Brief

BFI Film Academy

Creative Nation were BFI Network Partners and delivered BFI Film Academy courses across both Norfolk and Suffolk for 5 consecutive years between 2018 and 2023. 

Throughout this time we worked with over 200 young people and over 100 industry colleagues; professional organisations, technology and equipment partners, facilities and countless youth organisations.

Our student films have won awards and many of our young filmmakers have gone on to further education and traineeships including LucasFilm and Disney and many more have gone on to create successful careers in the industry. 

See more about BFI Film Academy and the results of our work below. 

Project Details:

Client: British Film Institute

Project: Bfi Film Academy: Norfolk & suffolk

FIELD: Film Education

Creative Nation BFI Film Academy filming

Introduction

BFI Film Academy offers opportunities for ambitious young people, anywhere in the UK, to get to know more about film and how to make a career in the screen industries.

The BFI Film Academy contributes to a core aim of the BFI’s 2022 strategy which aims to provide everyone with the opportunity to build a lifelong relationship with film; to create clear progression paths for talented young people and to ensure that film is celebrated and explored in formal education.

It is supported by the British Film Institute, Department for Education and National Lottery.

For more information on BFI Film Academy please visit here

 

The Process

Especially designed for young people with some, demonstrable film making interest and/or experience, our film academies were fast paced, practical and fun. Our film academies included:

* A combination of workshops, practical skills development, watching and talking about film and making a film together.

* The opportunity to meet and work alongside industry professionals from across disciplines including writing and directing through to production, sound design, editing and camera.

* Meeting and  networking with other young film fans, organisations and groups from across the region and beyond.

* Achieving an Arts Award qualification.

We partnered with professional learning, facilities and equipment providers to offer an authentic, high quality experience.

 Please see clips from a selection of the films that we have made with some of the young people we worked with below:

The opportunity to work with professional film kit is a really important part of enabling young film makers to be ready for the working environment. We were very proud to have our camera kit generously provided by Panasonic.

The Results

‘Taking part helped me to build my network, learn new skills and grow in confidence….. and was also a lot of fun! The support from the incredible mentors and their belief in me, really fuelled my ambition and made me realise that my goal of a career in the film/television industry was 100% possible (and it is!)’ Film Academy Norfolk Alumni.

Film academies have an excellent track record of inspiring the next generation of filmmakers and crew. It is a well respected and recognised stepping stone towards further education, training and employment. There are now over 400 alumni across the two counties.

Take a look at some of the short films made by participants in the region on YouTube

Hear what some of our participants had to say about their experience on BBC Radio Suffolk here

 

 

 

FLYING THE FLAG FOR CREATIVE INDEPENDENCE