This month, as part of our Team Spotlight regular feature, we met with Heads of Sparks Film School Hove, Craig and Nick.
For this month, we reached out to Craig and Nick who are the directors of Sparks Film School Hove.
We sat down with them to see how they have found running Sparks Film School Hove and being part of the team.
Hi both… What do you find inspirational about youth filmmaking?
Nick: I think, as adults, we can sometimes find ourselves constricted by reality. We write and perhaps think too much. “Is this believable?”, “Could that really happen?”.
We really have to try and get in the zone to think out-of-the-box. Perhaps it’s down to life experience. One thing we notice about the young filmmakers we work with is that they dream big and aren’t afraid of the impossible. They tend not to overthink it like we would. It opens whole new realms of creativity and teaches us adults really valuable lessons.
They’ve made some zany films that on paper sound absolutely bonkers – but they totally work and there’s something completely special about them! It’s inspires us to bring that sort of thinking into our own lives and projects.
Craig: For me, it’s how a creative medium like film can really open up young peoples potential, help them gain confidence and find a new outlet that has huge benefits.
We’ve worked with young filmmakers who struggle with school-work but excel and thrive on a practical film set – or kids who come to us really shy but suddenly are working as a team, getting excited and making friends with likeminded people. It’s about so much more than the finished product. Seeing the power that filmmaking, storytelling and teamwork can have on some of our filmmakers is what drives us.
One of the reasons we started Sparks Film School in Hove is because I didn’t have this opportunity growing up and as a filmmaker I would have loved it.
To see the impact this is having on some of our students is incredible – it’s like I’m making up for that lost opportunity by making sure todays children and young people can seize it and thrive!
What can young filmmakers expect at Sparks Film School Hove?
Craig: We might be called a ‘film school’ but we never want it to feel like ‘school-like’!
We want our filmmakers to always feel like they’re being guided by and working collaboratively with our workshop team and the rest of their studio crew. We’re all about learning new skills – but it’s all about the fun too.
Nick: We also like to give that little bit extra. Every year we have a red-carpet event at a cinema in Brighton’s North Laines where our filmmakers get to see their film on the big screen. It’s free for them, their friends and family as a way to celebrate their success and say thanks to the wider community who support our school.
We’re lucky to have a local TV channel that we collaborate with so they can see their films on TV – or shown on Brighton Pier. We enter their films into festivals and our crew have won plenty of awards. We bring in professionals in the industry to support on particular projects and share their specific skill-set. We want our filmmakers – and their families – to feel part of a bigger community.
What skills do you think will be important for young people coming in who may be interested in a career in TV and Film?
Nick: There are so many roles within a career in film and TV. What we do really well at Sparks Film School is give young people a flavour of each of them and let them try out a bit of everything; production, directing, scriptwriting and so on. What we see a lot is our filmmakers gravitating to a certain area and that’s great to see. Production design seems to be particularly popular!
Craig: There are so many routes into this – and there is no denying it’s a tough industry. Tenacity, drive, creativity and – most importantly – passion for film and media.
Some of the best filmmakers I know are those who have worked for years and years, independently, on their own projects and who never gave up; never let knock-backs set them off-course. They do it for the love of the filmmaking craft and storytelling.
What are your dreams for Sparks Hove and what excites your about your film school?
Craig: We’ve been going for a while now and there are certainly filmmakers with us who have big careers ahead of them. I can think of a list of names where I’d be super surprised if we don’t hear they’ve done incredible things in film and media in the future!
I think that excites me more than anything – knowing that we’ve perhaps been that spark (if you’d pardon the pun!) that’s ignited a lifelong love of filmmaking.
Nick: Yeah, definitely a filmmaker of ours picking up an BAFTA (and dedicating it to us…obviously!).
What do you love about living in Hove/Brighton?
Nick: It’s the weirdest place in the UK. A person could pass you on the seafront dressed as a cucumber, riding a unicycle while blasting out a bit of Bony M’s Ra Ra Rasputin and nobody would bat an eyelid. It’s also incredibly inclusive – and that’s totally echoed at Sparks Film School too and amongst our filmmakers.
Craig: It’s a creative hub! There’s a real energy, a great culture and a lot of passion in the area. We have an incredible film scene, theatre scene, a brilliant fringe festival. There is loads going on and the population hugely reflect that – which makes it a great area to run such a creative and fun school.
Why do you think young people should learn how to make films?
Craig: I think everybody should give it a try. We’ve even thought about running sessions for the parents so they can have a go and see what their kids are learning! It’s an incredible outlet creatively – a way to express themselves and their opinions, to develop storytelling skills and confidence that can help them in other parts of their lives.
Nick: Alongside all the positive impacts of being more creative, there’s an element of achievement and teamwork that is really important. With the films our kids produce…they start with nothing; a totally blank slate. They build a story, they do the production design, they learn the camera and filmmaking skills, learn the lines in the acting…they build something incredible from scratch.
It’s a really strong and powerful message to young people that they can achieve, they can create, that everything is possible when they put their mind to it and work with others.
Find out more…
Sparks Film School Hove offers youth filmmaking, school holiday camps and special events. You can find out more about their programme of youth film courses here >>
Sparks Film School in Hove is one of 30+ youth film school locations in the UK. Find out more about opportunities to join, or find your nearest Sparks Film School here >>
