Screen and Film School Manchester celebrate their 22/23 Induction Day
The new school year is finally underway, and back in the middle of September Screen and Film School Manchester welcomed their new first-year students to the city and their life at the Film School got underway.
The event was hosted at HOME, a multi-purpose arts venue which is just a short walk away from our Spinningfields campus. HOME opened in 2015, and regularly shows great independent films from across the world. The event started with an opening speech from College Principal David Thomspon, who welcomed our new BA (Hons) Filmmaking students to the Film School and thrillingly for everyone, this year we welcomed our very first BA (Hons) Film Business & Production students.
Head of Education Scott Feast followed and gave the students an insight into the academic overview for the coming year as well as what to expect from their Screen and Film School journey. Scott then introduced our group of lecturers who will be guiding the filmmakers through their studies. Onto the stage came Matthew Boone (Head of Year 1), Milda Baginskaite (Head of Year 2), as well as Baldwin Li, Naomi Ayres, Diva Rodriguez, Olivia Rowland, and Robyn Williams.
Following on from that, Baldwin came back on and had the pleasure of introducing one of our talented second year students, Keeley Pickard. Her short film, Everyday, won the ‘Industry Panel’ award at last year’s end of year screening. The film was screened in HOME’s brilliant cinema room, and then Baldwin interviewed Keeley about the process she went through whilst making the film. This was an invaluable insight for the students, and particularly as they are set to produce their own films in a module later in their first year.
Baldwin then handed the mic over to Head of Careers and Industry, Jude Suckling, who discussed with the students what they can expect from their weekly ‘Industry Wednesdays.’ This term the students will have the opportunity to meet some of our Industry Partners from The Farm, Screen Manchester, and CVP camera hire. Jude then asked all the students to stand up, shake their shoulders and turn to the person next to them, introduce themselves and say what they want to be when they graduate from the Film School. Then she whetted the appetite for our freshers by discussing the placements that they can expect to experience in their second year, as well as some of the exciting industry events that they will have the chance to attend in their opening weeks of term.
Head of Year 1 Matthew Boone then introduced second year student Jack Williams, and his music video for ‘Opus,’ by the band The Recreation. This music video won the ‘Boone Award’ at last year’s End of Year Screening. Matthew then interviewed Jack about the directing process and working with a band on an assignment.
Jude then welcomed three industry guests to the stage: Ciara Davies, a BBC Production Executive, Elli Metcalfe, Crew and Facilities Manager at Screen Manchester and Isabelle Croissant, Talent Development Programme Manager at HOME. The industry guests were interviewed and gave our students amazing insights into what is happening right now in the industry. Ciara spoke about the huge demand for production management roles right across the board and Elli echoed this by discussing the need for production design team members. Isabelle spoke from a short film festival perspective and said that short filmmakers are also on the lookout for producers. The three then gave the students tips and tricks on things that they can do during their time at the Film School to get them industry-ready upon graduating.
College Principal David Thompson then wrapped up the session with video messages from our two illustrious patrons, Fabian Wagner and Nicola Shindler, who sadly couldn’t be with us on the day, but will no doubt be visiting the students as soon as possible. David had this to say about the success of the event:
“As well as the chance to get to know our students, our aim during induction week is to immediately deliver our industry-focussed message to the new undergraduates. So that within the first two weeks of their degree, students have been able to listen to an expert industry panel containing BBC and Film Manchester experts, they’ve also been able to take tours around the iconic Manchester Studios, Stockyard North, visit a live TV show and a production house, and all of that has occurred on their doorstep here at Screen and Film School Manchester.”
Some of our young filmmakers who were present on induction day offered the following thoughts as they began their exciting journey with us:
“I’m most excited to investigate different areas of film, to get involved in all of those areas and to see which path I’d like to go down.”– Ella Millett
“Manchester is the place to be because it has a lot of up-and-coming things and opportunities. Media City is just on our doorstep and as somebody who has grown up here it is exciting to have something film-related in the heart of the city.”– Caitlin Ward
“My favourite film is 1917, the filming techniques and the one-shot nature of it. I’m looking forward to trying my hand at all of the different techniques on offer at the Film School.” – George Kent
“I chose Screen and Film School Manchester because of the industry connections here and because Manchester is the second biggest city in terms of filmmaking in the UK.” – Ian Martins
“I’m most looking forward to being able to connect with like-minded people, I’m going to get the chance to work with writers, directors, producers, as well as with actors and musicians. As well as that, I’m looking forward to exploring Manchester and tapping into Media City and all the many companies there to develop my network for the long term.” – Nayan Sharma
Good luck to all of our brand-new first-year students in Manchester, we can’t wait to see the results of your filming endeavors.
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