Sean Connery Talent Lab celebrates first batch of creative talent at Curtain-Raiser event
The film school presented its cohort of 26 writers, directors, producers and cinematographers at a packed event in Edinburgh
The Sean Connery Talent Lab has unveiled its inaugural cohort of students, celebrating 26 talented writers, directors, producers and cinematographers at a packed ‘Curtain-Raiser’ event in Edinburgh’s Everyman Cinema. The team of emerging talent will spend the next year developing a suite of short films after receiving extensive training opportunities from the Lab.
Highlighting the Lab's aim to to create a local hub for filmmaking within Scotland, the Curtain-Raiser illustrated the wealth of talent on display in the country, and featured an exclusive panel from Screen Scotland’s Isabel Davis, Left Bank Pictures’ Andy Harries, and BBC Film’s Kristin Irving.
Chairman of the Sean Connery Foundation, Stephane Connery, said, ‘Creating a film school in Scotland was strongly supported by our entire family. It felt right because it could achieve three important goals: honour Sean’s legacy in his home country, build on his heritage as one of the greatest movie stars of his time, and align with his vision when he donated his fee from Diamonds Are Forever to provide exceptionally talented Scots with crucial financial assistance to reach their full potential.'
The 26 participants were selected from hundreds of applicants, and demonstrated innovative perspectives and a diverse range of skills. Supported by the National Film And Television School (NFTS) alongside industry partners, trusts and foundations, the Lab has been run by veteran producer Chris Young, who's produced The Inbetweeners Movie, Gregory’s Two Girls and Silent Roar under the banner of his award-winning Scotland-based production company Young Films.
Young told us, ‘Today was very much a case of saying here we are and this is what we’re doing. We opened our doors in April and have been giving our students master classes, workshops and sessions so that they can go and make their short film.
‘For the first time, we’re offering students a chance to stay in Scotland and work in teams making films for the cinema. There are fantastic courses run by Napier, UWS, Conservatoire; but our idea was to take those courses to the next level by giving people a national film school experience which, until now, could only be found in Beaconsfield [where NFTS is based] or the London Film School. I think this will be a complete game changer.’
Feeling inspired? Applications for the next intake will open in September.