Cinemagic Sends Talented Ireland Youth to Los Angeles

Three young people from Ballyfermot, Dublin, are preparing for a trip of a lifetime to Los Angeles at the end of next month. The visit to LA, the filmmaking capital of the world, is part of Belfast-based Cinemagic International Film and Television Festival's second USA festival programme, which aims to inspire, educate, motivate and create opportunities for young people, aged 4-25, through the medium of film. Cinemagic has delivered three successful festivals in Dublin since it first opened outside of Belfast in 2008.

Ciaran Egan (18), Fiona Anderson (17) and Ross Cuffe (18) participated in Cinemagic's inaugural International Film Camp in Belfast, last August, along with fifteen other young people from Belfast, Donegal, New York and Los Angeles and as a result have been given the opportunity to further their skills base and learning by taking part in film and television masterclasses and presentations, along with their peers from Belfast, in Los Angeles.

Cinemagic USA in association with Titanic Belfast, a new $150m visitor attraction opening in April 2012 on the site where the Titanic was built, will culminate in Los Angeles from 21st-27th February, with prior events being delivered in New York, Boston and San Francisco. As a whole the Cinemagic USA Festival will engage with and entertain thousands of young people through film and offer them the opportunity to learn from experienced industry professionals.

The young people from Ballyfermot will have the chance to gain an insight to the workings of the film and television industry through film festival events in The Jim Henson Company, Walt Disney Animation Studios, including masterclasses hosted by actors such as Patrick Bergin, Jason Connery and Michael York.

The participants of the Cinemagic International Film Camp had never met as a group before last August but had a shared interest in the film industry and they were tasked with the challenge of creating a short film in Belfast over the course of five days. The young people participated in workshops under the guidance of a director, writer and director of photography who worked intensively with the young people each day.

The end product of the International Film Camp was a short film entitled ‘Gone', which was premiered on Ulster Television (UTV) last summer as part of a fly on the wall documentary over five days, and it will be screened to mark the opening of Cinemagic Los Angeles on February 21st in Hamilton High School, where the Ballyfermot young people will introduce it. UTV is also filming the young people during their experience in Los Angeles as a follow up documentary which will be aired on UTV's The Seven Thirty Show.

Joan Burney, Cinemagic Chief Executive said "Cinemagic engaged with various groups of young people at festival events in New York, Los Angeles. Dublin and Belfast last year and one of our aims for 2011 was to offer young people from Northern Ireland and Ireland, who participated in the International Film Camp, the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the film industry, to work with others from different cultural backgrounds, to create channels of communication between them and to do this through the medium of film. The International Film Camp and the upcoming USA programme of events are both entertaining and educational. Together they will develop the young people's filmmaking skills as well as their inter-personal skills, and this process will contribute to a deeper and new understanding of cultural difference."

Meeting the three Dublin students travelling to Los Angeles Culture Minister Mary Hanafin said "this is a wonderful learning opportunity for Ciaran, Fiona and Ross and other young people from Belfast, to get real hands-on experience from industry experts in the home of movie making. These talented young film-makers will attend master classes in animation, puppetry, as well as visit a number of movie studios and universities. Cinemagic continually engages young people from all over Ireland in the magic of movies and fosters important links with the industry across the Atlantic. The future of film-making for Ireland looks very bright with our imaginative and talented young people blazing a trail across the silver screen."

Highlights of the Cinemagic USA Festival include ‘Changing the World Through Sesame Street'- a chance for young people to meet the producers of Sesame Street, enjoy show clips and find out what it takes to create a Sesame Street show around the world; a unique masterclass hosted by a Disney animator and a behind the scenes look at Walt Disney Animation Studios; a puppetry masterclass hosted by The Jim Henson Company, a screening of Northern Ireland made, award-winning film ‘Mickybo & Me', directed by Terry Loane; Jury film screenings, at which young people will critically debate a series of short films, a screening of Irish made, award-winning film ‘A Shine of Rainbows', directed by Vic Sarin; and workshops in film, television and documentary production, film music composition, visual effects, animation, screenwriting, cinematography, acting, and radio production.

The 4th Dublin Coca-Cola Cinemagic International Film and Television Festival for Young People takes place from 11th-18th May 2011. This year's programme is jam packed with screenings, masterclasses with film and television industry guests, workshops for schools, a cross border jury panel and lots more. All of these aim to entertain, motivate and create opportunities for young people aged from 4 to 25.

For further information on Cinemagic visit www.cinemagic.ie

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