Meet The Team

Paul is the Founder and Chief Executive of the Foundation. He has been in the Film & Television Industry all his life, working both in front and behind the camera. In 2008, he started the first young people’s film-making group, which quickly grew into the Foundation, achieving charity status in 2015. 

 

In Paul’s role as Chief Executive, he works alongside the Board of Trustees in writing funding proposals, working on policies to do with safeguarding and first aid, along with a whole heap of other things! He works with young people to help design the workshops, and understand new and exciting ideas that young people want to see from the Foundation. 

 

Since 2015 the charity has grown each year due to the hard work of Paul, James, Trustees and the 40 ex-young filmmakers who return every year to help facilitate the workshops, passing on their knowledge in the TV and Film industry culminating in over 50 workshops in 2022 alone.

 

“I appreciate how important the mentors in my life made a difference to me and my career, and so by being able to run workshops and engage with young people, passing on my knowledge, enthusiasm and bringing back ex young filmmakers who do the same, we are able to provide important life skills and creativity to the next generation.”

James started attending workshops aged 9 and loved all aspects of the filming process. He continued to attend workshops for the following few years, gaining traction in the understanding of skills for both in front and behind the camera. James decided early on that film-making would not become his day-to-day job, deciding to pursue his studies of academia from his GCSEs, to A Levels and then his degree.

 

In 2018, James joined the Board of Trustees as the ‘Young Trustee’ aged 15, succeeding to a full Trustee on his 18th birthday. In March 2022, he resigned his position on the Board to step back and help Paul in the day-to-day running of the charity. 

 

Now, James is studying Politics with Law at university in London, whilst also working as the administrator for the charity. He is also one of the lead facilitators at the Foundation, working on most of the workshops across Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, and London.

 

“I work and volunteer for The Offshoot Foundation not for the kid who sits there screaming about how much they love acting, or for those students that come back to our workshops every year. I do it to help inspire the growth of a person. To see how in such a short amount of time, a child can go from being unable to bring themselves to say ‘Hello’ on the first day, to winning an oscar on day 5, because that’s what the Foundation did for me.”

Ashley was 13  when he first came along to one of our workshops. Quickly, he became engaged by filmmaking and tried to attend every workshop possible! Ashley struggled at school and therefore left with no qualifications. Despite this, Ashley joined West Suffolk College (WSC) on the Media Production course due to his ability to show his showreel that he had built up over the previous few years with the Foundation.

 

This same showreel was developed with WSC and the Foundation, allowing him to apply to Ravensbourne University in 2013. Even though Ashley had zero formal qualifications, he was welcomed with an unconditional offer to Ravensbourne due to his huge showreel and wealth of experience from his time at college and with the Foundation.

 

Now, Ashley works during all school breaks on projects with the Foundation across Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, and London and is one of our most experienced facilitators.

 

“Meeting and working with you has changed my life. I never thought I would amount to much and was told that by many people. You showed me that with commitment and hard work, I can achieve. Thank you for showing faith in me and giving me a focus in life. I wouldn’t be where I am today without you.”

Anna started working with the Foundation over a decade ago, helping to facilitate workshops across Suffolk whilst her daughters attended. Anna took a hiatus from the charity to become the Head of Film Studies at a local secondary school. 

 

Anna recently stepped down from her teaching position to pursue other things, along with working back in a more prominent role with the charity. Since February 2022, Anna has worked on most of the film-making workshops run by the Foundation, along with working on researching the next steps for the charity to grow to help inspire the next generation. 

 

Anna achieved a master’s degree in Creative Media Education, and has worked semi-professionally in the film industry as a freelancer in the past. Anna believes that creativity is one of the most undervalued skills that children are encouraged to develop, and should be pushed to the forefront of education.

 

“I believe that what the Foundation can offer is something that is limited within the frame of institutionalised education. The creative workshops enable the children not only to develop their own ideas and creativity, but furthermore enhance desirable soft skills including collaboration, reflection, initiative and communication. The workshops give children the insight into an industry they would otherwise not have the opportunity to explore.”

Hannah is reasonably new to the Foundation, having only started working with us in April 2022. However, since then, Hannah has shown her natural talent and ability to work with young people on a wide range of workshops. 

 

Having completed BTECs and A Levels in a wide range of Performing Arts, Hannah works with our young people to come up with out-of-the-box ideas and express themselves through their creative media. Hannah works as a teaching assistant at a local primary school and comes along to help facilitate as many workshops as she can across Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, and London.

 

“I love working for the Foundation. I enjoy working with different children, getting to know them, and seeing their development throughout the workshop, is one of the best parts of it! Helping the children with their ideas, then seeing them having fun while creating their projects is so nice to see.”