Young Film Academy


The Young Film Academy, based in London, is an English educational institution and the educational sister company to Magma Pictures. The academy is the UK's leading provider of practical filmmaking programs to young people aged 8–18. YFA works with over 80 of the UK's leading independent and state schools with their flagship programs, the "One Day Film School". YFA is also the workshop provider for UK arts festivals, including the Guardian Hay Festival and The Edinburgh International Film Festival, The Minghella Film Festival, The High Tide Festival, and the Barbican's London Children's Film Festival.

History

Directors James Walker (writer/filmmaker) and Ed Boase co-founded Young Film Academy in 2004. Today, Young Film Academy provides to young people aged 6–19 filmmaking courses, school filmmaking programs, community filmmaking projects, filmmaking outreach events, and kids' film parties.
Based in London, YFA also works internationally to help over 7,500 young people each year complete their first digital films, including West End-premiered movies and curriculum-linked film projects in schools.
Young Film Academy is a hub partner in the British Film Institute Film Academy Network helping to find top UK emerging talent. YFA designs and delivers educational film projects for the UKʼs largest arts institutions but also helps small groups of kids who just want to make movies as a hobby or host filmmaking parties at home.

Programs of study

Young Film Academy provides several types of filmmaking and screen acting courses, workshops and products including:
  • Residential summer camps
  • Project Paradiso, a prestige project offering a select group of YFA’s most promising students the chance to create a stunning short film in Sicily, Italy
  • Day courses
  • Extended courses
  • Weekend courses and clubs
  • Online and remote courses
  • Single-day film programs for schools
  • Advanced workshops for schools
  • Prospectus films for schools
  • Rough-cut workshop
  • Filmmaking parties for youth
  • Star-in music videos or film parties

Media coverage

Young Film Academy has been featured positively in several publications. Website IOM Today wrote, "The academy is seen as an investment in the future of British film," and TimeOut London wrote, "Ed Boase and James Walker have come up with an exciting party concept: kids shoot, edit and screen a film in a single day. Its success boils down to a combination of talent and teamwork.".