Jason is a seven-year-old whose mother dies. Everyone tells him that she has gone to heaven, that place in the sky.

Jason decides that if heaven is a real place like Grimsby or Cleckheaton he will go there to see his mum.

But how? By Royal Mail, he thinks.

So he packs himself up in a cardboard box addressed to heaven and his quest begins.

This sad but enchanting tale of a little boy's attempts to come to terms with loss, is the outline of Oliver Emanuel's script This Way Up, chosen by Screen Yorkshire, an agency which promotes and supports filmmaking in the region, as one of nine digital ten-minute films to be made in the region this year.

It will be directed by Sarah Punshon, who has overseen plays at West Yorkshire Playhouse and also directed for television programmes Emmerdale and Doctors.

The producer, the person who looks after the business making a movie, is Sarah Senior. Her company Shoot Productions is based at Glyde House, in Bradford city centre.

Sarah said: "Screen Yorkshire and the UK Film Council want to help new talent. The Digital Shorts scheme is a real springboard for us.

"My role is to make sure the project runs well, that the contracts are in place and that the money is spent well. The script is in development.

"There are three main characters - Jason, his mum and an uncle - and some other parts. We will be casting soon. Shooting starts in the Leeds/Bradford area in April. The film will be finished by August 30."

And the cost?

"Under £30,000. Everyone is getting paid," she added.

While no-one will get rich in a monetary sense, everyone should benefit from the collaborative experience and, perhaps, from the reaction to the movie when it is released.

In the past, would-be film makers hoped to get into the business by making commercials or corporate videos. Short films offers an alternative opportunity.

Both Bradford International Film Festival and Bite the Mango have awards for short films and the same will be true of other big festivals. There are more opportunities for newcomers to shine.

Shoot Productions has, for example, been in business for more than three years; This Way Up will be the company's first venture into proper movie-making.

But how did Sarah Senior link up with Oliver Emanuel and Sarah Punshon?

"We met through Screen Yorkshire in September. I wanted to produce a short film. I read loads of scripts and met up with directors. Sarah, Oliver and I met and decided we could work together," she said.

Three of the nine projects have a Bradford connection. Apart from Sarah Senior, Prakesh Patel is producing a film called Hammerhead by South Yorkshire writer Andrew Yerlett, and writer/director Dominic Leclerc is doing Protect Me From What I Want.

Mr Leclerc is also directing Colin Teevan's play Monkey at West Yorkshire Playhouse this summer.

One of last year's short films, King Ponce, directed by Sam Donovan, was selected for the Manhattan Short Film Festival and went on to be screened at more than 200 venues in 33 countries world-wide.

Sam Donovan said: "Screen Yorkshire's Digital Shorts was a great opportunity, helping me to develop my confidence as a director as well as allowing me to showcase my work to large audiences at prestigious international events such as Cannes and Manhattan."

In May last year Screen Yorkshire was awarded £10.2m by Yorkshire Forward to make its Digital Media Content Programme reality This programme, over four years, aims to create about 1,000 jobs and attract more than £50m of inward investment.

The nine films selected for the 2008 Digital Shorts scheme, which is part of this programme, involves 21 people from across the region as directors, writers and producers. Many more will be involved in acting, filming and editing.

  • Anyone wishing to audition for a part in This Way Up should call Shoot Productions on (08456) 880118.