FEW people would credit a man-eating shark with deciding their future career.

But St Helens-born film director, David Yates does just that, citing a childhood trip to see the monster movie, Jaws, as the turning point in his life.

And the former Grange Park High pupil is hoping to make good on that with the release of 'The Tichborne Claimant', his first feature film as a director.

Born in Rainhill, 36 year old David and his family later moved to Grange Park and David told the Star: "I thought Jaws was great and I made up my mind then that film directing was my big ambition. I used to practice by making my own home movies around town with all my mates as the stars. I actually submitted some to a TV programme called Screen Test for amateur filmmakers and a few got shown."

David's successes continued into his teens when, at just 17, he won a special award at the Cork Film Festival for 'The Ghost Ship', a short film made just outside Liverpool.

In 1983, after taking a drama course and O levels in St Helens College, David left St Helens to study Government and Politics at the University of Essex and then spent a year in Washington D.C before returning to do a three year post-graduate film course at the National Film and Television School in London where he directed a number of award-winning short films and began to make a name for himself on the film festival circuit. He added: "Directing a full-length feature film has always been my number one aim but it's very expensive. The Tichborne Claimant was made on a budget yet it still cost about £3 million. So I started with TV programmes, documentaries and shorts but when I read Joe Fisher's screenplay of the Tichborne Claimant, it was the perfect choice for my first feature film."

The film, which stars Stephen Fry, Robert Hardy and Sir John Gielgud, is the story of Roger Charles Tichborne, the son of a baronet and heir to the wealthy Tichborne family estate who was feared drowned when his Australia-bound ship capsized in 1854. But 12 years later, following a plea by Tichborne's mother, Thomas Castro, a butcher from Wagga Wagga, came forward to claim the inheritance saying he was the long lost heir. However, he was so unlike Tichborne that, despite Lady Tichborne's faith in him, a lengthy court case outed him as an imposter and sentenced him to 14 years imprisonment. He was released after 10 and later died in poverty

David added: "It was a great story and even today, opinions are divided over whether the claimant was indeed Tichborne. The weight of evidence seems against him but I think he really did believe he was Tichborne. I'll leave it to the audiences to make their own decision."

THE Tichborne Claimant is now showing in selected cinemas across the UK.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.