Atticus Education, Screen Ireland, Northern Ireland Screen and Future Screens NI have announced this year’s eight Puttnam Scholars.

This cross-border initiative offers promising filmmakers access to interactive online masterclasses with Oscar-winning producer David Puttnam (Midnight Express, Chariots of Fire, The Killing Fields) and each a €1,250 scholarship from Atticus Education towards their career development. The scholarship bursaries are supported by Accenture in Ireland.

The eight participants (four from Northern Ireland and four from the Republic of Ireland) are all emerging writers, directors or producers who have made, or are in the process of developing, their first feature or television drama. Chosen by Future Screens NI and four Irish higher education institutions, the participants are:

• Dee Harvey selected by Future Screens NI
• Jules Charlton selected by Future Screens NI
• Margaret McGoldrick selected by Future Screens NI
• PJ Hart selected by Future Screens NI
• Tara Hegarty, Writer/Producer, nominated by Technological University Dublin
• Lia Campbell, Writer/Director/Producer, nominated by Institute of Art, Design & Technology Dún Laoghaire
• Turlough Ó Cinnéide, Director, nominated by Technological University of the Shannon (formerly Limerick Institute of Technology)
• Mark Smyth, Writer/Director, nominated by Dundalk Institute of Technology

Over the course of the sessions, Lord Puttnam will explore the following themes: The Power of Identity; The Evolution of Creativity; Fact or Fiction; Builders and Brokers; Music and Meaning; and Interpreting the Future.

Further details here.