Posted: Fri 26th Feb 2016

OSCAR nominated ‘Bridge of Spies’ screenwriter Matt Charman hosts Q&A at Theatr Clwyd

News and Info from Deeside, Flintshire, North Wales
This article is old - Published: Friday, Feb 26th, 2016

One of Hollywood’s hottest new writers hosted a lively Q&A session during a charity event at Theatr Clwyd’s cinema last Saturday night.

OSCAR and BAFTA-nominated screenwriter Matt Charman who’s latest work includes the much-acclaimed Steven Spielberg film Bridge of Spies thrilled a full-house audience in Mold following a screening of the film at the Theatre.

The film since its release at the end of 2015 has received several OSCAR and BAFTA nominations, including “Best Film” and “Best Original Screenplay”.

[x_blockquote cite=”Matt Charman” type=”left”]“Urdd Eisteddfod should be supported and cherished” [/x_blockquote]

The charity event was organised by Mold’s Appeal Committee for the Urdd Eisteddfod – the annual Welsh-language youth festival of literature, music and performing, and the biggest festival of its kind in Europe – that will be visiting Flint between May 30- June 4, 2016.

Local young aspiring writers were also able to taste a bit of Hollywood glitz and glamour following writing workshops with Matt Charman during the afternoon.

Matt, who’s wife Anwen hails from Connah’s Quay, is also the writer and creator of the popular BBC 1 show “Our Zoo”, said:

“It was an absolute pleasure to come and help the fundraising effort for the Urdd Eisteddfod. Thank you so much to everyone at Theatr Clwyd, and to all the friends and family who came along – it was wonderul to see so many familiar faces in the audience.

I have always been heartened and inspired to hear my wife talk about the Urdd Eisteddfod, which certainly had a deep impact on her life. At a time when cuts to the arts are being made across the country, it is inspiring to know that this amazing cultural festival is still thriving. The Urdd Eisteddfod should be supported, cherished and protected.”

Although Bridge of Spies is Matt’s first original feature film, he is also a successful playwright and writer for TV, with three plays having premièred at the National Theatre in London, and other TV credits including “Black Work”, starring Sheridan Smith, for ITV1.

 

Matt Charman is currently working on numerous new projects for theatre, film and TV.  Photograph: Rosie Hallam

Matt Charman is currently working on numerous new projects for theatre, film and TV.  Photograph: Rosie Hallam

Committee member Bethan Williams, who came up with the original idea said:

“We are so thankful to Matt for coming up to Mold and giving us a wonderful evening! At the beginning of our fundraising efforts, and with a local target of £30,000, we were struggling to come up with different ideas of how to raise the money.”

My 16-year-old son is a bit of a film buff, and when my sister told us that the husband of one of her best friends had written the latest Spielberg movie, we decided to find out if we could get a bit of Hollywood to come to Mold.

Matt’s wife Anwen is originally from Connah’s Quay, and during her time at Ysgol Glanrafon and Ysgol Maes Garmon, experienced numerous performance and creative opportunities through the Urdd and the Eisteddfod. We were delighted when she replied immediately to say that Matt would be able to come up and help us fundraise.”

She added:

“We would like to thank the staff at Theatr Clwyd for hosting the event and the workshops beforehand and for their generosity in supporting the Urdd Eisteddod – we raised in excess of £700.”

Julia Grime who programmes the films at Theatr Clwyd said:

“It was a brilliant day. And such an inspiration for our audience and the 30 aspiring young writers who came to the story workshops (and me!) to hear Matt’s own story of how his determination to write has led him to a successful career and now, landing a screenplay with the great Steven Spielberg, and more!

Looking forward, we’re really excited about creating a writing project to build on the workshops, hopefully with some more input from Matt. Thank you Matt – there’ll cetainly be at least 31 people from Flintshire rooting for you at the Oscars this Sunday!”

BRIDGE-OF-SPIES-QUAD-UK

 

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