Filmmaking with The Young Creatives Portsmouth (2023–2025)

For two solid years, right through to the end of 2025, we ran two filmmaking workshops every single week with Young Creatives Portsmouth. This wasn’t a short project or a trial run. It was consistent, long-term work with young people, giving them the time and space to grow, experiment, and figure out who they were creatively.

Each week was split across two very different but equally important spaces. One session took place at Fort Widley, working with 14 to 19 year olds who wanted to go deeper, build confidence, and take real ownership of their ideas. The other ran at The Base, Portsmouth Guildhall, welcoming 10 to 19 year olds and acting as an accessible entry point into filmmaking and creative technology. Together, these sessions created a steady rhythm. Turn up, make something, learn properly, then come back and build on it the following week.

From the start, we treated the workshops like real production environments. Cameras were in hands, not locked in cupboards. Young people set up lights, recorded sound, framed shots, and edited their own work. Mistakes weren’t something to avoid, they were part of the process. Over time, participants moved from simple exercises into short films, visual experiments, and collaborative projects. You could see the shift happening naturally. Hesitation turned into confidence, ideas became bolder, and working as a team started to feel normal rather than intimidating.

As the sessions evolved, so did the tools we introduced. Across both locations, we brought in green screen, visual effects, and generative AI as part of modern filmmaking practice. This was never about shortcuts or flashy tech for the sake of it. AI was used as a creative equaliser, a way to remove some of the financial and technical barriers that usually stop young people from pushing their ideas further. The focus stayed on storytelling and intent, with open conversations about ethics, authorship, and how these tools fit into the wider future of film.

What mattered most, though, went beyond the films themselves. Across the two years, we watched young people build confidence simply by being listened to. They learned how to communicate their ideas, work through disagreements, and stick with projects even when things got frustrating. Digital literacy and problem-solving developed along the way, without ever feeling like a lesson or a lecture.

For some, these workshops were the first time they’d committed to a creative process long enough to see real progress. For others, it was proof that learning doesn’t have to look like school to be meaningful or valid. Filmmaking became a way in, a hook that opened the door to confidence, curiosity, and connection.

By the end of 2025, what we’d built wasn’t just a collection of finished pieces. It was a body of experience shared across two spaces, two age groups, and two years of consistent work. Young people who showed up, took creative risks, and started to see themselves as capable makers. That legacy matters far more than any single film, and it’s something we’ll carry forward into everything we do next.