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Triple triumph for Teesside at Royal Television Society awards

27 February 2017

 

Teesside University is celebrating a triple win at a prestigious Royal Television Society awards ceremony.

From left, Natasha Graham, Srijith Jalapathy, Adam Mann, Clare Kirkpatrick from the team behind Shed, which won two RTS awards
From left, Natasha Graham, Srijith Jalapathy, Adam Mann, Clare Kirkpatrick from the team behind Shed, which won two RTS awards

Rising stars from the television industry were invited to the Royal Television Society North East and Border Awards 2017 to receive awards recognising achievements in broadcast journalism, production, writing and technical skills.

Students nominated for the awards, which salute the next generation of television professionals, rubbed shoulders with regional broadcasters, news and drama production teams who picked up awards for those already working in the industry.

Teesside University won three student category awards:

Regional Student Award: Drama for Shed, created by Teesside University students in the School of Design, Culture & the Arts. Shed also won the Regional Student Award: Craft for production design.

Regional Student Award: Animation for A Monster Named Malcolm, created by Teesside University students in the School of Computing.

Final year BA (Hons) Film and Television students Adam Mann and Srijith Jalapathy, known as Sri, assembled a crew of students and friends to work on Shed, which examines themes of love and loneliness. The film’s producer Adam, 22, who is originally from Newcastle, came up with the initial concept for Shed, asking Sri to come on board as director.

Adam said: 'When we started the film, we wanted to produce something which would be seen by lots of people and not just a study project. We wanted it to have a running life of at least one year and we’ve succeeded in doing that and taking it further too, with festival screenings and the RTS nomination. Being nominated itself was an honour, but actually winning is a dream.'

Sri, 21, added: 'Studying for this degree is helping me to follow the career path I have always wanted to take. It has helped to make me into a better filmmaker and to prepare for the outside world and find a job in the industry.'

The full crew for Shed also included BA (Hons) Film and Television students; director of photography Ben Driver, sound recordist Sam Smith, editor Simon Thompson, production designer Clare Kirkpatrick, assistant director Marta Wyderka, production co-ordinator Kerry Stainsby and photographer Daniel Angioy. Natasha Graham, who composed the soundtrack, is now completing the first year BA (Hons) Television and Film Production, having worked on the film before starting her degree at Teesside.

Studying for this degree is helping me to follow the career path I have always wanted to take

Srijith Jalapathy, BA (Hons) Film and Television

A Monster Named Malcolm was created by graduates of the School of Computing’s BA (Hons) Computer Animation and BA (Hons) Computer Animal and Visual Effects - Ruthie Nielsen, currently working at TT Games, Vicky Wainwright, who is currently studying MA Concept Art, Rose Gibbin and Zoe Llewellyn, who are now working as graduate interns in the School of Computing, and Jessica Sham.

Zoe, 21, who is originally from the Midlands and spent time living in Holland and London, came to Teesside to study due to the course. She said: 'I came here on an open day and the facilities were brilliant.'

Rose, 23, from Redcar, added: 'The facilities are really impressive and I really enjoyed the course. The lecturers are so supportive.'

The student winners of the 2017 Royal Television Society North East and Border Centre awards now go towards the national RTS national student awards on Friday 16 June.

The University’s RTS link continues with School of Design, Culture & the Arts graduate Junaid Iqbal who left Teesside University with a first class BA (Hons) Television and Film Production degree last year. Junaid, who has set up his own company Dotted Media, completed a showreel to highlight the 30th anniversary of RTS, which was screened at the awards ceremony. Closer to home he is also involved in the MELA organising committee behind the annual event in Middlesbrough.

Full list of winners at the RTS North and Border Awards 2017


 
 
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