Jan 27
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Teen Banbridge film critic interviews Sir Sam Mendes, director of 1917

By | Creative Industries, Film, General, News, Newsroom

A teenage Northern Ireland film critic has interviewed Sir Sam Mendes, director of the Oscar and BAFTA nominated and Golden Globe-winning First World War epic 1917, thanks to film education charity Into Film.

Kasper Andreasen, 15, from Banbridge was given the opportunity to interview Sir Sam Mendes, whose other credits include Skyfall and American Beauty, after joining the two-year Into Film Young Reporter Programme.

It was announced today that 1917 has received ten Oscar nominations including Best Picture and Best Director. Last week it won best Motion Picture, Drama and Best Director for Mendes at the Golden Globes ceremony, the first major event of the awards season and has been nominated for nine BAFTAs.

After attending a press screening in Dublin in early December, Kasper and his mum flew to London for the 1917 press junket. His first interviews were with the young stars of the movie, Dean Charles Chapman and George Mackay.

He said: “I think they were surprised at my age and that it was my very first interview, but they really put me at ease and the interview flowed. Next up, I had the pleasure of interviewing the director, Sir Sam Mendes. Throughout the interview, he was very funny and relaxed and shared with me that he had a son my age. I did make sure to compliment one of the final shots of the film which he was very pleased to hear.”

He also interviewed screenwriter Krysty Wilson-Cairns, who has been Oscar nominated along with Mendes for Best Original Screenplay and legendary cinematographer Roger Deakins, who has been nominated for both the Oscars on February 9 and BAFTAs on February 2.

“I’m totally in awe of this man’s talent and he definitely didn’t disappoint. I’m very privileged to have been a part of this assignment, especially now that this movie is winning so many awards. Clearly my verdict of the film wasn’t wrong. Please check out my review, I gave it five stars,” he added.

Kasper, who wants to follow a career in acting, journalism or film, was accepted on the Into Film young reporter programme after sending the charity a vlog on his favourite war film, ‘The Pianist’. He was called to audition for a place during the summer.

Into Film is a UK-wide organisation with a regional hub in Northern Ireland, which aims to put film at the heart of children and young people’s education, helping to support their academic, cultural, and social development.

Its Young Reporter Programme gives young people opportunities to develop their film reporting and reviewing skills, receive media training and attend exclusive behind-the-scenes events.

To view Kasper’s interviews with the cast and crew of 1917 go to these Get Into Film YouTube links https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoRZtaWgWPg&feature=youtu.be and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMG7lTvLLUI&feature=youtu.be

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Jan 27
0

CIM Ireland launches Marketing Live

By | Business, Corporate, General, News, Newsroom

The Chartered Institute of Marketing in Ireland has announced the launch of its 2020 awards with a new format and a renewed focus on ensuring the event delivers a valuable learning opportunity for the marketing community in Ireland.

The new event called ‘Marketing Live’ will take place in May 2020 at a venue to be confirmed in the New Year. The new format sees a move away from the conventional black-tie awards dinner and instead includes a one-day conference divided into eight sessions. Each session will focus on a different ‘awards category’ with a keynote speaker and award-winning case studies.

“The CIM Ireland Awards has always been the main event in our calendar and we felt it was time that we reviewed the format of the event to ensure that it not only recognised the excellent work being done by organisations and agencies across Ireland but also provided delegates with an opportunity to learn more about what a winning campaign looks like,” explains Chair of CIM Ireland, Eileen Curry.

The new event will see a host of changes from previous CIM Ireland Awards events.

This year will see eight award categories available to enter:

  1. Best Use of Digital Marketing
  2. Best Integrated Campaign
  3. Best Brand Building Campaign
  4. Best Use of Data & Insight
  5. Best Use of Social Media & Influencer Marketing
  6. Best Customer Experience
  7. Best Corporate Social Responsibility
  8. Best Partnership Marketing Campaign

There has also been a change to the awards application process – with all entrants being asked to submit a ten-minute audio PowerPoint presentation. This has been done to ensure a level playing field for all entries and ensures that those who are lucky enough to be on the shortlist for the awards are prepared for the new awards format.

“We received feedback from previous awards that while it was great to see who had won each category there was no opportunity to find out more about the winning campaigns. This is something that we’ve sought to address with the new format,” explains Peter Craven, the CIM Ireland board’s Education Ambassador and a member of the Marketing Live project team.

“All shortlisted entries must be ready to present details of their winning campaign at the Marketing Live event. We’ve added a bit of theatre to the event format with all shortlisted companies being invited to the stage and once the winner is revealed they will have the opportunity to deliver the presentation that formed the basis of their award entry.”

The Marketing Live 2020 delegates will have the opportunity to learn more about the other shortlisted campaigns in a new ‘Inspiration Zone’, where all shortlisted entries will be available to view on interactive screens.

The event will also feature a ‘Learning Zone’ where delegates can meet with representatives from the four accredited CIM study centres in Ireland – North West School of Marketing, Belfast Academy of Marketing, Belfast Met and Sand Marketing Academy.

“In the fast-moving world that we now inhabit, a focus on lifelong learning is essential in order that we continue to deliver the best results for the organisations that we work for,” says Marian Norwood, Founder of North West School of Marketing and a member of the CIM Ireland Board. “This new event format not only gives winning campaigns the recognition that they deserve, it also ensures that the wider marketing community benefits from the huge learning opportunity that Marketing Live 2020 provides.”

The deadline for entry to the CIM Ireland Awards is Friday 7th February 2020. The awards website is at: https://www.cim.co.uk/events/ireland-marketing-awards/

Further details on the date and location for the event will be published early in 2020.

ENDS

Jan 27
0

Film Student ‘Dream Team’ create their own graduate programme

By | Business, Creative Industries, General, News, Newsroom

What do you do when your course is finished but you want to continue learning and developing with your classmates? Get together and create your own specially tailored graduate programme.

That’s exactly what the 12 members of the HND class of 2019 at the Northern Ireland Film and Television School at SERC did.

The students completed the HND in June but loved working together so much that they designed the NIFTS Graduate Filmmaking Course themselves and persuaded the college to help them continue to learn.

Now the entire class has been honoured in the NI Creative and Cultural Skills Awards winning the student of the year award, the first time a whole class has won this accolade.

The NI Creative & Cultural Skills Awards celebrate the outstanding work of young people in the creative industries and those from industry and education who help them along the way.

Sarah Jones of Creative & Cultural Skills NI explained: “As a class they went over and above in their dedication to learn and develop industry engagement and collaborate to deliver work that would not have been possible individually.”

The students are now attending an evening graduate course in addition to their industry work commitments. For NIFTS Course Coordinator Alison Thompson this class was a dream team.  “These are a phenomenal group of students. Collectively their commitment to learn and their drive to succeed in the industry is staggering. They formed their own production company within the course set-up and constantly booked the kit out, crewing alongside each other on client shoots and projects.”

The students – Marc McCabe, Robbie Coey, John Lennox, Josh Bell, Antonia Cowan, Jane McLaughlin, Lee Seales, Chris Mills, Stephen Parker, Rebecca Harrison, Colin Bloomer and Samantha Davies – come from all over Northern Ireland to study at SERC. And Samantha Davies has travelled from far flung Melbourne, Australia. The former cinema manager dreamt of making movies but found the course in Australia too expensive. With family in Northern Ireland, she decided to come to the NI Film & Television School at SERC to do the course.

The classmates have gone on to land some great work on programmes including Frontline Firefighters, the Nolan Show, BBCNI’s School Choir of the Year, Dublin Murders, RTE’s Eat The Rich, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and Mastermind. One of the group is also working on a new series for Netflix.

 The students had the option of direct entry into the third year of Edinburgh Napier’s BA Hons in Television Production but this class wanted to stay at NIFTS.

“We thought they were joking at first but they came back with a plan to do an evening class of pure filmmaking.  They aim to make a short film and a short documentary, both for festival distribution.  They also wanted some masterclasses they felt they would benefit from. It’s an exciting new teaching model and they’re all 100% invested in creating something special. We’re excited as their teachers to see what we can produce together this time round,” Alison Thompson added.

Both Alison and colleague Pete Graham were Highly Commended in the NI Creative & Cultural Skills Tutor of the Year Award.

For more information on the Creative & Cultural Skills Award go to ccskills.org.uk and for further info on the Northern Ireland Film & Television School, visit www.serc.ac.uk/nifts

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Jan 27
0

Tutor of the Year inspires the next generation of filmmakers

By | Creative Industries, General, News, Newsroom

Tutor Darren Porter uses his experience working on Hollywood blockbusters to inspire the next generation of film and television students to achieve the highest level.

Now the Belfast Metropolitan College lecturer has won the Tutor of the Year award in the Northern Ireland Creative & Cultural Skills Awards for his inspirational work.

The NI Creative & Cultural Skills Awards celebrated the outstanding work of young people in the creative industries and those from industry and education who help them along the way.

Visual Special Effects tutor Darren was instrumental in helping the college team set up the new Belfast Met Film and Television School, launched just last year. Having worked on films such as Looper starring Bruce Willis and Adam Sandler’s Jack and Jill, Darren was able to talk about real life projects and to use his extensive contacts to bring experienced speakers to the college to talk to the students.

“This industry is crying out for skilled, experienced people. There are great jobs out there but young people need real vocational skills, they need work experience and to understand how to build a good network around them. That’s what the Belfast Met Film and Television School is all about and I couldn’t be more proud of our students who have gone on to do such amazing things,” he said.

One past student, Connor Cain, has worked on Game of Thrones, Captain Marvel and Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman. Another, David McCabe, who just graduated in June is now working as a VFX trainee and has already had the chance to work on big projects for Netflix and Warner Brothers.

Former student David McCabe said: “Darren’s connections and real life experience were invaluable to us and really helped bring home the message that having the right skills and building a good network are key to succeeding in this industry. The entire team at Belfast Met Film and Television School was just so supportive to us and challenged us to push ourselves. My goal is to stay in Northern Ireland for work so it will be exciting to see how the industry develops and grows in the coming years.”

Course Co-ordinator Dr Thomas Scott nominated Darren for the award: “He used his contacts and personal experience to develop the right teaching team, set-up networking events, create live projects, organised work placements, brought in guest speakers from major, major productions, and assisted several students in securing high profile jobs. In the last academic year alone, Darren’s success in these areas has been incredible.”

At the awards event, the NI Creative Employment Programme (NICEP) was officially launched announcing 40 new internships to support the arts and cultural sector. Funded by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and Department for Communities, the programme will provide part funding to cover wage costs for employers who create the new jobs and hire a young person aged 16-24.

For more information go to www.ccskills.org.uk.