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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