Trainees Get Starstruck

FOUR trainees from across the Northwest are hoping to score a filmmaking goal with their latest jobs - after being offered work on a new movie currently being shot in Liverpool.

In addition to fully-funding and supporting the making of Starstruck through Digital Departures, Vision and Media arranged for these exclusive, paid placements on the three-week shoot – with Emma Saunders, of Liverpool, Jim Edgar, of Greyrigg, Cumbria, and Manchester residents Chris Le-Good, of Pendlebury, and Vicky Tooms, of Didsbury, beating off stiff competition to claim their place on set.

Vicky Tooms, 24, is receiving a masterclass in editing, as Trainee Assistant Editor for Oscar-nominated editor Kant Pan. Pan was nominated for his work on The Crying Game, and has performed Sound Editor duties on blockbusters Dangerous Liaisons and Orlando.

Chris Le-Good is putting his previous theatre costume experience to good use as Trainee Costume Assistant, while Emma Saunders has graduated from work in art departments for low budget and short films to become Trainee Art Department Assistant for Starstruck.

Jim Edgar, fresh from his recent Vision and Media training experience on the Bollywood film Mr Bhatti on Chutti, filmed in Cumbria and soon to be released, is now honing his skills on Starstruck as Trainee Camera Assistant.

Starstruck is the third and final film to be commissioned through the prestigious Digital Departures initiative, devised by screen agency Northwest Vision and Media, works on behalf of the TV, film, radio and digital content industries to grow a world-class media economy in England’s Northwest.

Together with its partners the Liverpool Culture Company, BBC and the UK Film Council, Vision and Media will premiere all three Digital Departures features during Liverpool’s Capital of Culture year.

Starstruck tells the story of two teenage girls who bond over a mutual crush on a footballer. As their friendship develops, the relationship and chemistry between them becomes increasingly powerful, fuelled by their dreams of wanting something out of their reach. When things go too far, their fantasy quickly descends in to a nightmare.

Find out more about Starstruck here.