Haltwhistle teacher focuses on new career in film
Nov 15 2008 by Richard Fletcher, The Journal
A FORMER deputy headteacher has made an unusual career change after quitting the classroom to make pop videos.
Ian Brown, 53, from West Road in Haltwhistle, Northumberland, has teamed up with his son Matthew, 22, to make films of local bands.
The pair set up their own film production company, Flashlight Films, when Ian was made redundant from South Tynedale Middle School last year.
But after making a number of promotional videos, including one for Haltwhistle Sports Centre and another for the Big Lottery, the father and son team has now branched out to offer bands an opportunity to professionally market themselves. Mr Brown said: “We’ve got a package we want to offer. There are a lot of bands around here, and we’re offering to film them live and then produce a DVD to spice up their websites.
“We’ve already made a documentary DVD that follows Newcastle band Waterfront at music festivals. It wasn’t so much about the music but about the day and what they got up to.”
The pair’s latest venture builds on both of their skills.
Mr Brown has always had an interest in film and involved many of his children in video projects while working at South Tynedale Middle.
He also has a musical background, as he teaches guitar in schools around the area as part of the Northumberland County Music Service.
Son Matthew, meanwhile, is a graduate in film production technology from Stafford University, and in between working at Twice Brewed Inn at Bardon Mill, he knows plenty of people involved with music around the North East.
Ian, who has a daughter, Hannah, still at school and another son, Jonathon, 25, who is a computer animation and special effects graduate, said: “We’re not growing rich but we’re busy.
“Redundancy had been on the cards for many years and it was an opportunity that many people don’t get. I want to do the type of things now that I’m really interested in.
“We got funding together for a camera for the school and I suppose that is where my interest started. My son Matthew has always had an interest in films.
“Then redundancy loomed and he had finished at university, and we decided to give it a go and put our heads together.
“The process of putting things together is something I find quite interesting. I’m put with another person who has a lot of contacts and is very creative in the way he sees music videos, and has some excellent editing skills in the new technology.
“I think our skills complement each other.”
