Film career beckons for promising graduate

David StanleyDrama and Media studies graduate David Stanley hopes to carve out a career in the film industry after getting the chance to work on Hollywood film during his degree course.

David, 21, from Birmingham was one of a few lucky students at Bangor University who were given the opportunity to work as runners on the upcoming film Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, which stars Robert Downey Jnr and Jude Law.

Describing the experience, David said, “I think it was a massive eye opener and inspired me even more to go into film making.  I knew from my time on the set that this was what I want to do as a career. Now I have to put in some serious work to get there.”

David is already taking steps towards a film career as he is working on a short film funded by the Arts Council of Wales and the Welsh Government.  The educational film, called The Dark Road, revolves around drugs, abuse and bullying.

He said, “The aim is to provide a 30-minute film for schools in Wales which can be analysed and discussed within classes. It is a no dialogue film and has a bilingual narration which we hope to implement over the next few months. It will be premiered the day after my graduation.

“I found this interesting to work on because of the personal aspect of it. It’s an emotional and difficult subject to convey, especially without dialogue, and has really taught me a lot about film.”

David first became interested in drama and creative arts in school and decided to pursue this further by studying at Bangor.

He explained, “The course it split between drama, media theory and practical, so we learned the theory and then put it into practice - the latter being the most enjoyable for me. During the course I also took part in various projects, such as the Royal Society of Arts Skype project, where a small group of us performed live to America.

“Graduating has given me an overwhelming sense of accomplishment. I must say I did feel relief once I got my results, but since then I have been so busy with work and projects that I haven’t had a chance to think about it too much! It will probably sink in once I have a bit of time off!”

Publication date: 13 July 2011