Sixth form students from Northgate Academy in Northampton have partnered with Northampton Film Festival to produce an online trailer promoting the Women’s Rugby World Cup, which is coming to West Northants in 2025.
Around 20 young people are taking part in the project and overseeing every stage of creation, from planning and story boarding to filming and creative direction, with a number of sessions taking place at the Bee Hive in Northampton.
The project launched following students’ work experience placements with the West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) Web Team where they demonstrated a keen interest in stop motion films and working in the film industry as a future career aspiration.
The project aims to provide students with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND) with a greater understanding of the realities of seeking employment and working in the film industry and aims to equip them with essential employment skills whilst learning the art of film production, exercising their creative abilities and building a portfolio of work experience.
The Northampton Film Festival have delivered hands on workshops for the students centred around writing poetry and short stories as well as auditioning hopefuls wanting to take part in the film. The final trailer will be premiered during the Northampton Film Festival at Cineworld in March, with the full video teaser being used to promote the Women's Rugby World Cup being hosted in West Northants in 2025.
The Bee Hive is a vocational sixth form provision for young people with moderate (MLD) to severe (SLD) learning disabilities and is part of the Northgate School Arts College Academy Trust. The centre provides students with first-hand real-life experiential learning. It has a café, a conference hall, a commercial kitchen, a second-hand shop, and a wellbeing centre.
Northgate student, Lemmy, age 16, said: “I love drawing, I used to draw Angry Birds at primary school and have always wanted to be an artist. I am really enjoying doing storyboarding for this project. I would love to take part in more projects like this.”
Northgate student, Matthew, age 17, said: “I really like doing something unique and different at school. I’ve been working on an introduction to West Northants and what it’s known for: shoes, the Lift Tower, beautiful scenery, and rugby! I want to show that people with special educational needs can still achieve things. The trailer will show that we have all put a lot of effort in and worked hard. This work has helped me with skills for future jobs.”
The project has been a joint initiative by Northgate School and West Northamptonshire Council’s Digital, Technology and Innovation; Sports and Leisure teams and the West Northamptonshire SEND Partnership.
Cllr Baker: “It is great to see students applying their creativity to this project whilst learning new skills and gaining experiencing in a film creation environment.
“It is opportunities like these that provide our young people with valuable experience which will play an essential role in their career journey.
“I have attended some of the sessions to date and I can see firsthand just how stuck in the young people are getting with this project, with lots of great ideas. I am very much looking forward to seeing the final trailer being shown in Cineworld as part of the Northampton Film Festival!”
Becky Carrier, Director at Northampton Film Festival, said: “Northampton Film Festival is passionate about making sure diverse voices are heard.
“To create the best work and tell the best stories, we need to ensure Northamptonshire talent is supported to develop skills and gain experience in Film.
“We know we’re going to make a better film because we’ve involved enthusiastic young people with new ideas, and we’re extremely grateful to Cineworld Northampton who have given us the opportunity to premiere it in such a fantastic venue as part of the Festival!”
Free tickets to the premier on 11 March are available on the Northampton Film Festival Website.
Contact Information
West Northamptonshire Council Communications Team
[email protected]