She’s a shooting star!

Young film fan becomes special effects ace

Did you know that you’ve played a leading role in the biggest UK films? Because every time you play a National Lottery game, you’re helping to raise money that funds new UK independent films. Not only that, you’ve helped young talent from different backgrounds get into this exciting industry. Special effects ace Siona Davis has got to work on big budget movies like this year’s Men in Black: International and 2018’s Solo: A Star Wars Story since enrolling on three BFI Film Academy courses funded by The National Lottery. Siona had originally wanted to go into acting, but after completing a threemonth, part-time National Lottery and Department for Educationbacked BFI Film Academy Cinemagic course in Belfast five years ago she decided to pursue a career in visual effects. “I quickly saw that creating the film’s magic – everything that we do in visual effects is a big part of what makes a film come alive for viewers – was an incredibly exciting part of the business to be involved in,” she says. After studying Digital Film Production at Ravensbourne University in Greenwich, the particle physicist’s

daughter from Northern Ireland was a runner before landing a paid placement on the Pinewood Studiosshot Solo: A Star Wars Story, thanks to a National Lottery-financed BFI Film Academy Future Skills programme in partnership with Lucasfilm. “Working on Solo gave me an invaluable insight into everything that happens in a studio from prop-making to how long it takes a set to be built,” says Siona. “It was a real eye-opener.” The experience she gained on that film helped her get jobs in visual effects – creating ‘CG’ [computergenerated] characters and impossible to perform stunts – on the new live action Pokémon film, Detective Pikachu, the upcoming 2020 fantasy comedy Dolittle and a hushhush new Marvel Comics movie. “It’s a really exciting time for me career-wise, but I wouldn’t be where I am now but for all I learnt on The National Lottery-funded BFI Film Academy courses I participated in,” she says. Siona’s goal is to help get more films off the ground in her Northern Ireland homeland. “The UK film business can be London-centric, but there are so many voices outside the capital that deserve to be heard,” she says.

It’s a really exciting time for me career-wise SIONA DAVIS The National Lottery-funded British Film Institute course graduate