Recent University of Gloucestershire graduates and current students were among the winners and nominees at the Royal Television Society (RTS) West of England Student Awards 2024.
The highly prestigious awards by the RTS – an educational charity promoting the art and science of television – recognise and celebrate the wealth of talent, creativity and innovation of students and graduates in the region.
Kay Proctor, Katie Stacey, Meg Davies, Will Chapple, Morris Haynes (all BA (Hons) Film Production), Josh Rowe (BA (Hons) Popular Music) and Sam Harris (BA (Hons) Sound and Music Production) won the Journalism category for their film I’ll Just Have Cats, which they made while studying at the University.
Kay also won RTS Craft Awards – which reward exceptional promise – for Writing and Production Design, while Katie won a Craft Award for Production Design.
As the West of England winner, I’ll Just Have Cats now goes forward to the RTS National Student Awards ceremony featuring other regional winners in June.
Films made on the University’s BA (Hons) Film Production course have a strong track record at the RTS National Student Awards, with Delicious Love winning Best Comedy in 2019, Dead Canary shortlisted for Best Drama in 2020, Paper Round Boy winning Best Drama in 2021, and Signed Marlo shortlisted for Best Drama in 2022.
Other winners at the RTS West of England Student Awards 2024 included Roshan Balu and Max Roberts, who won Craft Awards for Writing and Cinematography respectively for the film Coconut, which received a special commendation from the judges.
Last month, the team that made Coconut – Roshan, Max, MacKenzie King, Francesca Carmella, Georgia Newman and Dylan Salter (all BA (Hons) Film Production) – won the Best Overall Undergraduate Film Award at the NAHEMI National Student Film Awards.
Aime Morris (BA (Hons) Film Production), the writer and director of the film Finish Line, won a RTS Craft Award for Writing; Adam Tanner (BA (Hons) Film Production) won a Craft Award for Sound for his work on the film Daydream; and Aoife Harkin (BA (Hons) Journalism) won a Craft Award for Producing for Angle News Final News Day.
Aoife Harkin, Kaleigh Pritchard, Meg Griffith and Isaac Lewis (all BA (Hons) Journalism) were finalists in the Journalism category with Angle News Final News Day.
In the ‘Saving The Planet’ category, BA (Hons) Television Production graduates Georgia Haigh, Megan Middleton, Rhianna Braden, Ben Carter-Savigear and Oliver Bradshaw were among the nominations for Reduce Reuse Revamp.
Second-year students Film Production students Tom Bradshaw, Jordan Roger, Sabina Rosca, Meredith Wright, Theo Moules and Ellis Barrett-Mead were finalists in the Entertainment and Comedy Drama category with Pigman.
Dr Matthew Lovett, Associate Head of the University’s School of Creative Arts, said: “We couldn’t be prouder of the exceptional achievements of our recent graduates and current students at the RTS West of England Student Awards 2024.
“We’re absolutely thrilled that the high standard of their work, which was carried out during their academic programmes, has been recognised and celebrated by the RTS as among the very best in our region. We wish them every success in their future careers.
“Massive congratulations to Kay, Katie, Meg, Will, Morris, Josh and Sam for winning the Journalism category with I’ll Just Have Cats and we wish them well at the national awards ceremony over the summer.”