New celebrity judge and charity partner announced for Bristol School's 48 Hour Film Challenge

We're delighted to welcome Tony and Olivier award winning Catherine Johnson as a judge on the Bristol Schools 48 Hour Film Challenge. She joins industry experts Col Needham of IMDb, Rich Warren of Encounters Film Festival, Hannah Entwistle-Jones of Screenology and Sync, who work to bring technology into schools.

Redmaids' High is hosting the film challenge, which is open to students from schools and extra curricular clubs from across Bristol.

Johnson is known for writing the script for much-loved musical Mamma Mia! and subsequent films and has also written award winning stage plays and productions for television. Speaking after an interview with students from Redmaids’ High, she said, ‘I was lucky enough to have people who gave me their time to help me develop as a writer, so getting involved with the 48 Hour Film Challenge is a way for me to give something back. To be involved early on in young scriptwriters careers is really exciting.’

The challenge has also received endorsement from the UNESCO City of Film, which works with Bristol's dynamic and multicultural communities to discover and harness new talent, and connect education programmes with industry establishments across the city.

Babbassa has been announced as the charity partner for the challenge and will receive 100% of the £5 per team entry fee. Babbassa is an award-winning youth empowerment social enterprise based in St Pauls, working to help young people realise their employment and enterprise ambitions, irrespective of where they live, their nationality, ethnicity, gender, race, sexuality or faith.

Filmmaking workshops for students

The full schedule of workshops has been announced, with events for junior students, senior students, and adult facilitators. The workshops will focus on planning, shooting and editing a short film, as well as developing skills in scriptwriting. A range of industry experts will lead the training sessions, including mentors from Screenology, a Bristol based production company and film learning centre, who teach film production up to degree level. Technical workshops will be run by Sync, specialist educators in technology.

The workshop schedule is as follows:

Senior workshops

Writing for screen	22 April – 4:15 - 5:16
Filmmaking	27 April – 4:15 – 5:15
Improv acting	28 April – 4:15 - 5:15
Directing and acting	29 April – 4:15 – 5:15
Make it happen I	5 May – 4:15 – 5:15
Editing hints and tips	6 May – 4:15 – 5:15
Make it happen II	10 May – 4:15 – 5:15