72 young folk get film roles

The young people from Londonderry will benefit from thousands of pounds of funding to produce their own short films, working alongside professional filmmakers.

The project is being run by First Light - a nationwide organisation based in Birmingham - which helps young people, from all backgrounds develop their skills, talent, creativity and confidence by providing opportunities for them to work with industry professionals on high quality youth led digital media projects.

First Light distributes £1.1 million of National Lottery money, through BFI funding as part of the ‘Young Film Fund’, each year.

As a result of their creative and inventive ideas, 72 young people aged between 13 and 17 have been awarded £22,400 to work with professional filmmakers on short films, in a project co-ordinated by Ambient Light Productions.

The young participants, have been identified through the Enagh Youth Forum. They have not had access to such an opportunity before and are eager to be involved in all aspects of the process, including screening their films to both the local community and a wider audience.

The young people will make three films, and ideas range from a horror story based on local legends to a drama about a Catholic and Protestant who fall in love, despite their family’s disapproval. The young people will have the support of professionals to transform these ideas into quality films.

First Light places the young people at the heart of the creative process and as a result, all the ideas must come directly from them. They will be involved with every aspect of the production process from drawing storyboards and writing the scripts to directing and lighting the films alongside industry professionals.

First Light CEO, Leigh Thomas is impressed by the quality of the latest film ideas and says: “First Light gives young people, from all over the UK, a voice through which to share their ideas and tackle issues relevant to them. By working with professional filmmakers they are able to produce high quality films which they can be proud of.”