Introducing Mark and Thrive LDN's TikTok takeover

Hello London! (And the rest of the world, perhaps),

My name is Mark, short for “Mark-Aniel”, and I am currently taking over Thrive LDN’s TikTok account through my internship with Inside Job Productions.

@thriveldn hey every1, i’m mark and i’m taking over the thrive ldn tiktok!! i’m an intern pls be nice 2 me 😓😓 #ThriveLDN ♬ Dance You Outta My Head – Cat Janice

I’m a 22 year old Gen Z person, so I am very much an avid user of TikTok and have been for years. It’s almost embarrassing checking my screen time and seeing how much of my time I spend on TikTok.

Yet, it’s where I keep up with news and pop culture but most importantly, I believe it’s a great place to share your creativity with a wider audience and gain inspiration for your future projects. It’s definitely somewhere I look to for creative ideas as well as being able to ascertain what people would be interested in seeing.

Since beginning this internship, I’ve been trained in filming and editing and was able to be a part of Great Mental Health Day 2024. It was an amazing day with so much to do such as Walk Talk Walk, the Connections short film screening, as well as checking out The Charterhouse and I’m so glad to have been a part of it.

I can’t wait to be a part of other future events that Thrive LDN has in store!

I’d like to think I’m on my own mental wellbeing journey with this internship. Whilst I’m learning more about other people’s experiences with their own mental health, I at the same time am trying to figure out my relationship with it as I’m definitely not shy of having a bad day – or week – or month.

As of July 2023, I am a graduate of The University of the Arts, London after studying film practice for the last 3 years. My interests have always swayed towards editing and cinematography but, I’ve previously worked on a few student short films as a production designer and my last project was in October as a lead production designer for a friend’s short film reshoots.

However, I’ve always loved music videos and short form content created for social media, such as YouTube. I’ve been using social media since I was 12 and have definitely found my interests in making niche content for specific audiences, such as anime or random celebrity couples. I’d like to think that I know how to get an audience interested and so I hope to use this knowledge for a greater purpose.

With the content I will eventually post on TikTok, I want people to be able to relate to me or to anyone else that may be featured in my videos. As someone who’s part of the LGBT+ community, I aim to hopefully work with groups that support gay and trans people in London. Being gay and an immigrant is a large part of who I am and London is where I can be truest to myself.

So, London has and always will have a special place in my heart as it was the first place I called home when moving to the UK. It was where I learnt to speak English and made my first friends and was able to find who I am despite the obstacles along the way. I hope to share this connection I have with other Londoners.

If you’d like to check out the Thrive LDN TikTok account, I’ll see you there.