RTS Awards double for UCA student films
Following the recent success of a graduate from the University for the Creative Arts (UCA) at the BAFTAs, the next generation of filmmakers from UCA are also winning their fair share of awards.
Two films made by students at UCA Farnham won Royal Television Society (RTS) Southern Awards recently (16 February).
Stop-motion tale Britain by Bexie Bush won Best Student Animation ahead of fellow UCA nominee Joseph Caruana, while The Beach House, directed by Tom Stanley and Richard Standen, scooped Best Student Drama. Jonathan Schofield missed out on Best Factual film.
BA (Hons) Animation student, Bexie Bush from Southport, said: "It feels amazing to receive such a prestigious award that is recognised internationally as a hallmark for quality. It means so much to me because a few years ago I could only have dreamed that I would be granted such an award.
"Having 'RTS award winner' next to my name will add a mark of authenticity to my work in the future."
BA (Hons) Film Production student, Tom Stanley from Ripon in North Yorkshire, said: "This is the first award we've ever won, so it means a lot to us. It's a mark of achievement and recognition for the hard work that went into making the film.
"Also, during our time at university we saw a handful of students in the years above us win RTS award for their films so that was something to look up to."
It has been a successful week for Bexie Bush, who also won Best Animation at the BFI Future Film Festival on 18 February for her film Ever Hear a Postman Whistle? which was commissioned by the BBC and Open University for their Creative Climate competition while at UCA. Her prize is the opportunity to pitch to the head of Warner Bros Animation UK.
Bexie added: "Awards like this confirm the value of my time studying on the Animation course at UCA Farnham and encourages me to carry on with my studies and continue to engage audiences with my animated films."
The Beach House is also nominated for several awards and festivals, including Screentest, Watersprite and Exposures.
Co-director, Richard Standen who is from Pennymoor, Devon, said: "We're hoping that the RTS Southern Award and national film festivals will help us out in lots of ways – it would be great if it helps us find some funding, however small, to get us onto the next step of our careers.
"We've written feature film scripts, two television series, a comedy pilot and a documentary idea so we'd love to get one of these commissioned with some help from our award successes."
UCA has won two of the three student categories at the RTS Southern Awards for two successive years.
In 2011, Love Inc and Britain's Young Soldiers were winners - the latter went on to win a National RTS Student award.
UCA is no stranger to awards and recognition – for the second successive year, a graduate has won a BAFTA and been nominated for an Academy Award.
UCA Farnham alumnus Grant Orchard won the BAFTA for Best Short Animation on 12 February 2012 but he was not so lucky in the same category at the 84th Academy Awards, and did not become the fifth alumni of UCA to win an Oscar.
For more information contact:
David Reilly, Press Officer, UCA
T: 01252 892939
E: dreilly@ucreative.ac.uk
