The MediaCity talent agency is celebrating after one of their young actors, Dylan Naden, scooped a BAFTA for his performance in Cowboy Dave – the winner of the Best British Short Film.
It comes after their first brush with BAFTA success a few years ago with another of their young artists, Daniel Kerr, who was the youngest aver BAFTA winner at 12 for his performance in The Wee as young Paul Ferris.
The 13-year-old, a student at Audenshaw High School, also attends training at Scream Theatre Schools in Media City UK. He was spotted at the drama classes by talent agent Jess Bell who was impressed by his natural ability and passion for acting.
His credits to date include Jimmy McGovern’s BBC series Broken alongside Anna Friel, Kay Mellor’s Love, Lies and Records alongside Ashley Jenson and Mark Stanley and is currently voicing the role of DJ in the brand new animation series Ricky Zoom.
Dylan plays the role of Little Paul in the film, which is directed by Manchester-based director, Colin O’Toole who is the brains behind some classic music videos for Ian Brown, Tricky and Deadmau5.
Cowboy Dave is set in the early 90s and tells the story of a young boy’s encounter with a down-on-his-luck musician. During the filming, Dylan rubbed shoulders with Hollywood celebrities Sam Spruell who starred in Snow White and the Huntsman and Steve Evets who had parts in Robin Hood and Looking for Eric.
Dylan’s mum, Lynsey, said: “Dylan absolutely loves attending Scream Theatre School. When he goes to Scream he is surrounded by creative people who help to bring his talent out every week.
“I couldn’t imagine anyone better being behind Dylan than Jess at Scream Management as the level of personal management is outstanding.”
Jess added: “Dylan showed a huge amount of natural ability right from the very start and is his acting skills are going from strength to strength due to his immense passion and hark work. He is certainly one to watch in the future.”