The North East and The Border Centre of the Royal Television Society has pioneered this showcase for young talent, and it is a wonderful opportunity for young producers to see clips of their work on a big screen and to share it with an audience.

The 20th year of this unique North East event was held on March 21st, and within 12 hours, a web report on the 20th RTS Young People's Video Showcase went online, courtesy of pupils of Marden High School on Tyneside. By chance they were being filmed by BBC News 24 that day, and so the RTS event was seen on their running order by viewers nationwide.

 

More than 250 young people, with their teachers and facilitators, took part in Junior and Senior screenings which were once again hosted by the University of Teesside. Excerpts of 56 entries were shown at the event which was hosted by BBC presenter Sharuna Sagar.

"You're a very gifted group of film-makers" was the verdict of international award-winning Claire Jennings, Executive Producer of Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit, who presented certificates and DVD compilations to all entrants.

Claire commented on the strength of drama on offer from many of the entries. "The level of sophistication is really remarkable. The North is renowned for drama-making skills and it seems to me you have inherited those abilities."

In two lively question-and-answer sessions, she urged wannabe film makers to network and to develop working relationships with people with whom they enjoyed collaborative projects.

Advice was available outside the screenings from Film Street, Northern Film and Media, Skillset, make-up specialists, and Cleveland College of Art and Design. The annual Showcase magazine, funded by the RTS HQ, will be sent to more than a thousand young people in June. It contains production tips, information on screenings and funding, and case studies from the event entries. The Showcase magazine will contain reports from the Marden High School group and young people from Arc TV in Stockton, who covered the Senior Showcase event.

Three entrant groups were rewarded to help develop their potential:

• Richard Robson from Prudhoe Community High School in Northumberland was awarded with a work placement with RTS award-winners Twenty First Century Media
• Faiza Azam from King's Manor School in Middlesbrough is to receive career advice from network producer/director/camera operator Bridget Deane
• Gary Carse and colleagues, also from Prudhoe School, hope to visit Aardman Animation's Bristol studios as a reward for "Look To The Sky", an MTV entry which took more than 80 hours to create

All the young people were congratulated by University of Teesside hosts, Deputy Vice Chancellor Cliff Allen (who welcomed the junior video makers) and Senior University Deputy Vice Chancellor Professor Leni Oglesby (who welcomed the seniors).

The event was sponsored by Creative Partnerships North and South Tyneside, The DigitalCity and NFM. The showreel was prepared by the University of Sunderland with titles by Qurios.

OLWYN HOCKING

You can see Marden High School’s TV News Report if you click here.

SHOWCASE MAGAZINE

This 16-page Showcase magazine summarises some of the best tips and case studies to emerge from the 2007 event. There’s also film-maker profiles, interviews with Claire Jennings (Creative Prducer of 'Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-rabbit') and BBC North News presenter Sharuna Sagar. Also advice on copyright, and 'Who Does What on Set'.

You can download a 2MB PDF version if you click here, or email NETB Webmaster to request a copy.