Northwest Lottery Success Stories

England's Northwest Film Achievements with National Lottery Funding

Facts
North West Vision has distributed £1million (approximately) of National Lottery funding to 301 awardees across the Northwest (between the dates of Jan 03 - Dec 05), allocated as follows:

29 awards for business development, which meant:

  • 16 people were sent to trade shows/film markets and festivals
  • 2 awards were given for company development
  • 11 awards were made for organisational development

124 awards for access to film, which allowed:

  • 5 people to attend national training schemes
  • 23 producers to receive skills development
  • 5 emerging filmmakers to receive skills training
  • 16 awards for training to increase access and diversity
  • 75 writers to receive skills development

32 awards for audience development, which provided:

  • 24 awards for film festival
  • 5 awards for specific audience development projects
  • 3 awards for distribution and exhibition projects

116 awards for film production, which enabled:

  • 63 short films to be made
  • 2 feature films to be produced
  • 3 awards for film completion
  • 3 awards for feature film seed funding
  • 45 awards for feature film script development

Diversity

  • 35% of all awards were made to females
  • 34% of all awards were made to benefit diverse, disadvantaged or under represented groups
  • £296,074 was awarded to projects that benefited people from B&ME communities, this was over 30% of the total amount
  • A further £276,875 was awarded to projects that benefited disadvantaged or under-represented groups - 28% of the total

CASE STUDIES

Developing Skills and Talent
Giving Audiences More Choice
Making Great Films
Encouraging a Wider Participation in the Industry
What More Could be Done?

Developing Skills and Talent

Punam Ramchurn, Manchester - Screenwriter
Punam Ramchurn is one of eight new feature film writers coming to the end of a major, Lottery-funded talent development scheme run by North West Vision.

Punam graduated from Liverpool John Moore's University with an MA in Screenwriting in July 2004. She took part in the TAPS television regional writing seminars in Manchester in 2003 and then went on to make 'Diamonds and Ruby' which was her first short film, produced in October in 2004 as part of North West Vision's Digital Shorts scheme.

In 2004, she took part in the Everyman's New Writing Initiative 'New Leaf', a scheme to develop playwriting skills for writers from diverse backgrounds. In the same year, she was nominated for the Asian Woman of Year Award for her work at the Contact theatre in which she contributed to increasing the organisations media profile and outreach to diverse communities.

In 2005, Punam was selected as one of thirty writers from the Northwest for the major New Feature Film Writers' Development Scheme funded by North West Vision's Lottery programme. Punam was selected for the final stage of this Lottery scheme, and is currently developing her film idea.

Punam received a Seed Commission from the Everyman Theatre to develop a play called 'Ding Ding' about an Asian family in Liverpool. In November 2005 she was asked to be part of BBC Radio's project Stages of Sound and is currently working on her first radio piece.

Punam has again been nominated for an Asian Jewel award for her contribution and commitment in profiling diverse work in the region and she hopes to win as last time she lost out to an actress from the Bill!

Aneel Ahmad, Manchester - Filmmaker
Aneel Ahmad is a talented, emerging filmmaker who has benefited directly from North West Vision's Lottery funded, talent development programme.

In 2003 Aneel made his first short film with North West Vision, "A Man's World", as part of the Lottery funded Virgin Shorts scheme. In 2004, Aneel progressed to the UK Film Council, Digital Shorts scheme and made his second film in association with North West Vision; "Waiting for Sunrise". This film went on to make appearances at festivals including: Raindance Film Festival, Stanford University Film Festival, Human Rights Documentary Film Festival and Brief Encounters Short Film Festival in Bristol. It also won best film at the prestigious UNICEF UK Awards in 2005.

Aneel is currently making his third film with North West Vision as part of the new Lottery-funded Digital Shorts Plus Scheme. Aneel's film "Boot Polish" is being shot in Lahore, Pakistan on an £18,000 budget.

With the help of funding from the National Lottery, Aneel will be ready to enter the increasingly competitive UK and International film industry with a fantastic showreel of work, which will demonstrate his undoubted filmmaking talent.

Neil Marshall, Cumbria - Filmmaker
Neil Marshall, recently emerged onto the international stage with his films, "Dog Soldiers" and "The Descent". Neil has been given a Lottery award to develop one of his future projects "The Sword And The Fury" is a sword and sandals epic about Arthurian times.

North West Vision does not just award its Lottery funds to help new filmmakers, but also to sustain the pool of established, acknowledged talent in the Northwest and the UK.
With the help of this Lottery award Neil will re-invigorate the historical epic genre in the UK just as he Neil re-interpreted the UK Horror genre with his films "Dog Soldiers" and "The Descent.

"I have no need to up sticks, go off to LA and do that whole thing. There are so many films I want to make here, and I'm not going to help the British film industry by deserting it." Neil Marshall, "Time Out" magazine July 2005.

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Giving Audiences More Choice

Cornerhouse
Cornerhouse is a venue that provides contemporary cinema, visual art, education, bookshop, and a social and critical focus for Manchester. It is a creative hub and a centre of innovation for filmmakers and the general public alike, and provides a vital contemporary critical forum. The diverse programme of Cornerhouse including leading festivals - Viva! Spanish and Latin American Film Festival and Exposures national student film festival have put Manchester firmly on the international stage.

Cornerhouse receives funding from North West Vision though via the National Lottery to develop and run a diverse range of events.
In 2003-04, Cornerhouse achieved 104,000 attendances. Around 87,000 of these were from Greater Manchester.

Cornerhouse takes risks in its programming, from current art house releases and exhibitions to offering one-off experiences, which, while not being money-spinners, offer the audience access to something they could not have experienced otherwise:

'Being able to see "Shower" - an eight-hour-long documentary about the holocaust in two parts - was incredibly important to me personally. This film is so rarely shown that if Cornerhouse had not screened it I would never have got to see it. Even though only about fifty people went to see it, it was a life-changing experience for me.' Howard Rifkin

'The one off showing of "Man with a Movie Camera" with the synthesiser duo "In the Nursery" sticks in my mind particularly - something very special about live music made to a screening.' Visitor

Cornerhouse has been instrumental in developing products and audiences for specialist film genres to the point where they have grown beyond the capacity of the organisation. Viva! Has for ten years, celebrated the best of Spanish cinema. For its 11th incarnation, Viva! has changed its sub-title to The Spanish & Latin American Film Festival to reflect the growing significance of the pictures emanating, particularly, from Mexico and Argentina. Viva! now tours to 30 other venues.

'The Viva festival has been a big deal in terms of the recognition of the rebirth of Spanish cinema, and sparking a reconsideration of Spanish film' CP Lee

To conclude, the audience not only gets more choice, but also ambitions and experiences, as Britain's leading filmmaker explains:

'It's wonderful to see how Cornerhouse has been transformed. It's become a vibrant social place as well. That's all part of the whole cinema experience: somewhere to meet and talk about films as well as watch them. It's crucial to have these kinds of places really. I always think the only good thing you can ever do, as a filmmaker, is to hope that there is someone sitting out there in the audience who actually ends up becoming a filmmaker. The new generation of young filmmakers are out there waiting to take over and a place like Cornerhouse allows that person to sit there and dream.' Danny Boyle

The Dukes Cinema
The Dukes Theatre & Cinema's Youth Arts Centre is run in Partnership with Lancashire County Council's Youth and Community Service Department. It's home venue was created through funding from the National Lottery and a wide-range of regular groups of young people meet there to explore the worlds of theatre, music and film. One particular group, Dukes Den has developed film-making skills, and enables young people to write and produce and appear in their own films. A short version of their Romeo and Juliet was screened at the National Museum of Film and Photography in Bradford.

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Making Great Films

Shoreline Films, Barrow in Cumbria - Feature Film "Frozen"
In 2003, Shoreline Films was awarded a feature film production Lottery award of £20,000.

"Frozen" is the feature film debut of Juliet McKoen, director of the award-winning short film, "Mavis and the Mermaid".

"Frozen" is a tense drama about a young woman's attempt to unravel the mystery of her sister's disappearance, starring Shirley Henderson. Written by Juliet McKoen, the film is the first collaboration between Lars von Trier's Danish production company Zentropa and an English company with a female director. It was filmed predominantly on location in Fleetwood, Lancashire.

The film has won an array of prestigious awards, including BAFTA Scotland Best Actress award for Shirley Henderson, the BBC Audience Award for Best Feature - Commonwealth Festival 2005, Best Feature at the Dubrovnik International Film Festival 2005, Best Actress at the Marrakech International Film Festival 2005, the Kodak Vision Cinematography Award at Slamdance 2005, Best Cinematography at the Dubrovnik International Film Festival 2005, Runner up - Audience Award at Slamdance 2005, a Special Jury Mention at Films de Femmes Creteil 2005, the Silver Jury Award at Houston Worldfest 2005 and a Special Jury Mention at Britspotting Berlin 2005.

Chris Shepherd, Liverpool - Filmmaker
Chris Shepherd is a highly talented, original award-winning filmmaker, who combines live-action and animation to present his very unique view of the world.

His last film "Dad's Dead" has won awards at various different festivals including:

  • Split International Festival in Croatia, 2003
  • Animation festival, Switzerland, 2003
  • Toronto, 2003
  • L'Isola Del Cinema Festival, Rome 2003
  • Rushes Soho Shorts, 2003
  • British Independent Film Awards, 2003
  • British Animation Awards, 2004
  • Nominated for BAFTA, Best Animated Short Awards, 2004.

In 2005 Chris Shepherd applied to North West Vision for Lottery funding to complete his short film, "The Man Next Door". By using Lottery funding, North West Vision will ensure that Chris is able to exhibit his film at national and international festivals. This has given him the chance to build upon his solid foundation in filmmaking and undoubted talent. "The Man Next Door" is certain to supersede the success of his previous films and launch him into a thriving career making feature films.

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Encouraging a Wider Participation in the Industry

Candella Films, Manchester - Independent Production Company
Candella Films have been supported and encouraged by North West Vision since they started trading. They run a unique trail by combining independent short film production, community education workshops and festival programming with a global network of filmmakers, festivals, programmers and distributors.

Not only has North West Vision supported Candella Films with Lottery funding, but it has also acted in a mentor role and formed a crucial part of their development. This was exemplified by the relationship that North West Vision brokered between Candella Films and China Here & There.

A Lottery award of £5,000 resulted in the short film "The Flower Chamber", a production led by Candella but crewed by first time filmmakers from the Chinese community in Manchester.

North West Vision continues to offer support by creating a network of communication with companies, both in the Northwest and internationally, which is now a solid source of work for Candella films.

The final word goes to Mariela Artiles of Candella Films:"(North West Vision) has encouraged our big vision, energy and passion, which is igniting filmmaking in the Northwest."

First Take - Liverpool (Arts Organisation)
First Take is a Liverpool based arts organisation that provides video training and production services to the community, voluntary, educational, arts and local authority sectors across England's Northwest. Their aim is to work with, and enable, communities and disadvantaged groups to use video to represent themselves.

North West Vision support for First Take (with Lottery funding) has helped them to:

  1. Aid the continuation and growth of talent development projects that enable newcomers to be involved in the making of short films taking up specific roles in the production team.
  2. Run longstanding and extensive 6-month video courses for long term unemployed people suffering from different forms of exclusion.
  3. Hold scriptwriting courses/training around the Northwest region.

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What More Could be Done?

We want to continue to build upon this work but a larger share of the Lottery money is needed to:

  • Support the production, distribution and exhibition of distinctive films from a diverse range of sources, including the production of avant-garde and experimental films.
  • Provide wide-reaching access to collections of audiovisual material held in the UK's national and regional archives.
  • Provide opportunities to learn about, and engage with, film and the moving image in all its diversity, for example through film festivals.

This work is at risk if you don't step up and make the case for film so please complete the questionnaire now. And when you have completed the questionnaire do pass on this email to others in your organisation so they too can make their case for National Lottery money for film.

Follow: www.lottery2009.culture.gov.uk/consultation/lo_registration/registrationform.asp to go straight to the questionnaire.