for the first time in a long time. The year where we gained 2020 vision.
For us, it’s been a time where we’ve had to decide what is important to us and how we want to move forward. A time where we realise that our family and our relationships are the most important and taken for granted thing we can conceive of. We’ve also had to come to terms with how we stand firm, tall and solid against the tide of rapid and often overwhelming change & challenge. Babies have been born and announced, with our own Jon’s little boy, Jude, being born just last month, and our Ryan expecting a baby early next year. Sickness has been experienced amongst ourselves, our friends and families, and vast sacrifices have been made. Somehow though, life feels more meaningful, experience seems richer, and with gratitude being the more appropriate and natural way to think of things for so many. By their being threatened, the things that are actually important - family, friendship, compassion & understanding & closeness seem far more important to us than before, and so we cannot escape the sense that we were to some degree sleepwalking before the pandemic came along and shook us awake. Whatever has been difficult has been made easier by that realisation.
We hope that if you’re reading this, you’re doing okay, and that you do not feel too much despair in the face of all of this. Hopefully on the other side of this year, we all emerge with 2020 vision.
Above, from left to right: Jon masked-up whilst setting up for an interview. Phil during socially distanced editing with Doug, Ryan’s new rescue dog. Ryan with a car mount during a mid-lockdown shoot. Jon and his newborn, Jude.
