Proud film talent has winning doc
JACK LEIGH, who graduated from Edge Hill’s film and television production course in 2012, is celebrating success after shooting a series of award-winning short documentaries.
His career has gone from strength to strength since graduating and has seen him acquire jobs as a production assistant, runner and third assistant director on various British films and TV shows.
His impressive CV features work on Fast And Furious 6, ‘71, This Is England ’90, Peaky Blinders, Get Santa, X + Y, Skins, Last Tango In Halifax, The Syndicate and a range of commercial work for companies such as Reebok and Lucozade.
Later, Jack left drama in search of more creative involvement and took a job as assistant producer at Riverhorse.
The company landed a contract with the Department of Foreign Development to produce documentaries around non-governmental organisations working in hostile environments across Europe, Africa and America.
Jack said: “I couldn’t have been in the position to have made these films, or work in the film industry without the training I received at Edge Hill.
“I got a great foundation of film-making education there and met some people who I still work with today.”
During his time at Riverhouse, Jack met Tim Baxter who was director of photography on several of the projects.
The pair bonded quickly and when Jack’s time at Riverhouse came to an end he went on to work alongside Tim at his company, Eight Engines.
Together they were commissioned to produce video content for a new production of the acclaimed drama War Horse at the Royal Albert Hall.
Their directorial debut, Rich is the Life, tells of Marko Lauronen, who after being diagnosed with manic depression decided to withdraw from mainstream society and to pursue his boyhood obsession for gold prospecting.
The film follows Marko’s search across the frozen tundra of the Arctic Circle as he contemplates the true value of gold.
As well as picking up a London Independent Film Award for Best Short Documentary earlier this year, Rich is the Life premiered, and won Best Documentary at Manchester’s Lift-Off Festival last month.
The documentary is due to be screened at film festivals around the world, with Amsterdam Lift-Off Festival as their next stop.
Since filming Rich is the Life, Jack has gone on to work as First Assistant Director on the poetic drama Men Who Sleep in Cars for BBC 4, starring Maxine Peake and – alongside Tim – completed another Human Nature Documentary Getting the Miles in the Legs.
Talking about his time at Edge Hill in relation to his success, Jack said: “I think the most important thing that Edge Hill does is help develop people skills.
“It’s such a social campus and really sets you up for doing things like flying to the arctic to spend a week making a film with a crazy gold prospector!
“I’m really proud to call myself an alumnus.”