Digital Departures Announce Filmmaking Finalists

Six Northwest movie making teams have been named as finalists in the prestigious Digital Departures micro budget filmmaking scheme – and are now just one step away from securing funding of £250,000 to make their feature.
From an internationally-renowned director to top TV writers and up-and-coming new talent, the final six filmmaking teams now have just eight weeks to produce a knock-out script – and convince a panel of top industry experts that their project should be one of three to be greenlit.
“It’s was incredibly difficult to pick just six projects from the hugely impressive shortlist of filmmakers,” said Lisa Marie Russo, Executive Producer for Digital Departures. “We’ve been able to attract some of the country’s finest creative talent to this initiative and as we near the deadline for choosing the final three films, the quality of the projects has just been phenomenal.”
Earlier this year, Northwest Vision and Media, together with its partners the Liverpool Culture Company, the UK Film Council and the BBC, invited writers, producers and directors from across the Northwest to get involved in Digital Departures.
Chris Moll, Head of Funds for Vision and Media, which supports the region’s film, TV and digital content industries, says the final six filmmaking teams represent a diverse range of talent.
Included in the six is a proposal to make a documentary by Terence Davies, a revered cinema director, whose previous credits include ‘Distant Voices’ and ‘Still Lives’.
Also making it to the final stage is Salvage, a raw and robust horror film to be penned by award-winning Liverpool writer, Colin O’Donnell, currently Story Editor for ‘Hollyoaks’, and ‘The Don’, a musical comedy drama, being co-written by Eastenders writer, Jeff Young, and Liverpool rock legend, Pete Wylie.
More information on each of the final six teams can be found at www.northwestvision.co.uk
(DS)