Education & Training

Carnival Films announces new writing scheme for budding TV series creators

The Downton Abbey producer will train emerging writers in a series of in-depth sessions, working on their ideas in a collaborative environment. 

“We are always seeking to expand our horizons in terms of the best writing talent, and take our responsibility to nurture talent very seriously," said Carnival Films' Executive Chairman, Gareth Neame. "Collective is a great way of doing just that and we’re delighted to be working with some of the most exciting, emerging creative voices coming out of the UK today.”

My RTS Bursary Diary: Paula Melissa Ugochukwu

RTS Bursary Students at Buckingham Palace for the Prince of Wales' 70th Birthday

When I learnt of the Royal Television Society (RTS) bursaries in 2015, I knew I had to apply. Any organisation actively committed to the diversification and inclusion of underrepresented groups within the British media will always hold a place in my heart. Plus, being part of the RTS is a great opportunity to network with media industry leaders - an opportunity that I was very unlikely to stumble across as a young black woman, from a low-income family.

My RTS Bursary Diary: Victor Hampson

RTS Bursary Students Victor Hampson, Kayleigh Jones and Richard Walker (Credit: Paul Hampartsoumian)

I recently spent a week in the commissioning department at UKTV. I arrived at the reception and gave my name, braced for the understandable response that I should leave immediately due to my lack of relevance and the fact that everyone here was very busy getting on with their jobs. But no, I was welcomed in.

As I walked through the turnstile, I expected alarms to ring out - “Unauthorised entry! You do not belong here! And also sort your hair out; seriously, what’s going on there?” but once again I passed through without an eyebrow raised.

“What really matters now is talent” VFX experts discuss breaking into the industry

(Credit: Phil Lewis)

“It’s a growth industry – there should be lots of jobs to go around,” argued Louise Hastings, VFX producer at Milk Visual Effects, whose credits include BBC One’s Doctor Who and ITV historical drama Victoria.

“Netflix and Amazon are creating more and more content with bigger and bigger budgets – we can’t keep up with the amount of work we’re asked to bid for at the moment,” she continued.

“TV is going to keep Soho very busy. We’re also getting a lot of the American films [shooting] at [Warner Bros, Studios] Leavesden, like Fantastic Beasts.”

Applications open for research-based film competition

Kate Baxter and Elizabeth Dixon won last year for their film Whirlpool (Credit: AHRC)

The RIFA awards recognise the best short films, of up to 30 minutes in length, which will be judged by a panel of experts from academia and the film industry. The the winners will receive a trophy and £2,000 in prize money for future filmmaking projects.  

This year's panel includes Richard Davidson-Houston, Head of All 4, Channel 4 Television and Matthew Reisz from Times Higher Education.

Belfast workshops season a ‘huge success’

The "project children" featured in the documentary "How To Defuse a Bomb – The Project Children Story" (Credit: RTÉ)

Alleycats head of production Judy Wilson kicked off the season with the session, “How to manage a production”. Over almost five years at the indie, she has worked on many projects, including the BBC NI/ RTÉ documentary, How to Defuse a Bomb: The Project Children Story.

 

Ryan Kernaghan, the director of photography on revenge thriller Bad Day for the Cut, offered a crash course in camera and lightning techniques, explaining to the students in the audience how they should prepare for a shoot.