My Flatpack Sprint, UK

ABCinema My Flatpack brought together young people with a passion for film and media with leading young Youtubers and film archive and cinema professionals from Europe and the UK for 2 days of skills development and a unique film festival experience at Flatpack. 25 Young People aged 16 - 25 participated in the ABCinema MyFlatpack Sprint from: Shropshire, Hereford, Leeds, Bristol, London and Birmingham. What did participants think? “It was very intense, very exciting and highly enjoyable”- Chadwick Jackson, Birmingham “In terms of the value of this event, it has opened up a whole new world to me.” – Silva Pius, Reading “Being from rural Herefordshire we don't get to go to these kind of events very often, so having the opportunity to go to so many in a short space of time was incredible.” – Bethan Mckinnie, Hereford This sprint was led by young YouTubers and journalists from Rife magazine, Into Film and Arts Connect West Midlands and focused on the participant's experience of the Flatpack Film Festival. Young participants were invited to explore Flatpack Festival in Birmingham and report back on their experience, developing skills in blogging and vlogging, creating content for a YouTube channel, Wordpress website and Storify. This was also a unique opportunity for the young participants to expand their networks getting to know other young people from across the UK and being exposed to practitioners from across Europe. This project was led by Watershed as part of ABCinema with partners mac, Flatpack, Into Film, Arts Connect West Midlands, Film Hub South West & West Midlands and supported by the wider BFI FAN and by the National Lottery through the BFI. There is potential for UK and international partners to build on this successful model of involving young creatives outside the formal education sector in a live industry brief such as a film festival.