The creative industries are a success story in the UK, with UK film contributing over £4.6bn to GDP and supporting over 117,000 jobs. Here in Brighton we’re lucky to have one of the UK’s top 10 film schools, the Brighton Film School on London Road, which has nurtured talent in the city for just over 20 years. Brighton has also been the backdrop for several iconic films, not least Brighton Rock and Quadrophenia. The Film the House competition is a chance to keep our city and Brighton & Hove’s film-makers front and centre on the UK stage.

The way the competition works is that each MP chooses one entrant per category to represent our constituency. Categories are as follows:

• Best short film – under 16
• Best short film – 16 and over
• Best original film script– under 16
• Best original film script – 16 and over

A national industry judging panel then chooses the finalists and winners, who will have their work screened in Parliament. Winners will receive prizes which may be equipment, work experience, professional advice from writers and industry experts and/or a screening of their film.

Dates for the competition are as follows:

• 31 July: Closing date for entries to MPs’ offices
• 30 August: Closing date for MPs to announce their constituency nominations
• 24 October: Award Ceremony with screening at House of Commons.

More information on applying is at www.filmthehouse.co.uk.