The Next Generation Of UK Filmmakers To Hatch Over Easter

The Next Generation Of UK Filmmakers To Hatch Over Easter

LONDON, March 25/PRNewswire/ --

- Budding young filmmakers across the UK to make their first films with National Lottery cash

Young filmmakers across the UK are full of Easter cheer thanks to GBP150,000 of National Lottery funding enabling them to make and star in 32 digital short films, First Light, the UK Film Council's young people's filmmaking initiative, announced today.

First Light enables five to 18 year olds across the UK to make short films under the guidance of professional filmmakers. Young people learn a range of filmmaking skills, including directing, scriptwriting, producing, editing, acting, sound and lighting. First Light also helps to improve their communication and team working skills.

The films cover a wide range of stories including Balti Brothers - A Chapatti Western, a slapstick Western focusing on a turf war between two rival gangs; The Puppet Master, a Twelve Monkeys-style sci-fi thriller about a man whose thoughts and actions are being controlled by 'The Puppet Master' and Sea Spirit, a creative documentary exploring the effect the sea has on a young Cornish surfer's spirituality, taking into consideration the recent tsunami disaster.

Projects in London, Sawbridgeworth (Hertfordshire), Beverley (Yorkshire), Halifax, Huddersfield, Fife, Glasgow, Belfast, West Bromwich, Redhill, St Buryan (Cornwall), Rhondda Cynon Taff (Wales), Hastings, Newton Abbot, Derby and Manchester will all benefit from the Lottery funding.

John Woodward, UK Film Council Chief Executive Officer said, "First Light is testament to the British film industry's desire to involve young people in the excitement and creativity of filmmaking. The UK Film Council is proud to see so many fabulous ideas being turned into accomplished films across the UK and involving children and young people from so many different ethnic and social backgrounds."

Pip Eldridge, First Light Chief Executive Officer said, "It has been a pleasure to allocate funds to this round of filmmaking projects. All of the groups have considered the importance of developing a strong central idea, which makes us very confident about the way the resulting films will turn out."

To date, First Light has enabled over 8,500 young people to work with organisations and filmmakers to write, act, shoot and produce almost 600 films covering a myriad of topics and genres, using low cost digital film technology.

Notes to editors:

1. First Light was launched in May 2001 to fund and inspire the making of short digital films, reflecting the diversity of young people's lives. First Light is an initiative supported by the UK Film Council with Lottery funding and managed by Hi8us First Light Limited.

2. The UK Film Council is the lead agency for film in the UK ensuring that the economic, cultural and educational aspects of film are effectively represented at home and abroad. We invest Government grant-in-aid and Lottery money in film development and production; training; international development and export promotion; distribution and exhibition; and education. Our aim is to deliver lasting benefits to the industry and the public alike through:

- creativity - encouraging the development of new talent, skills, and creative and technological innovation in UK film and assisting new and established film-makers to produce successful and distinctive British films;

- enterprise - supporting the creation and growth of sustainable businesses in the film sector, providing access to finance and helping the UK film industry compete successfully in the domestic and global marketplace;

- imagination - promoting education and an appreciation and enjoyment of cinema by giving UK audiences access to the widest range of UK and international cinema, and by supporting film culture and heritage.

List of funded projects (Round 12)

LONDON

London Borough of Enfield Youth Service, Enfield

A group of 12 young people, aged between eight and 15 years old will create What's On. This comedy animation has been inspired by Creature Comforts and The Royle Family. The script and characters will develop through a series of meetings with the young people that will be recorded to act as the soundtrack. The film will receive a First Light grant of over GBP3,600.

The Red Room, Islington

The film and theatre company will work with 15 young people, aged between 12 and 18 years old. Acclaimed filmmakers with experience of working in the world's most war-torn countries will provide support for a film about the impact of gun crime. The young people will be at risk of becoming involved with gun crime or have already had their lives affected by it. First Light funding for the film is GBP4,000.

Fierce Productions, Brixton

She Got Game and Slam Dunked will be made by a 15-strong group of ten to 18 year olds. The dramas will both have Brixton Topcats Basketball Club as their setting. A First Light grant of GBP20,000 has been allocated to the project.

EAST OF ENGLAND

Youth CREATE, Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire

A grant of GBP4,000 has been offered to the creative charity for young people. It will work with eight young people aged between 15 and 17 years old to make Dis Place. The film will be a creative documentary about young people's feelings towards the places and buildings surrounding them.

YORKSHIRE AND HUMBERSIDE

Blink, Huddersfield

The arts organisation will work with a team of eight young people aged between 12 and 16 years old. The GBP4,000 funding will go towards the production of Skating Where It's Flat, a creative documentary shot from both the skater and the skateboard's view.

Square Chapel Trust, Halifax

The arts centre will work with 32 young people aged between 12 and 16 years old on three film productions. Balti Brothers - A Chapatti Western will be a silent comedy Western, focusing on a turf war between two rival gangs. The Rise and Fall of Hassan Mahmood finds its inspiration from gangster films; it follows the life of a schoolboy who rises from the bullied to the bully. Flies on the Wall will be a 'mockumentary' influenced by the nonsensical works of poet and artist Edward Lear. Over GBP10,000 has been awarded by First Light to these films.

Creative Contexts for Learning - East Riding of Yorkshire School Improvement Service, Beverley, Yorkshire

Three films will receive a combined grant of GBP18,000, benefiting 60 young people aged between eight and 16 years old. The Future's Rubbish will be a live action / animation about what might happen if the world continues to neglect the benefits of recycling. No Bottle is another live action / animation with an environmental theme. This film follows the journey of two bottles and their very different fates. Telling Tales will be a mixed media animation that takes its inspiration from African folktales and will explore issues surrounding good and evil.

SCOTLAND

Cupar Youth Café, Fife

The Dark will be made by a 25-strong group of 12 to 16 year olds. The drama will follow the story of young person struggling to settle in a new town. First Light funding for the film is GBP4,000.

Starfish Castings Limited, Glasgow

A group of eight young people aged between 12 and 16 years old will produce the live action documentary Govan Magical Mystery Tour. The protagonists will take a 'magical' tour around their community, hoping to change a few pre-conceptions. Over GBP3,800 has been awarded to the project.

NORTHERN IRELAND

The National Deaf Children's Society, Belfast

Laughing Out Loud will be created by 15 young deaf people aged between 13 to 18 years old. The comedy, which will receive a grant of GBP4,000, shall be shot in a BBC studio.

WEST MIDLANDS

The Public, West Bromwich

The community arts organisation will work with a team of eight young people aged between 14 and 18 year olds. BAFTA Short Film Showcase nominated filmmakers desperate optimists will provide the support on the documentary Civic Senses. The film, which has been awarded GBP4,000, will focus on life in a specific district of West Bromwich.

SOUTH EAST

Slant Community Services, Surrey

Guardian Angel will be an experimental film made by a 15-strong team of 15 to 17 year olds. The film, which will receive a grant of GBP3,300, will be a visual exploration of a near death experience faced by the main character.

Eyeline Productions, Hastings

First Light has offered a grant of over GBP16,600 to make three films. Both Incoming and Present will be made by seven 14 to 18 year olds. Many of the filmmakers have refugee status. The two groups will join together to make a third film Ongoing.

SOUTH WEST

The Nancherrow Centre, St Buryan, Cornwall

The arts / music organisation will work with a 15-strong team of 14 to 18 year olds. Using their GBP4,000 grant, the filmmakers will create the creative documentary Sea Spirit. The film will explore the effect the sea has on a young Cornish surfer's spirituality. The film will also uncover how these feelings have changed since the recent tsunami disaster.

Coombeshead College, Newton Abbot

Having previously produced First Light film Talisman, the college will now work with 39 young people aged between six and 18 years old on two films. Breaking the Myth will be a docu-drama, following the life of a character from infancy to an eventual suspension from school. Street Rat, a drama featuring animated sequences, was developed by a 13 year old girl. The story focuses on a homeless girl and her baby brother searching for their mother. The funding for the two films is almost GBP15,500.

WALES

Bryncynon Strategy, Rhondda Cynon Taff

The Morning After will be a gritty drama made by ten 11 to 17 year olds. The film tells the story of four boys who awake on a mountain top, recalling the harrowing events of the night before. The community development group received GBP4,000 funding.

EAST MIDLANDS

Mediaworks Trust, Derby

Almost GBP20,000 has been granted to the community digital video organisation to work with 55 young people aged between ten and 18 years old. The first of the four films made under this project, Power and Powerless, will be a domestic drama about a boy living with aggressive parents. The urban drama Choices looks at the choices in life a young offender can have. Charles Dickens's novel Great Expectations provides the inspiration for Young Expectations; the young filmmakers will take aspects from the book and compare them to modern-day life. The Lost Ones will be a horror spoof, following an ill-fated group of young people who encounter fairies in the forest.

NORTH WEST

Cornerhouse, Manchester

The centre for contemporary visual arts and film will receive a grant of GBP20,000 to work on four films with 48 young people. The first of the films that the 14 to 18 year olds will work on is The Clothes Horse, where a boy enters a fantasy world through a den he has made in his bedroom. The Puppet Master will be a Twelve Monkeys-style sci-fi thriller about a man whose thoughts and actions are being controlled by 'The Puppet Master.' The comedy fantasy Tea Leaf is about a café waitress who fantasizes about her regulars' private lives. Every Street Dreams will be an animated documentary about dreams.

http://www.firstlightmovies.com http://www.ukfilmcouncil.org

Source: UK Film Council

Keith Gabriel, First Light, Tel: +0121-693-2094, Mobile: +07958-985-395, press@firstlightmovies.com ,www.firstlightmovies.com; Ian Thomson, UK Film Council, Tel: +020-7861-7901, Mobile: +07909-685077, press@ukfilmcouncil.org.uk, www.ukfilmcouncil.org

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