Royal Television Society Award winners

The awards, which recognise the best in student talent from across the region, were hosted by BBC Breakfast’s Louise Minchin with guest speaker Dan Walker from BBC Sport. Judges commented that ‘One Eye Open,’ a documentary about a blind climber who has found a new meaning in life through taking part in the extreme sport, was a beautifully shot feature.

Camilla Affleck, Liverpool Screen School Senior Lecturer, commented: “’Open Eye’ is about a remarkable man who has recently become a member of the Great Britain Disabled Climbing team. What is particularly of note is that he suffers from a number of disorders, such as HDD and Asperger’s, but also has very limited vision in both eyes and yet still climbs to such an elite level. The film illustrates the limited vision he has and the dizzying heights to which he climbs! The two students faced a lot of challenges making this film, both in terms of dealing with an interviewee who needed careful handling, as well as the climbing locations.” To watch One Eye Open, click here.

Two other LJMU Media Production graduates were also runners-up in the Factual Category. ‘Onside,’ produced by Emily Hardy and Marc Jennings, is about a former footballer who from an early age fell in with some criminal types, was eventually released from his club (Liverpool) and ended up in prison. He now runs an organisation helping youngsters stay out of trouble when they find themselves in the same positon he was in. To watch Onside, click here.

Alex Connock, Chair of the RTS North West Centre and Managing Director of Manchester-based production company Shine North, said: “Once again the awards this year have revealed the great depth of talent and achievement in a really varied group of colleges and universities right across the North West. It’s invigorating to see how much quality is coming through into the industry in this exciting period where it moves rapidly into download platforms alongside traditional TV output. We love to see students taking the bull by the horns and creating their own films and there are some superb examples of that this year.”

The Awards ceremony followed a half-day event produced in partnership with Salford University, which was attended by students from across the North West. The ‘RTS NW Student Awards Conference: Engaging with the Media’ consisted of a range of informative sessions with high profile speakers from across many genres of television including Andrew Morrissey from LA Productions, Amy Buscombe from CBBC, Aziz Rashid from BBC North West, Jon Hancock and Dan Bays from CBeebies, and Alex Connock from Shine North.

Media Production Senior Lecturers Alex Irving and Camilla Affleck took a group of Level 6 and Level 4 students to the conference and the award ceremony. Sarah Haynes, Media Production Programme Leader added: “This was a truly inspirational event for the students and great for them to see graduates from the course achieving a prestigious award.”

Media Production Students have previously come first in the Factual Category of the awards. Click here for more information.

Photos by Claire Harris