#personal connection

TW// Abusive relationships, SH ideations

I’ve related to a lot of HeyHay characters over the years— Rae and how he overworked himself too much. Theo and his need to protect and put his own shit aside. Vast and their gender identity, So on, so forth.

Io, however, is a character that I can see myself in. The parts of myself that I never knew that I was fighting so hard.

Io was locked away for centuries. Betrayed. Hurt. Enclosed. Sad.

The start of 2024 was the lowest I had ever been in my life. I was fresh out of an abusive relationship that turned my friends against me. I lost my job. I was finished with school and I was suicidal. I didn’t think there was anything left for me.

When HeyHay introduced us to Io, I didn’t feel that connection until further in. The more we learnt, the more it broke me how much I related to their character.

Io just wanted to be free and loved.

I just wanted to be free and loved.

My ex isolated me from everything and everyone, picked fights with me over little things, made me feel less than him, tried to break boundaries that I had clearly set and made me feel very unsafe.

Io was betrayed by the person who was supposed to love them. Elias broke their deal, and thus their trust, and left them imprisoned for 200 years. They were isolated from everything they ever knew or would know. They didn’t know how to handle the new world and felt threatened by the world.

Send me to Sleep was the straw that broke the camels back for me. Io so desperately wanted to sleep, that they felt like they weren’t needed or wanted. That they should only be woken up when they needed to fight. They had given up and were ready to sleep.

When I was struggling, all I wanted to do was sleep. I had given up on trying and spent my days alone, broken off from the world. But, I had a friend reach out to me that I barely knew and had only recently spoken to again and she didn’t let me go. She fought with me, every day and she still does. She helps with my panic attacks, when I’m stressed or when I don’t feel like I’m enough. She barely knew me at my lowest and she showed me more kindness than anyone I had ever known. She took a chance on me.

I was Io and she was Percy.

Words cannot describe how much a character like Io means to someone like me. They have become such an important HeyHay character for me and I am always front and centre for Siege.

They’ve helped me deal with my own issues by allowing me to see how they deal with their own emotions. And for that, I am immensely grateful to HeyHay for creating a character like Io, even if it wasn’t the intention in the start.

If you made it this far into my post, please know that you are enough. Do not let anyone tell you otherwise. There are people out there who love you, more than you will ever know.

in 2018, Jennifer and Sarah Hart drove their 6 adopted kids and themselves over a cliff to their deaths.

in 2016 they wore matching blue shirts and attended a Bernie Sanders rally in Portland, Oregon, where a small bird flew onto the podium and was deemed “Birdie Sanders”.

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Pitching Your Story

One of the most important parts of getting your film or television show made is being able to sell the story and yourself to producers. Many people (myself included) hate public speaking, selling themselves, or have trouble succinctly explaining your film. So here is a simple breakdown to help you structure a killer pitch (and hopefully alleviate some of your stress)!

1. Personal connection Before you really delve into your story, you need to connect with the people in the room and get them to care about your story before you even pitch it to them. Why did you write the story and what does it mean to you? You can tell a quick personal story about what inspired the story. Find that human connection. However you present your personal connection, you must answer these two questions: Why is this story important now? Why are you the best person to tell it?

2. What is the Film/Series? After you have established personal connection, briefly give an idea of your film or series by giving the logline, genre, and for TV, the length (hour drama, half-hour sitcom...). You can take the approach of X film meets Y film if you’d like, but it’s not necessary. Here you should also mention what the target audience is for your film/show.

3. Character breakdown. Your characters are the heart and soul of your story and often, more important than your plot. After you’ve established the basics, focus on relationships between your characters and conflicts that arise from those relationships. (The Sopranos wasn’t pitched as a gangster show, it was pitched as a man - who just so happens to be in the mob - going to therapy to deal with his mother.)

For film, you don’t need to spend as much time on this, as the story is more self-contained and the characters have definite arcs. For television, however, you should go more in depth when talking about potential conflicts that arise. Point to future episodes and character arcs that will happen throughout the seasons. Be specific.

4. Summary/Pilot summary and future episodes. This last step is for TV. After you’ve hinted at future episodes and character arcs, give a brief synopsis of your pilot, your season arc, and future season arcs. Episode examples are great to have as well. Doing this proves 1) your show has “legs,” meaning it can last more than 1 season, 2) it shows you have a clear direction for the show, and 3) it paints a picture of what a typical episode and/or season will look like.

When you’ve finished your pitch, open up the floor to questions! Sometimes you will give the producers a leave behind (one page summary possibly with a mock poster/image on one side), a series bible, or a treatment after the pitch, but not always.

Those are the basics of what goes into a pitch! And don’t forget, you should ALWAYS practice your pitch! Get it down to 5 minutes. Know your story inside and out. Make it fun and engaging.