Young Accrington filmmakers win lottery cash (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Young Accrington filmmakers win lottery cash

3:06pm Sunday 15th July 2012 in News

YOUNG filmmakers are celebrating scooping lottery cash to turn their own ideas into own short films.

The youngsters, aged between 12 and 15, have been awarded £20,000 to work with professional filmmakers on short films in a scheme to be co-ordinated by Accrington filmmaking project Rowbot Street.

The Accrington filmmakers have already worked on a number of projects, making films about the area’s mill heritage and the Accrington Pals.

But the group is keen to develop their skills and ideas through bigger and better projects assisted by professional filmmakers.

The young people’s film ideas range from a modern silent movie where a man wakes up in a busy city to find he cannot speak, to a fantasy exploring the notion of greed.

The backing for these ideas came from national group First Light, which helps young people from all backgrounds develop their skills, talent, creativity and confidence by providing opportunities for young people to work with industry professionals.

Dan Rowbothan, of the Rowbot Street project, said: “This will give young people the chance to gain experience working with people in professional roles within production and hopefully give them ideas about other jobs that are out there.

“We will be working with youngsters aged from around 12 to 15 and it will be a great chance for them to get hands on experience.”

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

Chief executive officer Leigh Thomas said she was impressed by the quality of the latest film ideas.

She said: “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.”