SUCCESSFUL film director and ex-Ilkley Grammar School student, Corey Greenop, met and talked to Ilkley media students about his experiences as a professional film director just before the Easter holidays.

Corey shared his story of how he fought back from feeling like a ‘failure’ at 16 to secure funding for a multi-million second feature – a tale worthy of a film in itself.

Despite the setback in Year 11, a resilient Corey went on to complete a film degree, and is now about to complete an MA in scriptwriting.

He reflected on how decisions he made during his time at Film School ultimately led to him hob-nobbing with the Hollywood elite at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival.

Determined to build up a portfolio that might ultimately help secure his dream of directing a feature film, he took the risk of of setting up a business producing wedding videos and accompanying DVDs. He pointed out what a great learning school that had been.

Diligent groundwork eventually paid off for Corey – but only after another, potentially more serious, setback.

A climbing accident left him bed-bound with a badly damaged back, and it was during this time that he solidified a notion he’d had for a screenplay. Following another setback, when Screen Yorkshire knocked back his application for assistance, Corey sought and won production help from various Scottish agencies, and would shoot his film Wandering Rose.

Another former Ilkley Grammar media student, Theo Wightman, played a minor character in front of the camera but behind the scenes was a key production assistant, gaining experience as Corey once had, as a ‘runner’.

The lead actress’ agent was so impressed by the ‘screener’ that he pushed for Corey to take the film to Cannes. A phone call from Los Angeles would ensure that Wandering Rose would not simply gather dust. He struck a series of deals which means that his film will be released in scores of countries across the world, not least the UK and USA.

Media teacher, Dave Burrowes, said: “When our media students took part in a Question and Answer session following Corey’s talk, the word inspirational stood out. Two students asked me to look into the possibility of work experience with Corey’s company and he quickly replied to say he would.”