From Chorleywood to Hollywood

FROM CHORLEYWOOD
TO HOLLYWOOD

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From Chorleywood to Hollywood! A local fifteen-year-old filmmaker has won the Chorleywood Film Competition every year since 2018. The competition for years 3-13 is run by The Chorleywood Film Club.
William Nice, who made his first film in his friend’s bedroom at the age of just ten, uses stop motion to create characters and stories through animation.

Following his mum’s recommendation to enter the film into the competition, he quickly discovered he had a natural talent – winning his age category. The celebrity judges also helped him to develop confidence: he remembers thinking at the time ‘if David Yates, who makes the Harry Potter films, likes it, then surely I have something here’. (photo: David Yates and William Nice)

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His films have evolved over time. With his first being based on his mum’s idea and using models that melted when not being stored in the fridge, to create his own concepts including real fire and models that have animation armatures under them. However, these take more time, with ideas, models, scripts and sets being organised in October, only to begin filming the following August.

Due to schoolwork and one of the voice actors, the ‘lovely man’ Ricky Beaumont, sadly passing away, William has taken a brief pause from making films. However, he has the artwork for his next – created by one of his school friends.
In the future, we may see him behind or in front of the cameras in live action films, due to his desire to pursue acting or directing.
Whilst he clearly has a talent for stop motion, ‘it takes a lot of time to do it’, and he would be keen to try other aspects of filmmaking.