15th October 2008

Manchester film maker secures place in UK film competition final

Manchester's answer to Sophia Coppola has beaten off stiff competition to scoop a place in the finals of a national short film award.

Kate Jessop, 28 from Levenshulme is one of 12 talented film makers to be short-listed for Virgin Media Shorts 2008, a competition to champion undiscovered film talent in Britain, in association with FilmFlex.

More than 7,000 budding film makers from across the UK registered for the competition, which received over 1,400 entries to be in with a chance of receiving £30,000 and work with Virgin Media and the UK Film Council to make their next short film.

Kate, who is an artist in residence at Manchester Metropolitan University, impressed the judges with her short,Desires, an animated adaptation of a verse of poetry. Taking inspiration from a Gaia Holmes poem, Desires combines drawn animation and live action to produce a unique film.

Created for Literature Northwest and Comma Film and screened earlier this year across Canada, USA and Europe, Desires was chosen by an independent curator and will now be reviewed by a prestigious judging panel including Oscar-winning stage and film actor, Kevin Spacey. It will also be screened at 212 independent cinemas up and down the country for a year, while also featuring on Virgin Media's Movies on Demand platform.

Kate will attend a glitzy, star-studded awards ceremony in London on 29 September 2008 where a grand winner will be announced. One film will also be awarded the People's Choice award, voted for by the public. Manchester folk will be able to show their support for Kate in this category by logging ontowww.virginmediashorts.co.uk from 4pm on Tuesday 29 July 2008.

Kate said: "Desires is quite unique and I'm delighted that it's been so well received. It has been screened at numerous short film festivals around the world but I'm delighted that millions will now be able to view this as part of Virgin Media Shorts."

James Kydd, Virgin Media's managing director of brand and marketing, said: "Through Virgin Media Shorts, we wanted to offer a life-changing opportunity for film makers who have historically struggled to get exposure for their work and put them in the spotlight to an audience of millions. All 12 of the film makers have done tremendously well to be short-listed and their work will become part of our massive library of films on demand. We wish them all the best of luck."

The short-listed films will be available to 3.5 million Virgin Media TV customers to watch for free through the FilmFlex service in the Movies on Demand section on their TV or through the Virgin Central channel. Virgin Mobile customers can download clips of the films through the Mobile Bites site. Meanwhile, all of the entries will be available to anyone to view and review online, giving any budding film critics the chance to rate and comment on each short film.

To view Desires plus other entrants, log onto www.virginmediashorts.co.uk

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