Filmmaker Nina Jones visits Bishop Challoner Catholic College

Freelance documentarian Nina Jones visited students in Birmingham recently to share some advice on breaking into the industry, and to ignite their love of cinema.

A freelance filmmaker for close to a decade, Nina gave students unique insight into her experience working in the film industry, explaining to pupils how she got started in the business and her journey through film, as well as providing tips for those eager to kickstart their own filmmaking careers.

Speaking after the filmmaking demo, one student spoke highly of the experience, citing Nina's career as an inspiration: "I absolutely loved it and found it very inspirational. Her journey from school to where she is right now really made me think about how I achieve my own goals."

Caroline Milne, teacher at Bishop Challoner is a firm believer of film's usefulness in the classroom and also had high praise for Nina and her visit.

"I think it's very important that they're [children and young people] watching films. I'm responsible for literacy in school and I think filmmaking is integral to that. Films bring stories very much to life for children. It also gives me a way of pressing home to children how important it is for them to work on their writing skills, in order for them to tell the stories and appreciate how to tell a good story."

As a final word on the importance of film, we think Nina said it best: 

"Film clubs are amazing. If I had this in school it would have been really cool. Because film is so multi-platformed, it's windows to other worlds, it's windows to people's lives, it's inspiring and encouraging."