THE landmarks of Teesside are being immortalised thanks to the work of a newly-established filmmaker.

Matt McGough set up his company Ithica Films with the help of a DigitalCity Fellowship and has already attracted considerable praise for his ‘Love Letters to Teesside’ series of short films.

Prior to founding Ithica Films, he spent a decade working for film companies across Europe, the USA and China.

The Teesside University graduate opted to set up his own business after learning about the DigitalCity Fellowship scheme which offers entrepreneurs up to £4,000 per co-founder to cover their living costs as they develop a business product or idea.

Ithica Films specialises in creating films for business and has already attracted a number of clients in the engineering and process industries on Teesside.

He said: “Starting my own business has been fantastic and the Fellowship has helped me to achieve that.

“It has allowed me to go from being a cameraman to a filmmaker.

“Before starting Ithica Films, through my work, I’d met a number of people who came through the DigitalCity Fellowship programme and they had real inner strength.

“I feel like my own skills have improved and I’m in a lot more control of what I can do.”

The filmmaker, who is originally from Middlesbrough and now lives in Stockton, is also working on the ‘Love Letters to Teesside’ sequence of short films.

The films use slow motion footage and interesting camera angles to highlight a particular landmark on Teesside.

So far, he has completed films on the Temenos sculpture and Infinity Bridge, both of which have been extremely well received on social media. More films are planned in the near future.

Marc de Launay, Creative Director at DigitalCity, said: “We are delighted to have been able to help Matt set up his own business.

“He is producing some exceptional work and his ‘Love Letters to Teesside’ series of films are doing a fantastic job at helping to promote this area.”

Visit www.ithicafilms.com and www.vimeo.com/ithicafilms to learn more about the filmmakers work.

For more information and to apply for a DigitalCity Fellowship, visit www.digitalcityinnovation.com/fellowships

The deadline for applications for the next round of DigitalCity Fellowships is noon on Monday (December 1).