Forty at Forty Film

To all the wonderful ‘Forty at Forty’ supporters. Apologies that I’ve not been in touch for a while. On reflection, I’ve decided to make ‘Fifty at Fifty’. Just joking! Although at this rate… Nope. I’ve been busy working on a Channel 4 series called ‘Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins’. It starts Sunday 4 September. Please tune in!

But back to why we’re all here. I’m now working again on ‘Forty at Forty’ and I’ve realised that I forgot to let you know how the joint 40th party went for all the women born 27 April 1982. It was total mayhem and madness and utterly exhausting to film… but also beautiful and brilliant and a whole lot of fun. ‘Birthday Twins’ came from all over for the event and shared their life experiences, bonding over similarities and curious about their differences. I got so many nice messages from the women after. Here are just a few:

'It was soooooo good '

'Thank you so much for today - very surreal but very pleased I stepped way out of my comfort zone to come along. Was really nice meeting everyone and would be lovely to stay in touch. You pulled it off '

'It was a brilliant weekend, will live with me for the rest of my life, a fab way to celebrate 40.
Carlisle to London £32.75
London to Carlisle £44.90'

Oh wait. You weren’t meant to see that last bit! But I’m glad you did as it’s a useful reminder that none of this would have been possible without your help. Your support helped with the location fee, catering costs and, uhhh, cost of a Carlisle to London return.

Helping to keep costs down was Christie Patel at Sony. Christie is championing this project and lent us a massive amount of kit.

And then there was the incredible all-female crew (and Sam, above). Shooters, producers, sound recordist and runners… everyone working as a favour.

But just in case you think your hard-earned money has gone towards me throwing a fun party for myself (I promise Mr. Holmes, this isn’t the case. I mean, it is sort of the case…), there really was a higher purpose. It was a great opportunity to explore what this milestone means to each ‘birthday twin’, as part of this mad-capped portrait of what it’s like to be a woman turning 40 in 2022.

Your money is now helping me to finish any outstanding filming and to prep the footage for an edit. I can assure you that this bit does not feel like a party! I may go quiet for a little while but I promise to give you a shout with news of any progress. If you’d like to hear from me sooner, please do get in touch.

Thank you, again. I’m incredibly grateful for your support. I'm hoping it isn’t too long before the film is completed and I’ll be inviting you to watch it.

Big love.
Rach x