2024… What a year!

Written By Katie Hatt

Wow… 2024… what a YEAR!! ✨

Just taking the time to reflect on all the amazing opportunities and things that I accomplished in 2024, and I really am quite proud of myself! Here’s a little recap:

January

  • I completed my short Experimental Documentary film ‘Movement: Reclaiming Your Wild’ with Lisa O’Hare

  • I was invited as part of West End Best Friend to film a rehearsal of West End’s ‘Mamma Mia!’ and interviewed the new Skye and Sophie, and created some fun content for YouTube and social media

  • I got back into dancing again, starting a new dance class

  • I began as a volunteer 2D animator on The Norman Show with Mark Adaka and a great team - and started my animation journey!

February

  • As part of my Project Assistant Internship Placement, I assisted in organising and hosting a Management School Careers Fair for students of Lancaster University

  • I went to Leeds to shadow the Video Design team of Multimedia theatre company Imitating the Dog as they were in rehearsal for their adaptation of ‘Frankenstein’

  • I edited together a Showreel for Lancaster University’s Theatre Programme, to be used on the website and at open days.

March

  • I attended a promotional event for the Come From Away UK tour, where I created a lot of video content again for YouTube and social media.

  • I met the theatre legend Ian McKellen backstage at Player Kings in Manchester

  • I attended the Lancaster International Film Festival, where I was invited to be interviewed about my success last year and my trip to Venice International Film Festival, as well as premiering my film ‘Movement: Reclaiming Your Wild’ as a featured film, created by myself and Lisa O’Hare, who is an ambassador for the film festival.

  • I went to my first audition in years and was cast in the Nickelodeon Weekender UK Tour for the second half of my placement year.

April

  • I was in rehearsals for the Nickelodeon Tour most of the month!

  • My students at PQA did their first big show, High School Musical Jr, which I directed. I unfortunately couldn’t be there for the final performance, but from what I did see, I am so proud of them all!

May

  • We has a Stage Combat Masterclass at PQA, which was very interesting and great fun

June

  • I went to see Tom Holland in Romeo and Juliet, produced by the Jamie Lloyd Theatre Company - which was phenomenal!

  • I had 3 tour stops on the Nickelodeon Tour

July

  • I successfully completed my Placement year as part of my degree, but I was lucky enough to be offered more work before I went back to university in October, so I continued working

  • In my free time, I created some showreels and headshots for my performer friends

August

  • I was invited to work at Parkdean Resorts’ flagship park, Trecco bay in Wales, over the summer, where I represented Nickelodeon as well as working with the Parkdean Resort characters and entertainment teams.

  • I started my internship with The Bay International Film Festival as the Assistant Manager

September

  • I finished my tour with Nickelodeon and prepared to return to my studies - it was a great experience to work with Nickelodeon’s fantastic characters and return to my performer roots for a little while!

October

  • I got engaged to the love of my life! 💍💕

  • My Lancaster University Theatre showreel went live on their website

  • I attended PQA training at His Majesty’s Theatre in preparation for our big West End show in October 2025 - where I will be directing the PQA show, ‘Across the Line’

  • I started my final year of university! Which also meant I started working on my practical dissertation project

  • At PQA we created a film with the whole academy involved!

  • I attended London’s Comicon/EGX, where we got interviewed by Niantic/Safe in our World about our journey into video games, particularly Pokemon Go - if you want to read more about our experiences, go to ….

November

  • We were reached out to via our Pokemon TikTok page to create 3 short TikTok adverts for Mattel’s new Pokemon product

  • I won an award with PQA for ‘Outstanding Achievement In Comedy and Drama Teaching’

  • I filmed and created my Contemporary Dance and Visual Arts pieces (short film and solo) ‘Seeing Sea’

  • I worked on improving my animation by creating a few short animations, working on different techniques

  • The bay International Film Festival was in full swing, so I was organising events and workshops, hosting Q&A’s, and managing the hectic schedule and volunteers who helped bring the festival to life. It really was a success and I enjoyed every moment! I also got to screen ‘Movement: Reclaiming Your Wild’ again.

December

  • My students at PQA performed the pantomime I wrote for them, and they did a great job!

  • I made a short experimental film, Kaleidoscope, where I learned a lot of new skills on after effects

  • I began learning 3D animation, Nuke and VFX compositing

  • I am in the process of making some trailers and showreels for Lancaster University’s Contemporary Dance and Visual Arts module

  • I started working on an exciting new animation project with students from New York University as a colourist

I have some exciting things to share with my network in the next couple of weeks too that I have been working on, so watch this space!

2024 was a very successful year, but let’s make 2025 even better! ✨✨

#reflection #newyear #experience #selfimprovement #hardwork #portfoliobuilding

Katie Hatt