Film Production and Broadcast Engineering students win University award two years running
After winning the Bill Vinten University award last year, the University of Surrey had the honour of hosting the annual Guild of Television Camera professionals (GTC) student film award ceremony for 2024.
The evening event was the jewel in the crown after a day of lectures, networking and demonstrations from Film Production and Broadcast Engineering students, staff and visiting industry professionals.
Guests at the event included students and lecturers from Surrey as well as from other competing universities. They were fascinated by the adventures of British anthropologist, film-maker and adventurer Chris Terrill, and British cinematographer William Stone and his team, who created the short movie ‘The Fence’.
The competition is open to all universities across the UK and each one is permitted to submit three films, each of a different genre. Three films from Film Production and Broadcast Engineering students were shortlisted this year and, for the second year running, Surrey’s submissions came out on top.
The projects were:
- Original scripts and production ideas for ‘Uncancelled’, written and directed by Irene Munoz Lopez
- ‘An Easy Pill to Swallow’, written and directed by Dan Bland
- A heartfelt documentary following the plight of stray dogs in Romania and the charity that supports them, by Ben Foreman.
Graham Maunder, Chair of the GTC, said: “The Bill Vinten University Award is presented to the best overall university portfolio, which shows how teaching has provided an exceptional foundation of knowledge and good practice for their students in several areas”. The award was presented to Surrey students by John Henshall, the co-founder of the GTC, who said he was “astounded by the quality of the submissions this year and any one of the films could be broadcast on television”.
Susan Pratt, module leader for the final year creative productions, accepted the award on behalf of the winning cinematographers, Jozef Sopoligo, Dan Bland and Ben Foremen and film crew Irene Munoz Lopez, Emily Corby, Victor Poland and audio lead Alan Haigh. She said: “I’m lucky to support this group of very hardworking and talented students during their final year creative projects. Thank you to the GTC for the many hours of work that their volunteers and other industry professional gave to judge all the entries.”
John Henshall wished all the winning graduates well in for their future as they begin their new careers in the broadcast industry.
