Trio of educational institutions triumph at student TV awards

STUDENTS from the Edinburgh College of Art, the University of Stirling and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland – previously known as the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama – were the big winners at awards hosted by the Scottish division of the Royal Television Society.

Says the RTS of its Scotland Student Awards, which were held last night: “[They] are widely regarded as the pre-eminent benchmarks for emerging student talent in television in Scotland. This year there were 25 entries from a range of universities and colleges across Scotland.”

The Animation award went to William Anderson from ECA for his film, ‘The Making of Longbird’.

Louis Begbie and her team from the University of Stirling took the Factual prize for ‘A Bunch of Gentlemen’, a documentary about a group of blind golfers.

And Gavin Laing triumphed in the Fiction section with his children’s fantasy, ‘My First Spellbook’.

The judges included top Scottish drama producer, Barbara McKissack, and BBC Scotland’s executive producer of Children’s programmes, Yvonne Jennings.

Said RTS Scotland chair, Henry Eagles: “Some of the work currently coming out of Scotland’s colleges and universities is remarkable. These students have exceptional skills and they are undoubtedly the top programme makers of the future.”

The event took place at BBC Scotland’s HQ in Glasgow, and all three of this year’s winners go forward to the RTS UK Student Awards later this year.

The winners are:

Animation

Winner: The Making of Longbird – William Anderson (Edinburgh College of Art)

Nominated: The Golden Bird – Catriona Bruce (Edinburgh College of Art)

Etude – Anna Leszczynska (Edinburgh College of Art)

Factual

Winner: A Bunch of Gentlemen – Louise Begbie and others (University of Stirling)

Nominated: Behind the Eyes of Ashleigh – Rebekah Clark (City of Glasgow College)

Jim and May – Shaun Glowa (Edinburgh College of Art)

Fiction

Winner: My First Spellbook – Gavin Laing and others (RCS)

Nominated: Momo – Ben Mckinstrie (Edinburgh College of Art)

The Taxidermist – Charlotte Carden and others (RCS)