The students involved in the project are Grace Dobb and Poppy Vernon, in Year 13, and  Year 12 students, Niamh Lindberg-Stevens, Jocelyn Hoskin Hay, Michael Jagoda and Gabriel Presley.

The BFI Film Academy Plymouth live stream of the work of these emerging filmmakers premiered on Friday, 12 March, but is still available to watch on this link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6p4GU_etFY

Michael said, “In my opinion, the BFI film course is perfect for those who want to become professionals in the film industry.  It allows young content creators to learn so much from many professionals within the industry who lead classes, talking all about cameras, lighting, sound, editing and plenty more!  The course not only gives you incredible knowledge, but also a week of filming, as a group, to create our own films inspired by professional script writers. 

The week of filming involved group work as a team, with assistance from our BFI tutors.  During this week, we had many hours of hands-on time with high end filming equipment and actors on the scene with our prepared scripts.  This gave us the opportunity to create our own short film that had its own actors and story line.  This filming week has given us a real ‘work experience’ that has taught us so much!

Overall, this opportunity has been fantastic!  If you are a young creator considering going into the film industry, this is a huge leap in the right direction. If you are someone that is completely new to filming or has a good foundation of knowledge to build on, this course is just for you.  Once you complete the course there are also many apprenticeships afterwards that you can join and expand your filming passion into a career.  I highly recommend participating in this course.”

Nick Beard, teacher of Film and Media, said, “We are incredibly proud of the hard work and dedication displayed by our students participating in the BFI Academy at the Plymouth College of Art.  They have given up holidays and weekends in difficult circumstances to pursue their passion for their Art.  This year is the first year we have offered Media and Film Studies as an A Level qualification at Ivybridge Community College, and the fact that this has helped inspire these students is extremely gratifying.  These are talented students with great futures ahead of them.”