My OperaThursday, March 31, 2011 7:08:21 PM
Lez Barstow graduated in 1968, after studying Fine Art at Goldsmiths College. Following, he taught Art and Design. Whilst teaching, he completed a number of courses including an advanced course in Film and Photography and in 1973 a full-time course in Film and Television at London’s Hornsey College of Art.
Lez found teaching rather claustrophobic and he left the profession in 1974 to take a Post Graduate Course in Vocational Guidance. In 1975, he was appointed as Information Officer- first with Salford Careers Service and from 1979 with the UK's Manpower Services Commission in London and Sheffield. During his time with the MSC, he worked as a Writer, Editor and Executive Producer on some innovative and award winning educational programmes and print projects. He was privileged to work with some outstanding writers, directors, crews and performers, many of whom such as Billy Connolly, Pamela Stephenson and Judy Finnegan were to become household names in UK broadcast television.
In 1984, Lez decided to pursue a career as an independent Writer, Producer and Director. One of his first clients was the UK Ministry of Defence and over the years, he worked with some of Europe’s leading companies: British Airways, Sony Music and Central Television, to name just a few. He wrote, produced and directed around one-hundred and fifty programmes ranging from education and animation to music promos, commercials and corporates. In 1997, Lez decided to take time out to write and he moved to Dublin where, identifying a gap in the market, he started up a screenwriter’s agency. This became his inspiration for Talent-Channel (A talent website and Internet TV channel) for which he found an investor in 2004, when it became TalentGold.com.
Since returning to the UK, Lez has devoted himself exclusively to developing new writing talent, first through the Manchester Writers Meetup Group and more recently through the Lez Barstow Agency.
Lez found teaching rather claustrophobic and he left the profession in 1974 to take a Post Graduate Course in Vocational Guidance. In 1975, he was appointed as Information Officer- first with Salford Careers Service and from 1979 with the UK's Manpower Services Commission in London and Sheffield. During his time with the MSC, he worked as a Writer, Editor and Executive Producer on some innovative and award winning educational programmes and print projects. He was privileged to work with some outstanding writers, directors, crews and performers, many of whom such as Billy Connolly, Pamela Stephenson and Judy Finnegan were to become household names in UK broadcast television.
In 1984, Lez decided to pursue a career as an independent Writer, Producer and Director. One of his first clients was the UK Ministry of Defence and over the years, he worked with some of Europe’s leading companies: British Airways, Sony Music and Central Television, to name just a few. He wrote, produced and directed around one-hundred and fifty programmes ranging from education and animation to music promos, commercials and corporates. In 1997, Lez decided to take time out to write and he moved to Dublin where, identifying a gap in the market, he started up a screenwriter’s agency. This became his inspiration for Talent-Channel (A talent website and Internet TV channel) for which he found an investor in 2004, when it became TalentGold.com.
Since returning to the UK, Lez has devoted himself exclusively to developing new writing talent, first through the Manchester Writers Meetup Group and more recently through the Lez Barstow Agency.
