In addition to producing film content for YSP Media, filmmaker Chris Bevan works as a freelance workshop leader and artist across a diverse range of community, participatory and education projects for organisations working with participants in Derbyshire. Take a look below at just some of the courses and projects Chris currently works on and has previously been involved with. If you’d like to discuss freelance education and workshop based work opportunities, please get in touch via our website contact form.
BFI Film Academy Derby
The four-month BFI Film Academy short film course helps train and inspire the next generation of UK filmmakers, supporting young people aged 16 to 19 to develop the commercial and cultural knowledge and skills to help make a career in film. Chris works as Course Leader for the BFI Film Academy at Derby QUAD alongside the education team, delivering weekly sessions for participants between October-February to create three short fiction films. These productions allow students to learn a range of skills which they can take forward in their careers. Film Academy is a national scheme funded by BFI and we are proud to be part of Derby’s hub at QUAD.
Silver Arts Award
Chris is a fully trained Silver Arts Award assessor as part of his role as Course Leader for the BFI Film Academy at QUAD in Derby. This award enables learners to develop their own arts practice and arts leadership skills, underpinned by knowledge of their own art form. Through the development of a written portfolio, filmmaking participants can demonstrate learning, practical work and analysis of their skills as leaders.
QUAD Movie Makers
Since 2018 Chris has been the lead workshop facilitator for QUAD Movie Makers, formerly known as the KidsQUAD Film Club. Participants aged 7-11 spend several days working together to create, write and film a short film on a given theme or genre. This is always a highlight of the year and gives young people the chance to act, film, write and build props/costumes to help tell a wildly imaginative story which culminates in a cinema screening for friends and family. The club continues to be a hit with participants and families, with excellent feedback and engagement.
Reimagine Derby
A month-long festival of creativity, community and culture led by young people of Derby, Reimagine has been a beacon of success for the arts in the city for many years. Chris was commissioned by Derby Theatre to work as lead artist on a filmmaking and mixed-media project with SEND students at Bemrose School in Derby. Over several months, participants co-created a colourful reflection on their experiences and highlights of being a young person in their city with art forms including film, drama, digital animation, stop-start animation and photography. The final film ‘Colouring the City - An A-Z of our Derby Lives’ premiered at the 2022 Reimagine Festival.
QUAD Young Advocates
Chris has acted as a filmmaking mentor for the Young Advocates group at QUAD in Derby, supporting participants aged 16-25 with opportunities for practical ‘hands on’ experience in filming and editing. Most recently they have recently undertaken a series of documentary projects focused on artists exhibiting within the QUAD and editing promotional videos for a city-wide arts initiative, creating opportunities for professional practice which can help participants build their own portfolios and careers.
Children First Derby
Working with Abbie Canning at QUAD and the charity Children First Derby, Chris led filmmaking sessions with vulnerable young people to co-create and bring to life their script about experience of how schools deal with mental health. Originally intended as a theatre production, the story took on new life as participants attended workshops and filming days to bring their project from script to screen. The completed film was screened to teachers, funders, supporters and local councillors as part of a cinema event in Derby. A second project with Children First Derby was also created, this time working with younger participants who filmed ‘Behind the Mask’ as a response to the global pandemic from the perspective of children in Derby. Chris supported the filming and assisted with the editing on this project at QUAD.
Q-Club
Q-Club was run by QUAD in Derby and part funded by Children In Need, aimed at children on the autistic spectrum, children with additional support needs or who are socially excluded, have disabilities, or who are young carers. Chris delivered filmmaking workshops with Abbie Canning for the group to help them create a series of music videos and green screen based work, with each participant getting the opportunity to learn camera skills and have time to perform onscreen. The final videos were edited to music created by participants with Baby People in Derby and were screened at an outdoor event in the city.
Junction Arts
Chris has worked as an artist and workshop leader with Chesterfield-based participatory arts charity Junction Arts for many years. In addition to working alongside young residents in New Bolsover to create a documentary film about their newly-renovated housing estate, Chris was lead filmmaker on the Our Place project. One of the seven films that formed this East Midlands wide project included the creation of a music video by young people at People Express in Swadlincote. Through a series of workshops, Chris worked with the group on idea generation, prop building and filming to accompany the music track they had produced. More recently as part of the Next Gen project, he has created a series of web-based learning resources for participants which Junction Arts then distributed to partner organisations in the local area.
If you’d like to learn more about any of the above projects or contact Chris for educational and community based filmmaking work, please head over to our contact page and send a message.