An aspiring Suffolk director who has already produced her own music video and pitched an advert to Barclays, hopes she will soon be working with the likes of Lady Gaga.
Having won the rising star award at the East Anglian Student Film Festival last month, Zoe Hambling is already one step closer to realising her dreams.
“You have got to have ambition,” said 19-year-old Zoe, a student at West Suffolk College in Bury St Edmunds.
“And my dream is to become a big director, maybe as big as Steven Spielberg - eyes to the top all the way.”
Next summer Zoe, who lives on the Horringer Court Estate in Bury, will graduate from a two-year media production course at the college with a string of accolades to her name.
As well as winning the rising star award at the Ipswich-based film festival, she lead a team of students to victory in a 48-hour film challenge held at the college.
Her team were handed the tagline ‘Cool like Keith’ and had just two days to script, produce, film and edit a film.
Zoe took on the role of director and together with her group produced a mock documentary about an insane obsession with comic Keith Lemon.
“It was a very difficult challenge, working with people I didn’t know very well and producing the film from scratch.”
The young director has stood in front of top advertising agency bosses, and representatives from Barclays, to pitch her idea for a new advert, and has produced a music video to accompany a hit by Australian signer Chet Faker.
However, it could have all been very different, as Zoe originally started out along a more theatrical route.
“I did a two-year performing arts course and got involved in directing through that, I decided to take it further so signed up for the media production course.”
Having found her calling in life, Zoe is now looking to take at university courses that will help her further develop her skills.
“I am looking at courses in digital film, TV and film or advertising and music videos,” she said. “I want to study in London, and I am hoping to pick up some freelance work along the way.
“Eventually I would really like to work with someone who likes a lot of colour, someone like Lady Gaga would be amazing.”
And to prove her love of colour, Zoe has just completed a messy project creating an ident for CBBC.
“An ident is the branding that is shown between programmes,” she explained. “I wanted it to be bright so we got the paints out and splattered it everywhere, it was good fun but quite messy!”
• Zoe’s entry for the East Anglian Student Film Festival, and the other winning films, will be screened at West Suffolk College on November 18.
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