Herts Reels

Hello everyone! My name is James Poole and since watching Pixar’s ‘Cars’ in cinema when I was four, I have loved all things films. I love watching them, I love debating them, I love realising that I missed a small detail that transforms my entire perception of the film when I look back on it again. I believe that films, like nothing else, have the power to transport us to a whole new world where anything is possible.

The last few years of my life have been dedicated to understanding the making of films and how we arrive at the finished product that so many people love. I first studied my BA in English and Creative Writing at The University of Birmingham, later moving onto Manchester to complete my MA in Screenwriting. Besides meeting so many incredibly talented people along the way who changed the way I approached writing and critiquing, one of my main takeaways was how film acts as a lens to help people experience events in so many different ways, whether nationwide or localised.

That approach of examining events through the lens of film is precisely what Herts Reels is about. My aim is not just to critique films, but to judge them as windows into localised culture, history and community events. And where better to base this endeavour than Hertfordshire, in my opinion a cornerstone of UK cinema?

I couldn’t be more excited to start this journey with Herts Reels, and I can’t wait to share and debate my thoughts with all of you. So sit back relax…it’s about to begin.