The red carpet was out as the Oscars came to town for our students with the Prospect Theatre playing host once again to the Annual College Media and Film Awards, celebrating the fantastic achievements of media and film students in their coursework production units and beyond. The exhibited print and film work was stunning in its range and audience impact and also showcased the work that students produced for other organisations, such as the London School of Economics and TAG Farnborough Airport.

As part of a star-studded evening, industry professionals and academics, including British Film Producer Gareth Ellis-Unwin (Bedlam Productions), TV Director and Producer Peter Eyre, plus Greg Boardman of Rastamouse fame all presented prizes and awards, as well as remarking on the professional standard of the students’ work.

Gareth Ellis-Unwin, producer of the Oscar winning The King’s Speech, Zaytoun and others further cemented the growing relationship between his company and the Department as he talked through all the points of contact throughout the year via the funding, production and promotion of his recent collaboration, ‘Kajaki’. He finished by offering six work experience placements at Bedlam Productions to the worthy winners of outstanding Achievement Awards, Will Devereux, Jessie Griffiths, Jim Hurrell, MacKenzie Morrison, Nathan Staker and Isobel Stocker. This is the fifth year running that he has offered this fantastic opportunity (and a new record for numbers). They will get a chance to experience all aspects of TV and Film Production with many new projects on the slate.

Gareth commented, “The work that goes on in the Department here at Farnborough is stunning and it is a pleasure to give this opportunity to highly talented students as they make their first steps in their careers.”

And to prove the point he brought along one of the winners from four years ago, and the first work experience recipient, Charlotte Hill. She has made such an impression that, after completing her film degree course, she is working at Bedlam on a regular basis on a range of projects. Charlotte spoke passionately about the opportunities she had received to a rapt audience of students and talked through her experience as Third Assistant Director on ‘Kajaki’.

A special moment in this year’s awards came with the first public showings of clips from two major new promotional films made by groups of students on the Media and Film Enrichment programme for the London School of Economics and TAG Farnborough Airport. The first of these, now posted on the LSE website, introduces the newly launched Mediation service for staff at the LSE, one of the world’s elite universities. It marks the third year of what is now seen by both the College and the LSE as a fruitful ongoing collaborative relationship.

The second is a video made for wide distribution through schools in Hampshire to raise aspirations among younger students via the success stories of former students.

With over 600 students, the Media and Film Department at the College is one of the largest centres for Media and Film Studies in the country with a consistently outstanding record of achievement.

Aidan Hamilton, Senior Curriculum Manager of Film and Media commented, “Our goal here in the Department is simple. It is to take the curriculum as a starting point, inspire our students, open the doors to their imagination and give them the encouragement, opportunity and ambition to learn. Tonight we saw the fruits of that endeavour. We want Media and Film to be a vibrant, high achieving and caring place where students want to be and it works. Our students outstrip all National achievement figures by some margin year after year; plus every student survey we carry out tells us that they enjoy doing it. The work on show tonight was by turns funny, moving and exciting and in addition showed excellent technical skill and ambition. I am incredibly proud of them, as well as of the fantastic team of teachers and technical support staff that has helped them realise their potential.”