Dear Readers,

As many of you know I have a blog, Birthday Twin Central, where I match people who share the exact birthday (month, day, and year).

A few weeks ago I received an email from a Brighton Film School Student about his idea of making a documentary based on the similar characteristics of those born on the same day or same month. The concept of how our birthday might affect our lives more than we know intrigues me.

Since I believe this topic to be an interesting and important one I have interviewed him….

Please tell the readers about yourself

My name is Nicholas Bayfield and I’m a student at Brighton Film School (United Kingdom) who is in my third year, studying for a Degree. Since studying there, I’ve undertaken roles such as Sound Recordist and Location Manager, of which I enjoyed the latter the most.

I had an interest in Film and Television since a very young age, watching television endlessly, which I would say was my main home entertainment.

I really started to take interest with Film & TV as career when I was about 13 and I’ve been lucky enough to get in touch and meet people in the world of Film & Television. Those people include Prolific James Bond Director John Glen, who was responsible for directing all five Bond movies of the 1980’s. I’ve also got in touch and still am with Writer/Director Kenneth Johnson, who was responsible for creating the 1970’s TV Series of Marvel’s The Incredible Hulk, a show that I loved as a kid.

One film that I’ve really admired that not many people would have heard of is a movie called Pure Race (1995), directed by Rocco DeVilliers, who I would say is very underrated. It’s a film that was achieved mainly by a one-man crew and it’s an action film made for very little money, which is really impressive, especially as Rocco does the stunts himself. I highly recommend it.

In the summer of 2014, I had the opportunity to do work experience at a TV Company called Ricochet, who is responsible for the TV Programme Supernanny. I was working on an upcoming TV Programme called Channel Patrol and my time there was mainly researching stories. My high point was discovering the breaking news story of the Eastbourne Pier on fire, which made it into the Programme!!!

From what you have told me, you are in the process of researching for a documentary you are planning to make titled, September Sky. Would you please describe for us what this movie will be about?

Basically it’s an insight into how our birthday could play a factor with our lives and why, such as our chosen career, health and education. It also explores how people born on similar days of the year may share things in common.

How did you become interested in this particular topic?

The idea for the documentary ‘September Sky’ came around I suppose from having a superstition that people born in September are lucky. Also I was fascinated with celebrities who shared my birthday, which is September 26th. Those celebrities include Olivia Newton-John (Grease, 1978), Christina Milian (Singer), Serena Williams (Tennis Player), Lilly Singh (Youtuber) and Nev Schulman (MTV’s Catfish).

It was probably around December 31st 2015 when I was surfing about my birthday that I suddenly came across an article from the Metro called ‘How Popular is Your Birthday?’ So I ended up reading it and discovered that September 26th was the most popular birthday in England and Wales during the last two decades, according to the Office For National Statistics, which really intrigued me. I’ve attached the article link below, if you’re interested in reading it.

How popular is your birthday? This graphic will tell you

Later on, I read another similar article from The Daily Telegraph (which I’ve also attached) and they stated that people born in September are more likely to be successful in education, sports and career, which led me to think about my life so far. In addition, seeing other articles like how your birthday month could decide on your chosen career and health.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/12058134/How-popular-is-your-birthday.html

So this gave me the thought that this could be something scientific to explore as a short documentary and could also be a very intriguing concept too. Although I would partly focus on the month of September and my birthday, I am also interested to find out why people born in September are perhaps likely to have better chances of success.

I was very excited about a documentary perhaps being made about it and seeing it as something like Sky 1’s Brainiac Science Abuse, a British TV Series.

What is the importance of this documentary?

I think this is a subject worth exploring that’s important to our society, as our birthday seems to perhaps play a factor with our behavior, the way we go through life and our future plans. I came across an interesting article stating that men born from November to January are more likely to be left handed. So you wonder why? How?

Additionally I saw one article stating that people who are born in July are likely to be artists, train drivers and bricklayers.

Furthermore I’ve read that people born in autumn are more likely to live up to the age of 100. My Grandad was born in October and he made it to 100 in 2012. So what is that saying?

Also I remember someone from secondary school that was born on September 25th and he was a straight-A student. I remember his predicted and target grades from his school report were A’s and A*’s and you must think that there must be something significant about that. Plus if September born people are likely to do well in education, then what exactly is triggering that?

Is there anything the readers can do to help you with your research?

Yes, at the moment I’m looking for anyone born in September to take part in a questionnaire as research. It’s an ongoing survey and you can find out more information on the September Sky Facebook page, if you’re interested.

I also hope to create a possible crowd funding campaign in the summer to get a crew together and in preparation for when making the documentary. So watch this space.

I’ve got support from my Film School with crew and resources, which I’m planning to use for possible upcoming interviews in June. But after that, that’s when I need to plan.

What are your future goals?

With September Sky, I hope to interview a celebrity who shares my birthday. It’s been a hit or miss situation at the moment, but it looks like I’ll be interviewing one or more.

At the moment, I’ll be finishing Film School in June and I’ll be pursuing work opportunities. I might perhaps collaborate with a local TV Company to help bring this project further to life.

I might like to continue with my role as Location Manager, as I’ve been working on a few student shorts, but I would need to learn to drive to increase further opportunities. I’ve attached my Location website, if you’re interested with what I’ve done so far.

http://nicholasbayfieldlocation.weebly.com

Any last words?

Thank you for your interest in my film and your support. I’d be happy to be interviewed again when the documentary further develops. Please feel free to like the September Sky Facebook Page and also follow on Twitter, to keep up to date with what’s happening.

September Sky Facebook Page
September Sky Twitter Page

If you would like to get in contact, you can email me at nicholasbayfield@sky.com.

Nicholas, I am sure that after reading this interview that I will not be the only one interested in the developments and release of September Sky. I would absolutely be willing to interview you again, just let me know. Wishing you much success in not only this endeavor, but also all those that follow! Thank you for allowing me to interview you.