Humanity Hallows Issue 5 Out Now
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By Pierangelly Del Rio

Trainspotting and Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle is set to participate in the launch of a new film and media school at Manchester Metropolitan University.

The award-winning director from Bury will play a key role in the £30 million project to be known as The International Screen School Manchester. The project, which aims to support talent in the creative industries, will be led by Manchester Met and supported by local institutions such as the BBC, HOME, ITV and Red Productions. The school will welcome 1,000 students each year and offer courses in film, animation, special effects, sound design, software design, applied games and immersive media production.

Boyle will co-chair the Screen School’s Industry Advisory Board along with producer  and founder of Red Productions Nicola Shindler and other senior figures from film, media and commerce. Before the project starts, it needs to be approved by Greater Manchester leaders for Government Funding for the International Screen School at February’s Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) meeting. The university will make an additional investment.

If authorised, the International Screen School will be based on Oxford Road’s Corridor within Manchester Met’s All Saints Campus. It will support the development of the creative industry which is known to be one of the fastest growth sectors in Europe and will generate an annual £13 million boost for the local economy.

Regarding the project, Boyle said, “This is just what Manchester needs and I am delighted to be part of the International Screen School Manchester.

“Manchester is a prolific centre of media production already and the Screen School will create the talent needed in the north to create even more success.

“I’m really keen to see young people from all backgrounds given the opportunity to learn to be the filmmakers and media producers of the future, and to have the opportunity to tell their own stories – but in ways that we’ve never experienced before.”

The  Vice-Chancellor of Manchester Metropolitan University Professor Malcolm Press said, “We are delighted to be working with the Greater Manchester Local Enterprise Partnership to deliver a project of real ambition and scale. We know how critical digital skills development will be to the future success of our economy. The Screen School will be part of Manchester Metropolitan University’s world-leading School of Art, ensuring that we form a strong bridge between creative media and digital production methods, informing critical thinking on how new media technologies can be expanded for other uses. We are excited about this opportunity to jointly invest in the future success of our city region.”

Head of Media at the University, Professor Mary Oliver, added, “This innovative learning resource will bring creative and computational learning together. It’s essential to do this in order that we prepare our content producers for the changes in the way that people consume media now and in the future. In collaboration with our industry partners, we will be designing new programmes, new kinds of learning spaces and learning methods. In this rapidly changing media dominated world we need to change the ways in which we create content to respond to the ever changing technological landscape.”