2. Background information
Andy Simpson set up a production company to kick-start his dreams of making a
feature film, it marked the start of five years of hard graft, financial struggle and
a pretty steep learning curve. He won in the film festival in Texas where his
Young Hearts Run Free won a Platinum Award. Set in Northumberland during
the 1974 Miners’ Strike, it’s a coming-of-age drama about 18-year-old Mark
who’s forced to choose between new love Sue and old loyalties, and Andy is
rightly proud of the fact it was made for ‘less than the price of a family car’.
Or £15,000 to be exact. And, besides winning that Best Low Budget Feature
category at Houston World fest, it’s taken an award at a festival here and one in
India. “I couldn’t afford to go to that one!” he says.
It was written, directed and produced by Andy.
Andy came into to talk to us about his success and how we could make our films
successful using his techniques.
3. Here is a diagram of the tips that he
gave us. To the left is a picture of the
sheet that we were given to
understand the multiple roles behind
the scenes and on film of movie. To the
right is a diagram of the certain and
main rules that he thought were
important.
When it came to planning our
opening sequence and when it
comes to filming this will be very
helpful and constructive to have
this in mind and knowing that it
came from a professional.
