Supporting future film makers through the Film Chelt Academy
Supporting future film makers through the Film Chelt Academy
Film Chelt Academy
The team behind Cheltenham’s new independent film festival, being held this October, is not just dedicated to bringing an exciting programme of film to Gloucestershire, but to supporting young talent to take their first steps towards becoming the future stars of British film making.
FilmCheltAcademy is working with Cheltenham schools, the University of Gloucestershire and the Cheltenham Education Partnership, to provide opportunities for young film makers to attend workshops and masterclasses with film professionals from a range of disciplines within the industry. Through these sessions students learn from current filmmakers, gaining skills to help them to forge careers in the film industry.
The FilmChelt team, the charity behind the film festival, is committed to building a network of schools, working with FilmCheltAcademy and the education partnership, to provide opportunities for a creative career in film making to as many young people as possible. These opportunities take in a wide range of disciplines from acting, producing and directing, screen writing, set design and build, make-up and hair, to lighting and music production, camera work and editing.
Film studies students from Cheltenham’s Bournside School, who attended a FilmCheltAcademy masterclass spoke about the positive impact it has had on them.
Emily Keene attended a masterclass focusing on film production and said: “It was particularly interesting to see how to brainstorm ideas, and I aspire to take that as inspiration for my own short film.”
Emily Wilkin has two short films in pre-production and said she had gained valuable insight from learning more about the details of production and the logistics of filming a TV series or film.
Michael Ratcliffe, chair of the FilmChelt board of trustees, said: “Inspiring and supporting young talent through FilmCheltAcademy is something we are deeply committed to at Cheltenham Film Festival.
We recognise there is a host of young talent out there and working to identify, encourage, support and nurture students to build successful careers in film, and film making, is a key part of what Cheltenham Film Festival is all about. We are pleased to be providing the first platform for these students to showcase their work in public by hosting this special screening night during this year’s festival. We are proud that the work of the next generation of film makers will feature as part of the new Cheltenham Film Festival, with specially selected films being screened.
“We know how much it will mean to the students to see their work screened to an audience. We look forward to following their careers with interest, and maybe FilmCheltAcademy will have helped a future Oscar winner with their first steps into the industry.”
