As a former graduate of Ayrshire College, I am thrilled that they reached out to me to help promote the Ayrshire Film Festival, and I’m even more excited to share with you this fantastic student-led event. I want to quickly apologise, I should have posted more about this in the lead up to the event but unfortunate personal circumstances have kept me otherwise occupied. However I wanted to jump in and share the event with all my lovely readers as we enter the final stretch before the event.
The film festival in question was developed by the media students to showcase the work of all the hardworking and dedicated filmmakers from the media department at Ayrshire College. It will provide a platform for these up-and-coming filmmakers to showcase their work to a wider audience.
The creation of the film festival was a daunting task, and involved the collaboration of not just the filmmakers but the full media department, utilising their creative skill sets to produce not just the event itself but the advertising content, the social media and of course the website.
Obviously I’m stepping in at the last moment, but It’s already impressive to see what these students have managed to put together. It’s a true testament not just to their capabilities but their pride in the work created by their fellow students, and the college they attend as well.
In addition to the film showcase, the film festival will also include speeches by two high calibre keynote speakers from the Scottish Film and Television industries, namely Kieran Parker, a producer with Black Camel Pictures, who has worked on projects such as Annika, Sunshine of Leith, and on the very popular film franchise, Outpost. Joining Parker, is Neil Forsyth, noted for being the writer and producer of ‘The Gold’, a recent smash hit on the BBC, as well as for his work on ‘Guilt’ another wildly successful series on the BBC.
As well as the keynote speakers, the Ayrshire Film Festival will also feature discussions featuring several industry professionals, a bespoke raffle, and an award ceremony for the films made by the students.
Speaking about the process from concept to finished event, Media Lecturer, Vincent Mulligan has said “the students have done incredibly well getting this off the ground. It involved multiple cohorts, so they often worked with others they did not know very well at the beginning of the process and picked up new skills very quickly, solving unfamiliar problems in a very collegiate atmosphere. It has genuinely been invigorating watching their enthusiasm in pulling the festival and associated marketing efforts together.”
This has certainly got me excited for the event, and if you would also like to attend the Ayrshire Film Festival, then come on by, it will take place at The Gaiety Theatre in Ayr on Friday 26th May and is free and open to the public. If you would like to find out more about the event, you can visit the website.
Off the Record 