Latest news with #IntoFilm
BBC News
18 hours ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Austitic teenager from Sanquhar dreams of big screen career
An autistic teenager from the south of Scotland is hoping to pursue a career in filmmaking after picking up a prize for his Ryan, 14, from Sanquhar, won the audience award at the recent Into Film event in received his honour from actor Andy Serkis and presenter Edith told BBC Scotland News he hoped to turn his passion for movie-making into a job in later life. Edward was born in Inverness and grew up in Forres but has lived in Sanquhar for almost a organisers of the awards described them as "celebration of talent" but also a "clear statement of intent".They said they wanted to show that the UK film industry "values, nurtures and believes in the voices of the next generation".Among those voices is Edward's. "I'd always loved making and building with Lego when I was younger and I wanted to make these Lego people and characters and things come to life," he said."So I then started to make stop-motion animations with these Lego characters and buildings and things like that, make little movies with them."Then I would then progress my skills with that and then get different equipment and better equipment."The Sanquhar Academy pupil was given a laptop by the local council for his school work which he started to use for making films and it has "progressed and progressed" from award-winning film - More Than One Way To Go Home - tells the story of a young autistic girl who has to find her own way home when her brother leaves her to fend for herself. He said winning the prize for his work was a special moment."It felt great, it was just overwhelming with all the support that I got from loads of people voting me for this award."It was just great. I am still in shock that I won."All the support from my community of Sanquhar, it's just been absolutely brilliant and I'm so grateful for all of it."It has fuelled his passion to pursue a life in cinema after he finishes his education. "I really want to go into the industry and hopefully become a director of photography," he said."That's my dream goal. So I'm hopefully just going to stick in and then go to college and university and just work my way up until I'm a director of photography and do what I want to do."His mother Jess said the whole family was "incredibly proud" of what Edward has achieved."He was a nominee in the best story category as well and even though he didn't win that prize it was still just an incredible achievement to be chosen," she said."That was a new category this year that the judges chose out of all the films that were entered."So it was an honour to know that he was chosen to be part of the best story category up against other filmmakers that were 18 or 19 years old.""We're just really, really proud of him and very thankful for the support the community gave him." She said the fact that he was autistic made it all the more remarkable."He's obviously had to overcome a lot of different challenges in his day to day life," she said."Filmmaking has been a way for him to express himself in ways that he has otherwise found difficult."It's been a really good outlet for him." She said she believed he could go further in the field where he has already started to thrive."We just feel proud and we just hope that he can continue on and achieve his goals and his dreams of one day being a director of photography," she said."I don't see why he can't, to be honest, he's got his sights set on the big screen."He's got a lot of hard work ahead of him, but he seems really enthusiastic for it."
The National
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- The National
14-year-old Scot wins prestigious award in London for short film
Edward Ryan, from Sanquhar, Dumfries and Galloway, scooped the publicly voted Audience Award at the Into Films Awards in London on Tuesday and was presented with his prize by actor Andy Serkis and presenter Edith Bowman. The 14-year-old's short film More Than One Way To Go Home was also nominated for Best Story at the awards and was inspired by the filmmaker's own personal experiences. The film follows a young autistic girl who has to find her own way home when her brother leaves her to fend for herself and aims to convey some of the difficulties that autistic people can face and demonstrates how the right support can be key to overcoming those challenges. READ MORE: Donald Trump no longer meeting King in Scotland ahead of state visit Speaking at the awards, Ryan said he felt overwhelmed with joy for receiving the award, as he said: 'I put a lot of hard work and effort into this film but none of it would have been possible without the help of my friends and all the support from my parents and family. 'Especially from my Mum for entering me into this amazing competition. I would also like to thank the whole of my community in Sanquhar for their unwavering encouragement. 'I feel overwhelmed with joy and gratitude to have this opportunity and to receive this award.' Ryan, who wrote, directed, acted, edited and produced the film alone, said the film was particularly inspired by one incident where he was bullied by an adult while out filming. (Image: Edward Ryan) The young Scot said that he was scared to go near the person and had to find a new way to get home and as an autistic person, it was challenging for him to do so. The encounter sparked the inspiration for Ryan to make this short film to highlight how the event made him feel and to show others what it can be like inside his head. Ryan said he started filmmaking during lockdown and that he loves creating with Lego and wanted a way to bring his creations to life, so he made short stop-motion animations. Soon his love of filmmaking evolved into him making short movies starring him and his friends. As Ryan developed his skills further, he became increasingly interested in the technical side of filmmaking, learning how to use various cameras and editing software. (Image: More Than One Way To Go Home) Ryan has a YouTube channel called Mr Porridgen, named after his love of porridge, which is run by his parents, and has created a variety of films including short reels and short films. He has also made a short film called Forward to the Past which premiered at a local community centre and a documentary for his local arts centre A' the Airts when he was 12, which led to him winning Young Community Champion at the Dumfries and Galloway Life Awards. Fiona Evans, CEO of Into Film, said: 'These Awards are both a celebration of their talent and a clear statement of intent: that the UK film industry values, nurtures and believes in the voices of the next generation.'
BBC News
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Sheffield teenager bags 'best film' award for filmmaking debut
A 19-year-old student has scooped a top award in a competition to celebrate young Holt, from Sheffield, triumphed in the best film category 16-19 at the Into Film awards. Written as part of her A-Level coursework the film, No Dice, is described as an "hilarious comedy" that makes "great use of special effects, and shows that there's no age limit on having fun".Grace said: "It feels absolutely insane, I still can't really believe it - it feels a bit embarrassing, but also amazing." The film, centred around a Dungeons and Dragons-style fantasy role-play game, was shown at the Odeon Luxe in Leicester Square as part of the awards ceremony. Grace said others at the ceremony had given her "words of encouragement" about her future in the industry."At the very least, it might have put my name on the map a bit and given me a bit of a boost to keep making films - and making my skills better," she said."I really hope it'll help give me a little bit of a leg up too."Ms Holt, who is now studying at Lancaster University, said her family had been her "biggest supporters"."I'm so happy that they're supporting me, they're really, really incredible and cheered for me so hard." Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds or catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
Scotsman
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
The 14-year-old autistic Scottish filmmaker who started during Covid and has now scooped industry award
Sign up to our Arts and Culture newsletter, get the latest news and reviews from our specialist arts writers Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... A young Scottish autistic filmmaker who started filming during lockdown has scooped an industry award for work based on his experience of struggling to find his way home alone. Edward Ryan, 14, has won the Audience Award at the annual awards ceremony organised by film education charity Into Film. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Edward, from Sanquhar in Dumfries and Galloway, won the award voted for by the public for his short film More Than One Way To Go Home. Inspired by Edward's own personal experiences, his film follows the story of a young autistic girl who has to find her own way home when her brother leaves her to fend for herself. Inspired by an event where he was bullied by an adult while out filming in the community, forcing him to find a new way to get home, Edward, who wrote, directed, acted, edited and produced the film alone, wanted to highlight how the incident made him feel. Edward Ryan, 14, from Sanquhar, Dumfries and Galloway has won the audience award at the 2025 Into Film Awards in London. | Into Film He said: 'I put a lot of hard work and effort into this film, but none of it would have been possible without the help of my friends and all the support from my parents and family. Especially from my mum for entering me into this amazing competition. I would also like to thank the whole of my community in Sanquhar for their unwavering encouragement. I feel overwhelmed with joy and gratitude to have this opportunity and to receive this award.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Edward started making stop motion animation during lockdown with Lego. He became increasingly interested in the technical side of filmmaking, learning how to use various cameras and editing software. Edward was handed the award at a ceremony in London. | Into Film Edward now has a YouTube channel called Mr Porridge, which is run by his parents. He has created a variety of films including short reels, short films, reviews of equipment, and some documentary style films for local groups. The young director has also made a short film, Forward to the Past, which premiered at a local community centre and a documentary for his local arts centre A' the Airts when he was 12. The project led to him winning Young Community Champion at the Dumfries and Galloway Life Awards. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad A still from More Than One Way to Go Home. | Edward The Into Film Awards, sponsored by the UK film industry and supported by the BFI awarding National Lottery Good Cause funding, celebrate young people's creativity in film. Young people from across the UK whose short films have been nominated across the 11 award categories will be recognised at a ceremony on Tuesday, hosted by actress and Strictly star Rose Ayling-Ellis at the Odeon Luxe, Leicester Square in London. This year's nominated films cover a wide range of subjects, including mental health, the war in Ukraine, gender identity, neurodivergence, multiculturalism and the potential harms of AI. Fiona Evans, chief executive of Into Film, said: 'The Into Film Awards wouldn't be possible without the unwavering support of our invaluable sponsors, the UK film industry. Their commitment allows us to provide real opportunities for young people to share their stories, develop their creativity and provide them with career pathways into the industry.
BBC News
29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
'Best film' nomination for Sheffield teenager's filmmaking debut
An 18-year-old's filmmaking debut has been nominated for best film at a red-carpet ceremony in Holt, from Sheffield, wrote and directed her genre-subverting short film 'No Dice' for her A-Level Film Studies film, which is shortlisted in the 16-19 age category, will be shown at the Odeon Luxe in Leicester Square, as part of an awards ceremony organised by the film charity Into Film."Having my name out there already is a dream come true. It fills me with hope that if I keep making things I'm passionate about, those efforts will be noticed," said Grace. Grace, who is currently a student at Lancaster University, said being recognised, at such a young age, was a "really big surprise" given the film industry's reputation for being notoriously difficult to get ahead added: "If I were to continue doing this, which I really want to, I feel like [being nominated] is something you'd expect to come later in your career. "It's happening now, which is really weird."'No Dice' follows a Dungeons and Dragons-style fantasy role-play game, and shows a world within the game alongside the lives of the real-life players, who are residents in a care home. "In almost every fantasy thing you see, the older members of the cast are always like, a sage old wizard," Grace said."I thought it would be interesting and fun if the older characters were able to play reckless, stupid characters that make mistakes and get involved in brawls."The cast, whom she found on local acting websites, with the help of her teachers at Wales High School, were "amazing and so accommodating"."At the start I was a bit too nervous to say anything, but I think, as we went on, I got into it more and was able to say what my vision was," she London awards ceremony, on 24 June, will screen the nominated films in each will be hosted by actress and Strictly winner Rose Ayling-Ellis, who said she was "honoured" to host."The standard is extraordinarily high and just shows how important it is to give young people a voice through filmmaking," she annual ceremony has previously been attended by film actors including Daniel Craig, Lashana Lynch, Martin Freeman and Lily James. Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North
