Students enjoy taste of Hollywood at premiere

The students from Kirklees College were involved as cast and crew of Richard II an animated film which is the latest from the Co-operative British Youth Film Academy (BYFA).

The film was shot in Grimsby in the summer of 2011 and Alysha Gallagher, 18, from Deighton, Huddersfield, who plays Queen Isabella, was the first to receive the special visual effects treatment by the BYFA to convert the live action into realistic animation.

The film forms part of BYFA’s tetralogy of Shakespearean history plays – Henry IV Part 1 and 2, Henry V and, Richard II – which were screened for the first time at The Printworks, Manchester.

BYFA offers students a chance to experience the thrills and challenges of professional feature-film production. Young people are mentored by professionals from the worlds of film and education and offered everything from acting to make-up, from wardrobe to camera and post-production. It is backed by the Co-operative.

The college will bring a taste of Hollywood to the area this summer when it hosts the making of a new BYFA movie at its Batley School of Art building in Dewsbury during the five weeks of the school summer holidays.