ONE TAKE WUNDERKINDS

At twenty-something, I'm too old for this game, judging by the rise in film schemes aimed at nippers. In my last blog I had a go at short films getting shorter, so maybe it's all part of an evil scheme that the industry's cooked up to skip a generation of filmmakers by creating a bunch of initiatives for kiddies. You know, for the kids?

I guess it makes sense for governments to look to the future. Now that we don't make anything anymore in this country, the term 'creative industry' looks attractive, suggesting a world where people are not just productive (= industry) but even better, forward thinking and innovative (= creative).

Somewhere near you there's a scheme for 'young' filmmakers, such as First Light, who claims to have supported 5-year-old filmers. There's also One World, who funds young doco makers to go abroad. Oh, and First Writes for 11-16 year-olds.

Makes sense I suppose - after all, they work for a lot less than grown-ups. You might even get Huggies to sponsor them.