Cumbria Community Foundation - Furness: Opportunities and Challenges 2021

F U R N E S S – O P P O R T U N I T I E S & C H A L L E N G E S 44 Co-director Kerry Kolbe said: “A lot of elements of our work are grassroots, using creativity as a tool to help people develop confidence. They might not necessarily go on to become a film director, but they might get transferable skills and extra benefits of being part of a project. Co Director Kerry Kolbe Co Founder Loren Slater Signal Films And Media Signal Film and Media, in Barrow, has been a driving force for creatives and artists in the area since 2008 and is committed to providing opportunities for people in line with what they would expect in larger cities. From its town centre Cooke’s Studios base, it runs programmes for youths and adults, and provides courses and workshops for people who want to work in the industry, professionalising their practice and helping them to take steps into a career in the arts and film industries. Their films have been featured in festivals around the world, and picked up numerous awards and accolades, while a tie-in with the British Film Institute has given young people access to experts and leading names from across the industry. “On the other side, we’ve got things that are very much about the work side: the BFI film academy for 16 to 19-year-olds, for example, which is very much about getting a qualification and working out the path to working in the film and TV sector.” A driving factor for Kerry and fellow co-founder Loren Slater has been providing a route for young people in Furness that wasn’t there when they were growing up. “Myself and Loren graduated and came back to the area, and we wanted to do filmmaking but didn’t know where to go,” said Kerry. “We started applying for money from the UK Film Council to make films and to put on training courses of our own. “Growing up in Barrow or Ulverston, working in the media didn’t seem like a path you could take. Everyone I grew up with moved away, and the perception is that opportunities in the cities are much better, but I think we have an opportunity with digital technologies, where there are all kinds of skills that can be used from home. “It’s the best chance that Furness has got, in terms of diversifying - jobs that people can do from here but sell to people all over the world. Lockdown has opened our eyes a bit more to what’s possible and you don’t have to be in the office. “Everyone these days uses video and has a website, and it doesn’t matter where you are in the world to be able to do this kind of thing.”