BACK in 1979, Sarah Walker, from Halesowen, was snapped by a News photographer and featured in our very first edition – posing in a litter bin.

Little did anyone know then the impact that cameras would have on her life.

Passionate about movies since childhood, Sarah is now one of the country’s most promising young film-makers and is enjoying a roller-coaster ride on the way to directing her first feature.

The 32-year-old former Halesowen College student graduated from Surrey Institute of Art and Design with a degree in media production and soon afterwards found herself jumping in at the deep end as third assistant director on Tomb Raider, starring Angelina Jolie.

The high-profile first paid job soon led to funding towards her first short, the critically acclaimed 420 Seconds of Love (2002), which was nominated for a string of awards.

Her second short flick, Almost Strangers (2003), also scooped plenty of industry praise and was followed by a series of equally applauded independent shorts.

But Sarah’s biggest gig to date was a stint directing Hollyoaks in 2006, including In The City, filmed in the USA.

These days, she is busy working as series and creative director for a new BBC teen soap, The Cut, which is being shown online every day, with a weekly omnibus on Saturdays at noon on BBC2.

She said: “It’s the hardest job I’ve ever done. It’s the first show where I’m not just a director – I’ve had so much of a creative input into it.

“But in November I’m going back to writing my feature and hopefully I’ll get that off the ground.”

Moved by teen angst movies such as Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet, Bernado Bertolucci’s Stealing Beauty and Some Kind of Wonderful by the late John Hughes, Sarah’s first feature is tentatively titled Love Notes and Suicide Letters.

Inspired by a fascination with relationships and the way people challenge each other, it promises to be a thought-provoking but definitely not an over-syrupy tale about love.

And if her successful early shorts are anything to go by, it’s likely to propel Sarah, who once pulled pints at Stourbridge pub The Crispin, a huge step closer towards directorial stardom and her goal of creating “stories that change the world”.

Life has turned out anything but rubbish for the little blonde girl pictured posing in a litter bin 30 years ago.

But what possessed her to strike such a pose back then? Well it was the 70s!

Sarah, who runs her own independent film company, Underdog Productions, explained: “My mom always told me this story about how we were in Halesowen and this photographer said ‘can I take your picture?’ “My mom said okay – I think they thought I was cute – and they wanted to put me in the bin.”

Perhaps the experience put her off a career in front of the camera forever, or maybe seeing an artist creating an image and telling a story through a picture pointed her towards the director’s chair?

Coincidence or fate? Who knows? But one thing’s for sure – Sarah’s success is testament to the notion that if you believe in your dream enough, it really can come true.