Cue for aspiring film makers as academy calls action in city centre

The £25 course includes workshops with industry professionals and the chance to create a short film in small crews as a first step towards an industry-recognised qualification. Bursaries are being offered to cover costs.

The film sector is said to be booming, with the Government announcing last year that the creative industries were growing at four times the rate of the UK workforce as a whole.

Ben Roberts, director of the BFI Film Fund, said: “It’s an industry that’s growing and employs a lot of people. We want to make sure that we find enough young people coming through to help us make our industry prosper.”

The course will run on Saturdays in locations across the city centre.

Meanwhile, the BFI has announced that the world premiere of Stan and Ollie, a film about the comedians Laurel and Hardy will close its annual London Film Festival in October.

The comedian Steve Coogan plays the Lancashire-born Stan Laurel, with the American actor John C Reilly as Oliver Hardy.

The film recounts their journey around the UK and Ireland during their final tours in 1952 and 1963, which took in several Yorkshire theatres.

Director Jon S Baird said: “Stan and Ollie, at its heart, is a love story between old friends, who just happen to be two of the most iconic comedic characters in Hollywood’s history.”

The film has been written by Jeff Pope, who also scripted ITV’s acclaimed 2014 biography of the singer, Cilla Black.