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Triumphant Belfast Met students set for Royal Television Society finals in London
Belfast Met’s talented film and TV students have returned to college triumphant with a haul of awards from the Royal Television Society NI Awards.
The RTS NI awards took place on March 26 at the Black Box in Belfast’s Cathedral Quarter. In partnership with Northern Ireland Screen, the Student Television Awards recognise the importance of education within the growing creative industry sector in Northern Ireland.
Belfast Met students won in the animation, short form and drama categories. Two films were also highly commended in the short form category.
The winners of these Awards go forward to the national RTS Student Media Awards which will be held in London later this year
The animation award went to the college’s Gavin O’Connor Clarke, Sean Burns who produced Vito the Clown. Drama Award was scooped by Dylan Hagan, Nathan Gray, Aaron Jamison, Klaudia Bulczak for their film The Writer.
The film It’s a Small World After All earned a Short Form award for students Andrew Shields, Nathan Long, Emma Bonar and Peter Barr.
Students Ryan Rafferty and Mark Rainey were highly commended in the Short Form award for their film Ireland’s Lost and Found.
Storey by Calum Russell, Andrew Turner, Matthew McCabe and Ronan Clenaghan was also highly commended in the Short Form category.
Belfast Met’s head of the School of Creative and Digital, Ian McCormick said it was a “proud day for the college” and the award wins are indicative of the talent Belfast Met is producing and also the standard of teaching.
Kieran Doherty, Chair of RTS NI and joint MD of Stellify Media, who studied at the Belfast Met, said: “As an educational charity these awards enable the RTS to showcase the brilliant talent emerging from our third level colleges. This year’s entries all displayed high standards of creativity, storytelling and technical capability and I know the judges had a difficult task selecting our winners, I trust these awards will assist all the students in their future careers.
“We have built-up a strong relationship with the local colleges, which play a vital role in ensuring our emerging talent graduate with the necessary skills ready to start work in the exciting and growing creative industry in Northern Ireland.”
Bernard McCloskey, Head of Education, Northern Ireland Screen said:
“Congratulations to everyone who has taken part in this year’s awards. Winning an RTS NI Student Television Award gives these students a prestigious accolade to help them with their future careers. Northern Ireland Screen is delighted to be able to support these awards which are a great way to nurture and encourage the fantastic creative talent we have in Northern Ireland.”
UTV’s Eden Wilson who delivered the keynote Joe McKinney memorial speech said:
"These awards are an amazing platform to showcase the wealth of young talent from across Northern Ireland. I really enjoyed meeting all the nominees, seeing what they've created on the big screen and telling them about my personal journey into broadcasting. The real winners are those who made the most of the opportunity provided by the RTS to network and meet potential employers and find out what opportunities are up for grabs."