Spencer Hawken
Bio
A multi-award nominated filmmaker with a passion for travel, film, finance and social media.
Stories (31/0)
How much do you need to retire in the UK
So, I should begin with an apology, unfortunately this article is geared towards people in the United Kingdom. Unfortunately, the rates and variation of other countries are just too big a task for my tiny brain to figure out what it is that you need to retire in other countries.
By Spencer Hawken2 years ago in Lifehack
How to enjoy Venice more
How can you enjoy Venice more? Well for a start you can embrace the fact that Venice isn't just one island and I know this sounds silly but many a confused over exactly how big Venice is, the main island of Venice which contains Saint Marks Square is just one of around 100 small islands in a lagoon that sit in the Adriatic Sea. Many can go to Venice literally only embracing the main island thinking that all those other islands that they passed on their arrival are really nothing very much to do with Venice at all, but the magic of Venice is stepping out of your comfort zone taking a walk off the beaten track so to speak and venturing to some of the other islands. The other thing of course is that you could actually look on the main island, beneath the surface are some true marvels. Why am I for writing this because for many years now I've been returning to Venice amazed by the magnitude of this giant external museum and people saying to me “why do you keep going back to Venice, it's rubbish I've been there there's nothing to do there's nowhere to take your kids it's just only suitable for you know romantic couples” but Venice is far from just a place for romance.
By Spencer Hawken2 years ago in Wander
Tips to get your film to distribution
If you are an independent filmmaker there are serious things that you need to consider that are beyond the boundaries of just making a film, better still of course making a good film. And that is the art of movie marketing. The danger of all filmmakers is the ability to do one but not the other, in those fledging years you need to have skills in both. If you are a new filmmaker, finding your way in the world, getting that all important distribution deal is a challenge you really need to think about from the offset. Every filmmaker knows their vision and assume much will just follow naturally, the chances are a million to one however, and this is a painful element that means that most filmmakers will only ever make one film. Here are my top tips to getting your film to distribution.
By Spencer Hawken2 years ago in Geeks
How to get attention to your film
It’s a sad fact of filmmaking, but almost 75% of filmmakers I have encountered in my life have no idea how to treat their film when its finished. How to get it seen, how to build an audience. Distribution is another country, a topic I will discuss in a later post. The biggest issue with this is that as a result, that same 75% of filmmakers have also not budgeted for it. So here are my top tips to get your film noticed.
By Spencer Hawken2 years ago in Geeks
Why people Troll
Until about 6 months ago, I honestly believed that trolling was something that happened to the youth. At 47 years old I’d travelled my life without harassment or bullying, but then out of the blue a hate campaign began, and it took me completely by surprise
By Spencer Hawken2 years ago in Humans
Dude where’s my hashtag
I first wrote a variation of this article on the now defunct Triond back around 2002, it was one of my most regularly read articles, a bare minimum of one-thousand five hundred people made the search each and every, month and for the duration of Triond’s life earned me enough money each month to buy a loaf of bread and maybe a little more omen a good month, not bad really for something that took me only a few minvites to write, when Triond closed down some years later the article I had written had been read over 3 million times. Surprisingly, while the article is long gone as is Triond, I discovered only yesterday that Apple Mac users are still stumbling upon this issue some 19 years later, it’s still one of the largest used Apple Mac search references, according to Google anyway, so who am I to argue?
By Spencer Hawken2 years ago in Lifehack
How to Hashtag on Instagram Like a Pro
You can barely go a day now without hearing the term Hashtag, its impacts on any aspect of social media, none more so however than on Instagram. For many, the term Hashtag fills them with dread, but it’s not as difficult as it seems. The secret in the words of an old British TV Show Host, Roy Walker for the show Catchphrase “Say what you see!” and this is the strength of Hashtagging its about saying what you see.
By Spencer Hawken2 years ago in Lifehack
Ten tips to grow your Instagram following for free
For many the purpose of using Instagram is not to just share their life experiences with friend and family, it’s to raise their profile, whether it be to promote themselves, or a product or service. So how do you grow your following without turning posts into adverts by putting money behind them, or “buying followers or likes”? Here are ten keys to success.
By Spencer Hawken2 years ago in Journal
Why fake followers could be killing your Instagram
So you're reading this because you have an Instagram account and possibly you've been considering acquiring some fake followers or some people have followed you and don't quite engage with you. If you are trying to gain new followers, whether it’s due to promotion, or simply to form new friendships, over the next few paragraphs, I'm going to explain to you why fake followers are going to damage your Instagram reputation and what you should do to stop it.
By Spencer Hawken2 years ago in Geeks
The Story Of Disney's Lost Generation
It's hard to believe now but for a period of about 15 years Walt Disney pictures had a lost generation. What's even stranger looking at the conglomerate that Disney has become that only 30 years ago Disney was in terrible trouble.
By Spencer Hawken2 years ago in Geeks
Line Of Duty seems familiar? Heres why
In 2012 UK audiences awoke to the world of Line of Duty, what initially was a one series wonder turned into a massive franchise that has spread until the present selling across the world. The series surrounds The Dirty world of corrupt police officers. headed up by Martin Compston playing Steve Arnott, Vicky McClure who plays Kate Fleming and Adrian Dunbar who plays Ted Hastings each series sees Fleming ,Arnott and Hastings tackling a brand new series of police officers and detectives who need investigation for failures of judgement or committing atrocious crimes. This slow burn thriller from the BBC has been slowly growing audiences with each new series, but the BBC is no stranger to this sort of drama and it’s been perfecting the art for many years, while Line of Duty has been praised for its accuracy and grittiness you have to go back to 1992 to see something far more sinister.
By Spencer Hawken2 years ago in Geeks
Why Italy is the safest place for Coeliacs
When you're diagnosed with coeliac disease it can feel like one of the worst things in the world, especially when it comes to the consideration of travel and the inconvenience of going to places that may seem alien to you, where you may be forced to adapt to eating in a different way. A prime example of this is going to a hotel and having to eat from a buffet or being invited round to friends, these are all big, big fears for coeliacs.
By Spencer Hawken2 years ago in Feast
