Firestyle Magazine: Issue 6 - Winter 2016

More documents

Recommendations

Info

CLAPPERBOARD CLAPPERBOARD UK LTD Introduction by Director, Maureen Sinclair 36 Hello, I’m Maureen Sinclair, Director of Clapperboard UK Ltd, an award winning, small charitable organisation and film production company. We are delighted to start the New Year off with our new partners Firestyle Magazine as we embrace some exciting new joint initiatives this year. I’d like to take this opportunity of introducing myself by giving you some personal and professional background information. I initially set up the Clapperboard Youth Project in 2004, whilst heading BAFTA’s regional offices. I was fascinated by the professionals, and their roles ‘behind the scenes’ in film and television productions, such as; make-up artists, location managers, set designers, camera work, directing, writing, etc. and was frustrated that young people didn’t know about these kind of career opportunities. My idea was to bring creativity into education and communities across the North West of England through developing exciting education film-making and media initiatives in partnership with other organisations and young people some from deprived areas who display challenging behaviour and/or suffer from mental health and other disabilities. To date, more than 2,000 people between the ages of 7 to 28 have actively participated in our projects, producing award winning short films on issues that affect them (hate crime, identity, disability, race, gun, and knife crime) giving them a voice. Our short films have gained recognition regionally, nationally and internationally. One of the questions I’m asked regularly is how did I end up working in the industry of moving image. My career background has been a bit of a fluke... I went to school in Kirkby and left without hardly any qualifications as I wasn’t at all academic. However, I did enjoy a secretarial course provided by the school that I passed with a distinction and these skills came in very useful when I decided to leave Liverpool to travel across Europe in the late 70’s. Eventually, I ended up living in Amsterdam, securing secretarial employment in the legal department of Cinema International Corporation, which was a new company set up by a group of multinational film companies (Paramount, Universal, MGM etc.) to combat video piracy. It was incredibly innovative and a very new organisation, so I was taken on board and had the most brilliant professional experience. I had a lot of freedom to develop my role and was promoted quickly after setting up a staff Video Library and organising regular screenings as we had the privilege of seeing all the new film releases in the company’s private cinema! I also was able to travel extensively giving me opportunities to mix with other cultures, still one of my great passions.
creative talent behind the camera (writers, directors, producers, etc.), and fortunately, I got the job to set up the whole project together with its new Director Roger Shannon who encouraged me to enrol at Liverpool John Moore’s University to study a degree in Media and Cultural Studies to compliment my work. Roger also encouraged me to develop my production skills, organising high profile events regionally, nationally and internationally to showcase the talent here in the Regions, at film festivals such as Cannes, London and Edinburgh, to name a few. Promoting the feature films produced by new and emerging Liverpool talent, such as acclaimed writer Frank Cottrell Boyce’s first feature film Butterfly Kiss, directed by award winning director Michael Winterbottom, their first collaboration. Jimmy McGovern’s first controversial feature film Priest . Both Frank and Jimmy have since won multi awards for their television and feature films such as Millions , The Railway Man (FCB) and Hillsborough, The Street , Common (JMcG). Professor Phil Redmond with Acclaimed Liverpool Actor, David Morrissey Approaching my thirties, my husband wanted to go to university to study Criminal Justice at Liverpool John Moores, so I returned home reluctantly in 1986. I didn’t have a clue what I was going to do, but a friend of mine told me about a new TV channel that had started up – Channel 4 – and a Liverpool weekly TV soap called Brookside produced by Mersey TV. I immediately wrote to them and to my surprise, was invited for an interview at their new offices on Rodney Street, they offered a position as Office Manager. I was there for seven years, the last five years working directly for the creator Phil Redmond and his wife Alexis at the Childwall set Campus Manor. During this period Liverpool City Council had set up the Liverpool Film Office after the success of the Liverpool award winning feature film Letter to Brezhnev written by Frank Clarke and starred his sister Margi. The Film Office was one of the first in the UK, and its role was to promote Liverpool as a film city and increase the amount of film productions nationally and internationally. At the time Liverpool had just been given the Objective One status from Europe, which meant there was a lot of funding coming in to help the local economy and some would be allocated to the creative industries. A creative agency was set up, MIDA (Moving Image Development Agency) to work with the Film Office and its role was to promote the Award Winning Liverpool Writer Jimmy McGovern with Clapperboard volunteers Amy Campbell and Sarah Donavan After three exciting and successful years at MIDA and when our funding was due to end, Roger told me that BAFTA was looking for someone to set up and run a new office branch based in Salford Uni Media Centre, to promote their work in the northern regions and my name had been put forward. It was 1993, I didn’t want to work away from Liverpool as my husband had only recently passed away, but my colleagues, close friends and family were encouraging and told me to go for it. So I did and worked for them for almost ten years, setting up a second BAFTA office in Liverpool sponsored by Bermans Solicitors. During my time at BAFTA I had to raise sponsorship, increase a more diverse membership, develop and produce many new initiatives from scratch and premiere numerous feature films and television programmes. Whilst working for BAFTA, with no additional funding for staff, I was able to offer work experience to students, trained them and eventually when I raised enough sponsorship, was able to offer them paid employment. I think it was during this period where the idea of a film youth project began. My role as Head of BAFTA North, was well rewarded with so many privileged experiences, attending all the BAFTA awards ceremonies which gave me an opportunity to invite sponsors and volunteers who had helped along the way. I also travelled extensively and met many wonderful people whom to this day continue to support Clapperboard. After I left BAFTA to concentrate on setting up the charity Clapperboard UK Ltd, I started working together with the Creative Partnership Merseyside, going into secondary schools with a production team, delivering workshops to bring creativity into education. For example, we would make five minute short films to help young people understand the work of Shakespeare delivering lessons in a contemporary way. I would then enter the films into Film Festivals to gain profile and recognition. 37
Page 1: ALSO IN THIS ISSUE: New fire engine
Page 5 and 6: CONTENTS The International Emergenc
Page 7 and 8: The Punjab Emergency Service (Rescu
Page 9 and 10: Education: With a key focus on fire
Page 11 and 12: Wilmslow Fire Station is new home f
Page 13 and 14: Mariner on call for disaster relief
Page 15 and 16: New fire engine piloted in Hampshir
Page 17 and 18: Hanging on the opposite wall is a r
Page 19 and 20: The chief passed the assessment whi
Page 21 and 22: VOLVO TRUCKS STRIKES BACK WITH COBR
Page 23 and 24: National Insurance The National Ins
Page 25 and 26: Eventually, a bespoke sprinkler sys
Page 27 and 28: It is frequently a combination of a
Page 29 and 30: Lifeline Launch Breakthrough New Fi
Page 31 and 32: There’s nothing better on a crisp
Page 33 and 34: Wales Bodnant Garden, Conwy Bodnant
Page 35: The Family Law Company by Hartnell
Page 39 and 40: Clapperboad Awards Ceremony with ac
Page 41 and 42: REEL VOICE! ClapperboardUK in partn
Page 43 and 44: Before the feature, we screened Cla
Page 45 and 46: y Helen Taylor It’s the start of
Page 47 and 48: 47
Page 49 and 50: power and then allow the petrol eng
Page 51 and 52: The boot on the MX5 is a little sma
Page 53 and 54: Kia Sportage 1.6T-GDi The Kia Sport
Page 55 and 56: 55
Page 57 and 58: As you would expect there is an abu

Firestyle Magazine: Issue 6 - Winter 2016

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?