Game of Thrones director turns spotlight on media industry for students

A RENOWNED movie director was put under the spotlight by Coleg Cambria students.

Neil Marshall, whose credits include Hellboy, Game of Thrones, Westworld, and Dog Soldiers, paid a visit to the college’s Creative Media department for a Q&A with learners in Deeside.

A Best Director winner at the Saturn Awards and British Independent Awards for The Descent, he spoke about his career in the industry and provided the cohort with advice and guidance on how to pursue their dreams.

Cambria Lecturer Edward Evers-Swindell wrote and directed the movie Dark Signal, which Neil supported as Executive Producer.

He said it was an “inspirational and informative” session for the students and staff.

“Neil discussed his route into film and his personal journey as well as answering questions on a range of topics,” said Edward.

“What made this even more valuable for the students is that he is self-made, rather than knowing anyone in the industry he started from scratch with no more than a passion for films to sustain him.”

He added: “Neil’s journey has been long and hard, but hopefully gives inspiration to learners who didn’t know how to get started in the movie business.

“His talk was fascinating and went into detail about each of his projects and how they came about, while being incredibly honest about projects that were, in his own words, successes and failures, as well as the differences in working in film vs television.

“The students asked some brilliant questions that demonstrated a real interest in what they had listened to, and their feedback was really positive, so it was a fantastic event for all of us.”

Neil also recorded a podcast with Edward and the team, where he discussed the importance of engaging with academia and the next generation of talent, on and off camera.

“I think it’s vital, we never had anything like this when I studied film,” he said.

“Nobody came from the business to talk to us; it would have been an eye opener and refreshing and bolstered our enthusiasm.

“I like coming to these things and talking to students because I want to inspire people. That’s what we aim to do as filmmakers, inspire people.”