Student Television Awards 2013

Student Television Awards 2013

Report by Darren Carrigan and Sarah Cooper

Student television production in Scotland is in rude health – the number of entries for RTS Scotland centre’s 2013 awards was 50 per cent higher than the previous year, with the programmes praised for their quality and ambition.

The judging of the awards will take place on the 11th of December and the ceremony will take place in February. (Date to be confirmed).     

The entries across four categories – animation, entertainment, factual and fiction – were highly acclaimed by the judges, a mix of freelance directors and people from BBC Scotland, Red Kite Animation and Heaton Pictures. “The entries proved to us that the future of television programme-making in Scotland is in good hands,” said the chair of the judging panel, Henry Eagles.

The winning students from City of Glasgow College, the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design (photo by Ewan Kinloch)

At a ceremony held on 30 January at BBC Scotland in Pacific Quay, Glasgow, the animation award was scooped by Edinburgh College of Art for the third year running with Poyo and Neko by Adam Gierasmiuk. “It was a funny and engaging animation featuring one character trying to get away from another with a minimalist style which possessed great structure and pace,” said the judges.

Fist Punch by Ally Lockhart and team from City of Glasgow College took home the entertainment award. The judges commented: “The sketch show was terrific; it had a remarkable degree of professionalism and knew its audience expertly.”

Pawel Grzyb from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design won the factual award for Untold Story. The judges praised the personal nature of Grzyb’s documentary: “The story of his grandfather’s experience in Auschwitz went above and beyond with its documentation. What really set this entry apart was the great lengths they went to in the production.”

Lastly, Hannah by Michael Crumley and team from Royal Conservatoire of Scotland received the fiction award. “The lead female’s performance conveyed a perfect representation of obsession. It possessed a touch of dark realism, which filled every moment with tension,” said the judges.

RTS Scotland Chair James Wilson said: “The quality of the work is fabulous; the people here represent a diverse and vibrant developing television community in Scotland.”

Two master classes kicked off the event, chaired by Paul Tucker, RTS Scotland committee member and a lecturer at the University of the West of Scotland. The first featured Michael Hines, who shared his experiences of directing hit BBC comedies Chewin’ the Fat and Still Game. Discussing directing, he said: “We do the best job – we get to tell stories and entertain people.”

Paul Tucker (left) and Michael Hines (photo by Ewan Kinloch)

In the second, creative director Paul Murray, responsible for shows such as Channel 4’s Location, Location, Location and BBC2’s Antiques Road Trip, talked delegates through the process of format development, pitching and commissioning.

Paul Murray (photo by Ewan Kinloch)

The RTS would like to thank sponsors Mediaspec, and students from City of Glasgow College and their collaborative partners Urban Croft Films for recording the event, which is available below.

The Royal Television Society Scotland

Student Television Awards 2013

Thursday 30th January, 2014

BBC Scotland
Pacific Quay

The Winning Programmes and Student

Undergraduate Animation

Undergraduate Entertainment

Undergraduate Factual

Undergraduate Fiction

Masterclass 1:Michael Hine

Masterclass 2: Paul Murray

Paul Murray is Creative Director: New Markets at Matchlight, a Scottish based Independent Production Company that aims to be a centre of excellence in documentary and factual production.

Paul focuses on features, daytime and factual entertainment programming - he is widely considered to be one of Scotland's leading features and factual entertainment producers. Paul will talk about the many network TV programmes he has developed and will share tips as to how students might break into this area of TV.

Paul has worked Objective Scotland, STV Productions and Endemol Scotland amongst others and programmes he has overseen include the BBC daytime hit Antiques Road Trip, the Piers Morgan's BBC series You Can't Fire Me I'm Famous and Location, Location, Location.

Judging Process and Awards Ceremony

The panel of Judges was chaired by Henry Eagles and included the following distinguished industry professionals:

• Richard Downes, BBC Scotland
• Yvonne Jennings, BBC Scotland
• James Henry, Freelance Director
• Cliff Martin, Freelance Director
• Barbara McKissack, Heaton Pictures
• Sueann Smith, Red Kite Animation

The Judges considered entries from students at City of Glasgow College, Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, Edinburgh College of Art, The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, University of Stirling and University of the West of Scotland.

After much consideration and discussion the following students and programmes were short listed. The recipient of awards in the Animation, Entertainment, Factual and Fiction categories will be announced at the Evening Award Ceremony. 

Royal Television Society Scotland Student Television Awards

Nominations

Undergraduate Animation

Undergraduate Entertainment

Undergraduate Factual

Undergraduate Fiction

Acknowledgements

BBC Scotland for their generous support in hosting this event for many years. The RTS is grateful for their continued commitment.

STV for hosting the Judging panel discussion for many years. The RTS is grateful for their continued commitment.

Urban Croft for their support of City of Glasgow College Students’ recording of event, as well as the students and staff of City of Glasgow College.

Thanks to Mediaspec and Avid who have kindly agreed to sponsor catering

Thanks to Paul Tucker and University of the West of Scotland for organising afternoon Masterclasses

Royal Television Society London office for their support in the management of entries and event itself

Awards runners: Shannon Milligan and Laura Fleming

Message from RTS Scotland Chair

The Royal Television Society Scotland Student Television Awards is run each year by a team of volunteers dedicated to supporting television in Scotland. From the judges who spend so much time viewing material, the academic staff who organise the entries, the broadcasters and sponsors who commit time and resources to the event… the contribution they each make is significant and the RTS is very grateful. 

We are most grateful to the students who every year impress us all with the power of their productions, the quality of their work and the enormous effort they commit to developing their craft. Entries were up by 50% in 2013 and
the quality is as high as ever.

I hope you are impressed by the work on show at this year’s event.

James Wilson, Scotland Centre Chair
james.wilson@cityofglasgowcollege.ac.uk

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