Will Coleman is a film-maker, author, musician and educational consultant. Coleman is a former director and musician with Kneehigh TheatreCross Channel Film Lab: One and All Cross Channel Film Lab, accessdate: 3 August 2016 and founder and director of Golden Tree Productions, an organisation that develops cultural projects that promote Cornwall and its history.
Work In 2009 Coleman's Tales from Porth CD-ROM commissioned by the Cornish Language Partnership won a Media Innovation Award for best DVD/CD Design for a CD-Rom which introduces the Cornish language to children.Dead Cornish?: , accessdate: 3 August 2016 Coleman won the 2011 Govyn Kernewek film award. “The Govyn Kernewek is an annual £5,000 commission for a short film that uses the Cornish language in an interesting way”.
Coleman's short film Horn of Plenty won an award in 2012, when MPs were invited to enter a film made by one of their constituents into a ‘Film the House’ competition. Dan Rogerson entered the film and it came second overall.West Briton: Cornish Film maker wins award! West Briton, accessdate: 3 August 2016
Coleman has investigated the Cornish Plen-an-gwary, medieval Cornish amphitheatres and produced a book about them with funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Arts Council of England.BBC News: Search begins to unearth Cornwall's medieval theatres – BBC News, accessdate: 3 August 2016
In 2014 Coleman toured Cornwall in GogMagog with Bec Appleby, Jenny Beare and Steven Kelly, a story rooted in Cornish culture.Western Morning News: Futuristic treatment for energetic tale of giant Gogmagog Western Morning News, accessdate: 3 August 2016
The Cornish folk song Black and Gold (Cornish Du an Owr) has English lyrics written by Coleman.Cumpas – Cornish Music Projects – Cornish Song Lyrics 1
Man Engine In 2016 Coleman and his team created "The Man Engine" in the form of a Cornish miner, at 33 feet high, the largest puppet ever made in Britain.Plymouth Herald: The Man Engine comes alive Plymouth Herald, accessdate: 3 August 2016 The project was commissioned to mark the tenth anniversary of the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape being added to the UNESCO List of World Heritage Sites and was first unveiled in Tavistock on 25 July 2016.The Cornishman: Here's where to catch the Man Engine on its last week in Cornwall The Cornishman, accessdate: 3 August 2016 The name references the man engine, a mechanism of reciprocating ladders and stationary platforms installed in mines to aid miners' journeys to and from the working levels.BBC News: Giant miner puppet walks through Cornwall – BBC News, accessdate: 3 August 2016 The giant puppet travelled to each of the ten World Heritage Site mining areas accompanied by Bal maidens and miners who animated the puppet with ropes;Business Cornwall: https://www.businesscornwall.co.uk/latest-news/2016/07/man-engine-for-historic-journey/, accessdate: 3 August 2016 travelling 130 miles ending at the western tip of Cornwall on 6 August.ITV News: Country's largest mechanical puppet to travel across Cornwall West Country – ITV News, accessdate: 3 August 2016 Coleman said “the figure was designed to be a reminder of thousands of years of mining history in Cornwall and the region’s geology”.The Guardian: Mechanical puppet to tour south-west England to highlight mining past The Guardian, accessdate: 3 August 2016
Books Lutey and the Mermaid illustrated by Jago (Brave Tales Collection) May 2005 Madgy Figgy's Pig illustrated by Jago (Brave Tales Collection) May 2005 Tom and the Giant illustrated by Jago (Brave Tales Collection) May 2005 The Ballad of Gogmagog illustrated by Jago, Hope Education 2105 Skillywidden illustrated by Jago, Hope Education 2015 Plen an Gwari: The Playing Places of Cornwall Golden Tree Productions 2015
References