RTS Student Television Awards 2021
Awards Ceremony
The winners of the RTS Student Television Awards 2021, sponsored by Kinetic Content, have been announced.
The winners were crowned during a virtual ceremony held this afternoon on the RTS website, which was hosted by broadcast presenter and award-winning radio host, Vick Hope.
For 2021, the National Film and Television School received the highest number of wins across the 17 UK institutions nominated, taking home seven awards, followed by the University of Salford with three. The inaugural Young Filmmaker Award was presented to Max Tobin, Ed Whyte, Joe Luk, Oli Thomas and Almir Datoo for their film I Will Despise You. The jury described the film as impressively made and ambitious, with the script being a triumph.
Read the citations for all of the nominees here
See the full list of winners below.
ABOUT THE SPONSOR
In August 2020, Chris Coelen, the Emmy nominated founder/CEO of Kinetic Content, and German/UK based Red Arrow Studios, announced a new joint venture in Los Angeles focusing on developing high-end scripted TV series with global appeal for the US marketplace.
Melissa Myers was recruited from WME to head the new company, tapping into her international scripted content knowledge, as well as Coelen’s and Red Arrow Studios’ existing relationships.
The creative aim of the company is working with gifted creators and discovering new voices/worlds to focus on premium high-end, English-language scripted TV series with both domestic and international appeal – as well as leaning into our parent companies strengths: Kinetics’ hit marriage, relationship and social experiment brand, serving the US scripted market while utilizing Red Arrow Studios’ tremendous international reach.
Winners
Undergraduate Animation: My Favourite Hill
This film was a comedic hit with everyone on the jury. The dialogue was hilariously delivered and crafted by Chris, creating lots of laughs. Overall, an interesting and enjoyable commentary on working life, as well as a lovely tribute.
Undergraduate Non-Scripted: Man, Beast and the Heart to Win
A beautifully shot documentary imbued with an authentic sense of personality and compelling storytelling that gives a great sense of the racing life.
Undergraduate Scripted: Paper Round Boy
A sweet, big-hearted film, with a witty and original script. Beautifully shot and designed with a wonderfully nostalgic, almost retro tone. Fantastic characterisation and endearing performances from the central duo made this a real standout for the panel.
Postgraduate Animation: The Song of a Lost Boy
The jury really enjoyed this film with its unique style and message of acceptance told in such an interesting and original way. It was evident that a lot of deep thought had gone into the design and materials chosen, with excellent choices made from start to finish.
Postgraduate Entertainment: Other Nature
The jury was unanimous in its choice of this entry as the winner. A rounded story - that had us hooked from the start. It was well cast, well-acted, very well done.
Postgraduate Natural History: Secrets of the Salamanders
The jury were impressed by the story, the strong visuals, a great use of archive footage with a great voice and tone. A strong opening captured your attention and the great photography throughout kept it.
Postgraduate News: The Reproduction Revolution
An excellent entry of reporter-led portfolio of films on the subject of reproduction. The films showed great technical flair and Freya chose to take a broad look at the subject without shying away from contentious areas of surrogacy, gender and technology. Excellent range of voices presented in balanced and informed way.
Postgraduate Non-Scripted: Zágon
Brilliant, beautiful, clever, incredibly positive. Very unusual yet very successful way of telling this story. The way the art forms intertwined was captivating.
Postgraduate Scripted: Who Goes There?
“Who Goes There?” felt big and cinematic, and was unanimously praised by the jury for being genuinely scary! We loved the inventiveness of combining a domestic horror story with a staple of American cinema to create a Western Horror hybrid, and subvert the American Dream. Everything from costume to production design was impressive, and it felt like an extract of a bigger film that we would love to see.
Young Filmmaker: I Will Despise You
The jury felt this was an impressively made and ambitious short drama. The script was a triumph and the comedic elements worked well. They really believed the chemistry between the actors which was down to skilful casting and confident directing. The film showed great planning and vision in terms of creating the look and feel, using multiple locations and filming under extremely challenging conditions.
Undergraduate Camerawork: Paper Round Boy
Nice lighting and framing really helped to bring this story to life. Very well shot. The jury were very impressed by the talent of the cinematographer.
Undergraduate Editing: Staying Sane (During a Global Pandemic)
It felt that there wasn’t a wasted shot. The editing within this film was incredibly tight and very accomplished.
Undergraduate Production Design: Paper Round Boy
The jury loved the design and look of this short film, great costumes helped to combine with the art department on a very impressive looking film.
Undergraduate Sound: Yard Kings
This on location sound recording was very impressive. A compliment to the skill of the designer.
Undergraduate Writing: Staying Sane (During a Global Pandemic)
A very impressive bit of screenwriting behind a very challenging and intriguing film.
Postgraduate Camerawork: Life on the Rocks
The jury loved the style of camerawork which significantly contributed to the success of the film. The filming on the boats, the sense of loneliness (which the operator also felt themselves in the situation) and the bleak environment were captured wonderfully and contrasted superbly with the interviews. A triumph.
Postgraduate Editing: Short-Term Sister
The excellent standard of the editing massively contributed, and indeed embellished, the production of a very sensitive subject. The lingering shots, allowing for moments of silence which spoke volumes, and the overall contribution to the final production was highly commended.
Postgraduate Production Design: The Song of a Lost Boy
The jury loved the design, the juxtaposition of the troll-like characters in a choirboy setting at the beginning, the sense of fun really came through the production design and provided a visceral visual experience.
Postgraduate Sound: Life on the Rocks
The jury felt that the sounds of the environment were captured brilliantly, the birds, the boats, and the clever use of natural sound in general. The film used the sound design to breathe which really contributed to the success of the piece.
Postgraduate Writing: Short-Term Sister
The jury commended the skillful use of language to move between the interviewees, the judicious use of words to narrate the story and the delivery in English, not the narrator’s mother tongue. Guiding the viewer through a story so close to the narrator’s heart cannot have been easy yet the execution of the writing allowed the viewer to be taken on a real journey from start to finish. Brilliant.