JL : You are a prolific writer. Can you tell us how many things you've written.

 

JW : Since 2012 I have written 29 books, six short films and 3 features. 

 

JL : That's impressive! What got you into writing in the first place. 

 

JW : The catalyst was my dad dying. It made me want to pursue my childhood dream. I left school at 14, with my parents support, because I was bored and just wanted to write for a living. When I was a child I went through the Yellow Pages to find film producers and sent my scripts off. One of them replied, saying never give up. I felt I owed it to myself and my dad's memory to write full-time.

 

JL : What is the significance of your first book. 

 

JW : My first book was ONE FOUR THREE and you could say I wrote it as part of the grieving process for my dad. I've since tuned it into a feature film. We've just finished it. 

 

JL : Have you always wanted to write and direct a feature film. 

 

JW : I wanted to turn short stories into short films but although I wrote them, I didn't direct the first few short films. Then I co-directed IN HER PLACE with Lisa Frederickson. It was overwhelming at first but I got bit by the directing bug. 

 

JL : How do you fund your movies.

 

JW : My wife Alex gave up her job as a scientist to become the full-time producer on all our films and I have to say, things wouldn't have happened without her. We both decided to make choices and sacrifices in order to get our stories told and just as I decided to self-publish, we decided to self-fund our films. Instead of going on holiday we'll make a short movie. We get a lot of support from our friends and family. I've used my sister's flat as a location in more than one movie :) 

 

JL : You tend to cast the same actresses. How did this come about.

 

JW : I have cast Ella McCready in all of my shorts as I think she's a sensational actress but more than that I find her really inpsiring to write for so in a way she's my muse. Similarly I have cast Elouise Shakespeare-Hart a few times. She's in both THE LOVE LETTER and IN HER PLACE. They were the perfect actors to play the main characters in ONE FOR THREE, the feature film. In fact Ella has written and recorded the ONE FOUR THREE theme tune, which has won every award it's been entered for! 

 

JL : What is next for Jade Winters/WICKED WINTERS

 

JW : We've just produced two short films and I've written two new features which we are filming next year. Plus we have the launch of ONE FOUR THREE to look forward. It's going to be non-stop from now on! 

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