Helena and Fletchy

Saturday has started early and I am blipping in the morning. Da-daa!

Fletchy (Helen Fletcher, seen here on the right) rang earlier this week to tell us she was coming for breakfast today, as she would be on her way to a memorial service in Oxford and was staying overnight near us in Stroud.

We haven't seen each other for many months, nor talked much, which is unusual. She lives in Milverton in Somerset now, with her two boys who are now teenagers, and I don't seem to get down that way as often as I used to. I met Helen at a Christmas party about 24 years ago, when she came with her then boyfriend who was a friend of mine. Soon after I gave her her first job as a Runner in the film business, when I was working on a Debbie Harry video. She was good fun and very good at her work. It wasn't too long before she was directing television programmes.

We have been working together off and on ever since, (more off now than on), mostly in the non-broadcast world. We are like most freelancers who have to do whatever work we can find, spreading our wings regularly and trying to fly in new territory. As Helen mentioned this morning, we are much better placed to cope with the modern world of short-term employment, as we have been doing it all our working lives. The stress of working in such conditions is likely to create a lot of worry for those who have previously been used to regular employment.

Helena and I will go and visit Fletchy soon and combine it with a visit to the seaside, possibly to friends in North Cornwall. Meanwhile I have got to pitch for a new job this week, and Helen has to finish editing her latest client's video. I wish we could work together more often, as I certainly feel that making moving pictures is what I can do best. I am proud of a job we did together in 1996, when we made a film that was shown at the 50th Anniversary of the First UN General Assembly in London, celebrating its history and achievements. It was done on a wing and a prayer, and Helen had just become pregnant with Oscar, her first child.

Today we had a quick breakfast whilst we chatted and exchanged news. But that is much better than nothing. Friends are very important and Helen was off to celebrate the life of her old friend, who has recently died aged only 42, which is very sobering. An hour later at 10-15am, I grabbed this shot and Fletchy then drove away.