WRITERS' BIOS

Cara Frost-Sharratt

I'm a freelance writer based in London. I'll sell my key-tapping skills to the highest bidder and have penned articles on everything but the kitchen sink (no hang on, there was something about plumbing sinks a few months ago). However, it's the film writing that actually gets me excited and stops my mind wandering off and thinking about what to cook for dinner.

Talking of dinner, I do like to cook - well, to eat generally. Luckily for me, London has a fair number of decent restaurants and cinemas so I shall be able to indulge my two passions ad infinitum.

I write for a number of websites and magazines and have contributed to books such as 501 Must-See Movies. I’m a sucker for low-budget British indie films. In fact, put Mike Leigh, Shane Meadows and Saul Dibb round my dinner table and I wouldn’t even need to eat out any more.

Kimberly Gadette

A film critic based in the US, Kimberly Gadette glowers at her computer screen while two highly ill-mannered male dogs bicker at her feet. The third male, a handsome husband, usually doesn't bicker ... at least not at her feet.

Having received her MFA from UCLA's TFT (School of Theater, Film and Television), Kimberly's love affair with movies goes all the way back to childhood, when her mother used the local Saturday matinee as a babysitter. (Long before dropping off a child at a movie theater was considered criminally irresponsible. And now, it's simply too late to lock up Mom.) 

Prior to her utter devotion to IndieMovies – with her reviews all linked onto Rotten Tomatoes – Kimberly wrote a novel (still kicking around with her agent), as well as numerous articles entailing politics, sports, travel, dating and dogs ... though it's funny, dogs seldom date. She's been published over 600 times in the last six years – Google if you dare. Feel free to take a wander through her website, kimberlygadette.com, or join her fan page on Facebook (Kimberly Gadette's Film Reviews). Or drop her an email at kimberly@indiemoviesonline.com.

Alex Greenwood

Alex Greenwood was once a political writer and editor in London, but now lives in the frozen wastelands of the North.

There, she spends her days writing acerbic political missives and fiddling with her secret chicken story. She also edits for a bunch of rather nice academics in Leeds, and has a basement full of UHT milk.

Alex watches films for two reasons: first, to experience the story; second, to discover how the screenwriter and director have decided to tell the story. She finds this incredibly interesting, as she is rather obsessed by narrative theory.

She particularly likes fantastical films that operate as metaphors and allegories, and suspects this is a result of her Jim Henson-coloured childhood.

Paul Martin

Paul Martin has been a staff writer at Indiemoviesonline for a year, after working as a regular freelance contributor to the site. His days are now almost exclusively devoted to writing about films, which he thinks is pretty darn neat, and certainly beats the pants, socks and hat off every other job he has previously held. He is also still at the stage of being wryly amused at the Soylent Green-esque population distribution of new home town London, rather than being annoyed at getting an elbow in the ribs or eye-socket every twenty seconds.

Paul has two degrees (count 'em!), from Sheffield Hallam University and University of Wales, Newport, and his three all-time favourite movies are A Matter of Life and Death, Play It Again Sam, and Dr. Strangelove. He maintains a sympathetic disposition towards Liverpool Football Club.

Ben Whyman

I work as an arts editor for Issue One Magazine. I also work at the London College of Fashion (LCF), where I help run Media and Communication courses and teach post-graduate journalism students research skills, fashion history and trend writing.

In between juggling the jobs and study (see below), I go walking in the rural, and urban, environment (beauty can be found in all places, you just need to look a little harder sometimes). I look at art, read (biographies and novels are favourite genres), and watch films from cheesy (John Waters’ Hairspray is a goody) through to drama and comedy. In the 1990s, I once had a thing for Chinese films (Raise the Red Lantern has stuck in my memory), but now I am no longer intransigent on my preferred country of origin.

I have a BA in Art History, a Post-Graduate Diploma in Museum Studies, a Post-Graduate Certificate in Fashion Journalism and I am currently working towards an MA in Fashion Curation at LCF. You could say I was an eternal student. I’m a bit busy too, but I don’t think I would have it any other way. Boredom is a crime in my book.

You can contact me at: ben_whyman2@hotmail.com