Talented TV and media graduates showcase their work

Students with bright futures in television and media production unveiled their work at the University’s Media Showcase Screening.

Among work on show from the final year BA (Hons) TV Production Professional Practice and BA (Hons) Media Production Professional Practice students was a film focusing on the important role the humble garden shed can play in a person’s life.

Mark Rye, Matthew Preece, Daniel Ward and Paul Robinson were behind Shed Your Life, which focuses on how for some, a shed can provide a quiet haven, a retreat to create inventions, or a den to enjoy a pint of beer.

Mature student Mark, 45, said: ‘My role in making the film was to research the film and to examine the idea that sheds can quite often have eccentric uses. It led us to an inventor and someone else who had created a pub in their shed.’

Mark, from Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire, returned to education for the BA (Hons) Television Production Professional Practice after making the switch from a career with a garden makeover business.

He said: ‘I just decided that I really wanted to do something which I knew I would enjoy. I have always been interested in documentaries and enjoy watching them, which led me into television production.

‘Television may a young person’s game, but I have really enjoyed the degree course and now plan to finance my own film,’ added Mark, who is heading to Novosibirsk in August to make a film about the Trans-Siberian Express, the world’s longest single-service railway.

Industry representatives were invited to the Media Showcase to comment on the students’ work. Among them was Tom Gutteridge, an EMMY and BAFTA award-winning executive producer/director and Chairman of Skillset Northern Media Industries Panel, who said: ‘I was really impressed by the standard of filmmaking this year. The students presented a broad range of subjects.

‘The standards at Teesside are rising every year and with the University achieving Skillset Academy status, I’m hopeful that the University will be able to supply some of the next generation of talent for the television and film industries.’

The University of Teesside has Media Academy status and is part of the Skillset Media Academy Network. The network comprises UK institutions identified by Skillset on behalf of the UK television and interactive industries as centres of excellence in creative media education and training.

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