Young Irish Film Makers

Founded in 1991, Young Irish Film Makers (YIFM) is the national organisation working with young people through the training and production of film and animation. The National Youth Film & Animation School is just one of their programmes working with young people to help develop their talents and prepare them for college and a career in the industry. YIFM now works with over 1800 young people across Ireland each year both locally at their studios in Kilkenny and nationwide through their National Network, Young Critics and Outreach programmes. Now 30 years old, YIFM has some interesting alumni including one or two filmmakers who have done very well indeed. ‘Young Irish Film Makers inspired me to become a filmmaker. The easy going, yet disciplined, atmosphere introduced me to the joys of teamwork and storytelling at an early age. I have carried those lessons through my whole career.’ Tomm Moore, Oscar Nominated Director at Cartoon Saloon YIFM now work with over 1800 young people annually across Ireland. Demand is growing as YIFM film making workshops are recognised for their ability to deliver high quality outcomes for young people. Many young people use the creative skills gained with YIFM to go on to third level film, media production and animation courses in Ireland and abroad. Those who don’t remain in the audiovisual industries take with them all the soft skills they have learned from their time working with YIFM. Skills such as creativity, teamwork, communication skills, collaborative working, critical thinking and problem solving. YIFM are dedicated to improving access to and participation in arts for young people in all parts of the country. They aim to do this by developing their infrastructure to build a multi purpose National centre of excellence to support their work in the areas of youth film and animation programmes across Ireland. YIFM Alumni - Over the years Young Irish Film Makers have had the pleasure of working with some very talented young people. Some of whom grew up to do some amazing work in the creative industries. The most famous being Tomm Moore & Ross Stewart from Cartoon Saloon who were members at YIFM, before returning after college to start their animation studio along with Nora Twomey & Paul Young within the walls of Young Irish Film Makers. Oscar nominated director Tomm Moore says this of the organisation: ‘Young Irish Film Makers inspired me to become a filmmaker. The easy going, yet disciplined, atmosphere introduced me to the joys of teamwork and storytelling at an early age. I have carried those lessons through my whole career.’ Other YIFM alumni include: Rory Fleck Byrne began his acting career with YIFM taking part in numerous film making projects and just recently starred with Pierce Brosnan & Jackie Chan in “The Foreigner” Laura Gaynor attended the National Youth Film School, went on to study film at IADT and has recently been selected for the BBC Production Training Programme. Ferdia Shaw is one of our younger members who has just recently signed up with Disney to play Artemis Fowl in a series of movies alongside Dame Judy Dench and directed by Kenneth Branagh.

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