Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) have announced that two Northumbria University Film and TV Production graduates have been selected for its Film and TV Development programme.
Northumbria alumni, Lucy Rose and Jack Tarling, have been selected for EIFF’s Talent Lab Connects (TLC) 2021, a project development scheme running online from April to December that aims to support filmmaking teams in developing a feature film or serial television drama project.
They will begin by identifying a series of goals for their projects before taking part in virtual workshops with EIFF Story Editor Kate Leys, and industry mentors, who will guide them towards achieving these goals throughout the programme.
Jack is a BAFTA nominated and four times British Independent Film Awards winner. During TLC, he will work with his team to further develop their feature film 'Daughter of Adam’, which tells the story of a British-Iraqi nurse who meets an older woman who she believes was responsible for the fatal betrayal of her parents in Iraq many years earlier.
Commenting on the achievement, Jack stated: "It's great for our project to be selected for the lab as it gives us the support of some excellent mentors and a framework within which to develop the screenplay for our film.”
Jack will work with fellow producer Pietro Greppi and multi-award-winning writer-director Fateme Ahmadi. He added: “I'm very excited to be taking the next steps towards bringing this talented filmmaker’s first full-length project to the screen."
Lucy Rose and fellow student Sarah Talbot won the Best Drama and Best Writing awards at the 2019 Royal TV Society regional awards during their final year of study at Northumbria for co-writing, directing, and producing ‘The Sycamore Gap’. The awards celebrate some of the best talent from the region’s television and media industry.
Working alongside her team at TLC, Lucy will now be writing/directing ‘A Man at The Window’, a gothic horror film which will combine Lucy’s passion for folklore and vampires and explore experiences of trauma. She said: “I think this story is particularly exciting because it was inspired by a local folktale that used to frighten me to death as a child called ’The Croglin Vampire’. It gave me sleepless nights and I can’t wait to hopefully bring that feeling of childhood fear to life.
“I’m really eager to work with the other participants and the TLC team in the hope of bringing to life a wonderful story and really building something profound and meaningful, whilst still spine-tinglingly scary.”
Discussing how Northumbria University supported her leading up to this accomplishment, she added: “I think being on the Film and Television Production undergraduate course really gave me an important foundation and understanding of how to make films and I’m incredibly grateful for that time and space where I was able to start exploring myself as an artist.
“Going on to do an MA part-time in Creative Writing at Northumbria has been really incredible too. In particular, working with lecturers Tony Williams, May Sumwanyambe and Andrew Crumey to develop my voice and identity as a storyteller has been a priceless experience. It’s a really encouraging environment.”
EIFF is the world's longest continually running film festival and has a strong reputation for creating, shaping, and managing innovative talent development programmes across all disciplines. Their aim is to deliver quality programmes for filmmakers across Scotland, the UK and internationally.
TLC was established in 2019 as an initiative for EIFF Talent Lab, an existing programme which connects aspiring filmmakers with the world’s key film industry experts in a relaxed and enjoyable environment. The teams selected for TLC are required to consist of at least one Talent Lab alumni and expected to leave with a strong, clear story outline for their projects, along with a first draft screenplay; a pitch; and a clearer idea of where their project sits within the market.
Dr Solomon Lennox, Head of the Arts Department at Northumbria University, said: “It is wonderful to see the success achieved by Jack and Lucy, and a pleasure to hear how their BA (Hons) Film and TV Production course at Northumbria University provided them with the skills to develop their creative talents.
“In tackling concepts such as betrayal, trauma, and fear, the projects Jack and Lucy are working on respond to important aspects of the human condition. The ability to work with creative practices to understand what it means to be human is a valuable principle underpinning the degree programmes within Arts. This type of knowledge and way of working is useful for a range of industries and sectors within the creative arts and beyond.”
Please visit this webpage for more information about studying Film and TV Production at Northumbria.
Read more about TLC 2021 here.
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