SUPERMARKET WORKER’S CAREER SWITCH STACKS UP WITH FILM COMPETITION SUCCESS
“Big Screen Bradford’s Filmmaker of the Month for March”
A mature student who left a job in retail to pursue his dreams of a film career has scooped the title of Big Screen Bradford’s Filmmaker of the Month for March. The 33-year-old Michael Cockroft from Bradford, left school at 16 working his way up to become a supermarket supervisor but decided to return to education in order to follow his dreams of working in film. Now in his final year at Staffordshire University, Michael has won Big Screen Bradford’s Filmmaker of the Month with, Pipe Dream, a film he originated, directed and edited. The atmospheric short documentary portrays the life of Biddulph bagpipe maker, Sean Jones, a well known figure in the area that Michael studies.
Winner Michael Cockroft said: “It is an incredible feeling winning Big Screen Bradford Filmmaker of the month. The exposure will be superb for me and makes me feel that I am on the right track following my ambitions to work in the film industry. The film is about following your dreams and aspirations and in making it I am pursuing my own. “
David Wilson, Director of Bradford City of Film, said: “Michael has a real talent for telling a story through the medium of film. Pipe Dreams is beautifully conceived, shot and edited.The quality of this film raises the bar for the whole competition. I hope that his career change from retail to film will see him fulfill his ambitions which are truly deserved.”
The film will be shown on Big Screen Bradford and the website throughout April. The 12 finalists for each month from 2014 will be judged by a panel of senior media executives at the end of the year and the winner will receive a £1,000 prize with the further opportunity to profile their work on the screen.
Entries are now open for April Filmmaker of the Month. Films offered for consideration may be on any subject but must not exceed five minutes in duration. The content must be suitable to be viewed by people of all ages. Entries should include name, photograph with a short explanation on why the film is important.
You can email them to us at submit@bigscreenbradford.com marked on the subject line “Filmmaker of the month”.
For full terms and conditions please see the website on http://bradford-city-of-film.com/big-screen
