Midlands Spotlight on Beginners Youth Film Academy
midlandsmovies • September 11, 2019
Midlands Spotlight on Beginners Youth Film Academy
Midlands Spotlight - Beginners Youth Film Academy
The Beginners Youth Film Academy (BYFA) is a new after-school Academy that focuses on both acting and filmmaking that has been recently launched by Midlands-based Country Star Productions.
Run by Sharni Tapako-Brown and Gary Rogers, the BYFA is moving to a weekly academy running initially from Haybridge High School in Hagley, Worcestershire with a view of expanding to other areas.
Company founder Gary Roger’s early working career started in electronic engineering and software design where he helped develop a technical background which would prove very useful in later years.
After this, Gary became a qualified teacher of PGCE status spending around 10 years teaching ICT, DT and Media whilst developing his filmmaking career. And as he got more involved in indie filmmaking the demand also grew to a point that it became his full-time career, starting his own company Pixel Perfection Media.
Since then, a new production company was started with Sharni Tapako-Brown called Country Star Productions with the aim of producing high quality films, some of which have gone on to be multi award winning films and include a wide variety of projects such as music videos and corporate and commercial work.
From working in the industry professionally and drawing on her teaching experience in schools and drama Academies, Sharni Tapako-Brown wanted to expand and share her knowledge too. "Drama and film helped me to express myself, giving me the confidence to succeed, and so I want to implement that to all students I teach".
Sharni has now expanded her profile by becoming a producer and writer for Country Star Productions alongside Gary Rogers. As a woman in film, she believes that there is no limit of what you can learn from others, and thus no limit of what you can achieve for yourself.
Their school focuses on not only acting and live performance, but also acting for camera, film and TV as well as how to use top end camera, lighting and sound equipment. The BYFA also have ties with known actors such as Michael McKell who is their official patron, stunt coordinators, casting agencies all of which gets you closer to the industry you are striving to be part of.
So the end outcome of the year will be the students’ involvement in film development which will contribute towards receiving a professional looking portfolio, consisting of showreels, films to keep, IMDB credits, film festivals and much more.
Finally, the academy offers Trinity Arts awards as part of the course, which are industry-recognised qualifications; giving students UCAS points towards further education. BYFA is not only qualified to deliver the award but are also a registered Arts Award Centre.
To join and find out more information head to their official website: www.byfacademy.co.uk
On Sunday 26th April Midlands Movies Editor Michael Sales & awards ceremony co-host Ed Stagg (BBC Radio) announced the nominations for the 2026 Midlands Movies Awards live from the Queen of Bradgate Vintage Cinema in Leicester. A big thanks was given to the entire Jury Panel of industry experts who gave up their precious time to watch a huge selection of creative projects and as always, had a difficult time choosing from the excellent number of films from the region. You can read the full list of nominations across all 16 categories below and watch our announcement videos here: Part 1 & Part 2 And please also check out our great awards partner Chrome Video Best Actress in a Leading Role Karendip Phull for Family Kate Bracken for The Lace Rachel Baker for Throwing Fruit Chloe Wade for How Long Sophie Bullock for Ma Prison Best Animated Film Of All the Things by Steff Lee Big Red by James Pyle Statue in the Garden by Qianhui Yu Butterfly by Jacob Christie Best Director Luke Worrall for The Waterline Lily Portman for Quiet Jack Richardson for Daniel’s Room Jonathan Hawes for Sorry We’re Closed Sophia Dall'Aglio for Man from Mars Best Documentary Nothing's Impossible by Jacob Thomas McClean A Birmingham Symphony by Jemma Saunders We Bring Light: Leicester's Diwali Legacy by Kieran Vyas The Sunshine Café by Jill Lampert Through the Viewfinder by William North Best Sound (Editing or Mixing) Neil Evans & his team for Artificial Insanity Alasdair Gretton for Dead on Distribution Deepanjali Patel for Earworm David Hamilton-Smith for The Pause Heidi Wilson for Of All The Things Best Actor in a Supporting Role Devon Junior for Lazar Tim Sparrow for Safety Net Shaiek Ahmed Rana for Family Luke Rollason for Quiet Peter Willoughby for A Story of Spring Best Visual & Special Effects Jake Wesley-Worrall for Soul Trader Steve Askey & team for The Correction Unit Nick Willett, Matt Burkey & Jayne Hyman for Black Goat JaqD SFX MUA, Mind Magic Studios and Ben Harker for Beyond the Witching Hour Pete Key, Jai Blanks and Jacob Christie for Countenance Best Cinematography Gary Rogers for The Pause Laurence Mason-Guetta for Sorry We’re Closed Ian Snape for Soul Trader Ash Connaughton for Daniel’s Room Duane Adamoli for Surfing (nominations continue below...)
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