By Amy Pollock
A BANGOR teenager and budding filmmaker has said she is ‘excited for the future’ after the trip of a lifetime to tinseltown with Cinemagic.
Seventeen year-old Francesca Brundle was one of 15 young people to be whisked away to Los Angeles for a week-long programme to see the film industry in action and shake hands with some of the biggest names in the business.
Cinemagic, a Northern Ireland charity which uses film and television to educate and inspire the next generation of storytellers, collaborated with Northern Ireland Connections, Screen Ireland and Northern Ireland Bureau to give the creative youths hands-on experience and celebrate their talent at its annual Los Angeles Festival.
The programme saw Francesca and the other specially selected teens take part in Q&A sessions, practical workshops and exclusive masterclasses hosted by top production companies including Warner Bros., Discovery, Paramount Studios, Universal Studios, Imagine Entertainment and Artists Equity. The culmination of the trip was a premiere of Cinemagic films created by young people.
Francesca said the charity ‘played a huge part’ in helping her secure the opportunity to visit the capital of the film industry.
“I started working with Cinemagic and doing their programmes when I was six or seven years-old,” she said.
“And then last year, which was what helped me get into the LA programme, I took part in a course by Cinemagic and the British Film Institute, where in a group we wrote, directed, shot and edited a short film and then got to premiere it.
“For a lot of us, me included, it was our first opportunity to actually make a film from scratch,” she said.
Following the course, Francesca gained her first film qualification, which along with her experience in critiquing and acting through the charity, aided her in being accepted onto the LA programme.
“When I got asked, ‘would you like to come to LA with us?’, it was just surreal,” said Francesca.
Speaking of her time in California, Francesca said: “We got the opportunity to interview really wonderful industry professionals including producers, writers and directors. Everybody there had somebody that was in the field of film that they want to go into, which was amazing to be able to speak to people like that,” she said.
“We also did studio tours, so we were able to see where the films are made, how they’re made and what we’ll hopefully be doing in the future to make them.
“Then at the end of the week, we had the Cinemagic Showcase where the industry professionals we had interviewed and their colleagues came to see two films that Cinemagic was premiering.”
One of the films premiered was Behind Closed Doors, of which Francesca shadowed the production process from beginning to end through her links with Cinemagic.
“It’s quite a tough topic, it’s about domestic abuse. It follows two boys, where one is being abused at home and the main character is figuring out how to help him and tell his friend that he’s there for him.
“It’s just amazing to see something be made and then actually see it on the big screen. Everybody really liked it at the showcase too.”
Looking to the future, Francesca said she can’t imagine a career without film taking centre stage.
“I can’t see myself doing anything else, to be honest. I love English as well, so I’d love to be a screenwriter, but I also love the idea of directing. So definitely behind the camera,” she said.
Currently in lower sixth at Strathearn School, Francesca’s next steps are applying to university, where she hopes to study film theory at either St Andrew’s or Warwick.
She also said of her future with the charity: “I would definitely love to volunteer down the line. I could see myself working with Cinemogic for years to come.
“It’s an amazing charity and I would not be as into film as I am now if it weren’t for them. So I’m very grateful,” Francesca said.
