The NFTS has been paying tribute to Oswald Morris, Bsc, the Oscar-winning British cinematographer of films such as Moulin Rouge, The Wiz, Oliver, Lolita, Fiddler on the Roof who has died aged 98. He was an NFTS Honorary Fellow after whom the School’s new building is named at the request of Duncan Kenworthy - a governor and sponsor of the new building. Morris was also a regular visiting tutor who gave masterclasses and workshops on cinematography. 

Brian Tufano, Bsc, NFTS Head of Cinematography said ‘Ossie’ Morris was both one of his personal heroes and an inspiration to the NFTS students whose graduation films he watched keenly every year and commented on: “He was a personal inspiration to me as a young filmmaker who was extraordinarily generous in sharing is knowledge and experience. His creative use of light was fascinating, especially the use of filters that broke the rules of Technicolour.

"Among the films that inspired me were Moulin Rouge, Moby Dick, Look Back In Anger, The Entertainer, The Hill, Life At the Top, The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, Oliver and The Odessa Files.”

Oswald Morris taught lighting workshops to students and visited the NFTS six years ago to give a Masterclass. “He came to give a one hour masterclass and it lasted five hours; he had so much to say and the students had so many questions!” added Brian Tufano.

Stuart Harris, NFTS Senior Tutor in Cinematography described him as, “one of the most outstanding directors of photography of the 20th century…a pioneer is using filters in front of the camera. He was a legend in the art of cinematography who leaves behind some of the finest work in the history of film. He rang recently to comment on some of the students' films and always took a keen interest in their work.”

Nik Powell, NFTS Director said the NFTS was saddened by the loss of one of British cinema’s greatest DoPs but that his memory would live on at the School. A photograph of Oswald Morris takes pride of place in the modern teaching building, which is named after him.

Oswald Morris’ body of work:

Morris worked alongside Huston on Beat the Devil (1953), Moby Dick (1956), Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957), A Farewell to Arms (1957), The Roots of Heaven (1958), Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967), The MacKintosh Man (1973) and The Man Who Would Be King (1975).

Morris' 2006 autobiography was titled Huston, We Have a Problem: A Kaleidoscope of Filmmaking Memories. In addition to receiving his Oscar for Norman Jewison's Fiddler, Morris earned Academy Award nominations for his work on Carol Reed's best picture winner, Oliver! (1968), and Sidney Lumet's The Wiz (1978). Morris also collaborated with Lumet on The Hill (1965), Equus (1977) and Just Tell Me What You Want (1980), and teamed with Henson for a second time on The Dark Crystal (1982), the cinematographer's final credit and 58th feature. 

His first gig as a cinematographer was on fellow Englishman Ronald Neame's Golden Salamander (1950), and he would go on to pair with the director on The Promoter (1952), The Man Who Never Was (1956), Mister Moses (1965), Scrooge (1970) and The Odessa Files (1974). Regular collaborators also included Herbert Ross on Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969) and The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (1976); Reed on The Key (1958) and Our Man in Havana (1959); and Tony Richardson on Look Back in Anger (1959) and The Entertainer (1960). Morris also did The Guns of Navarone (1961), The Pumpkin Eater (1964), The Spy Who Came in From the Cold (1965), Sleuth (1972) and the James Bond installment, The Man With the Golden Gun (1974).

For Moulin Rouge, filmed in three-strip Technicolor, Huston wanted the biopic of Toulouse-Lautrec to look as though the French painter had directed it. Morris employed light-scattering fog filters on the camera and filled the sets with smoke so that the actors stood out from the background. Moulin Rouge would become a favorite of Technicolor inventor Herbert Calmus, and Morris was awarded the BSC's best cinematography award for the film.

He was one of the founding members of the British Society of Cinematographers and served as BSC president from 1960-62. He was named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1998 for services to cinematography and the film industry and received the American Society of Cinematographers' International Achievement Award in 2000.

Four of our 2014 Directing Animation graduates have had their films selected for ANNECY - Europe's leading animation film festival! This is the first time that the festival has selected so many NFTS films from the same year; half of the graduates from 2014 Animation course will be screening their films! 

Congratulations to Bexie Bush for her stop-motion pixellated film Mend and Make Do;  Effie Pappa for her stop-motion puppet animation My Stuffed Granny,Kasia Nalewajka for her stop-motion film Pineapple Calamari (pictured above) and Daisy Jacobs for The Bigger Picture, which uses life-sized painted characters in 3D environments.

Helen Nabarrro, Head of Directing Animation said: "We are delighted that so many of our 2014 graduates have been selected for this prestigious animation festival and wish them all good luck."

APPLY for the Directing Animation MA course before July 10. 

Four NFTS graduates have snapped up nominations for British Academy Television Craft Awards (BAFTAs), which honour the very best behind-the-scenes talent from television.

NFTS Composing graduate Martin Phipps has been nominated for Best Original Television Music for Peaky Blinders- a BBC 2 British historical crime drama series, created by Steven Knight, and produced by Caryn Mandabach Productions and Tiger Aspect Productions.

Martin has previously won two BAFTA Craft Awards for Best Original Television Score for the British TV series Wallender and epic TV series Small Island.

Sound Design graduate Stuart Hilliker (re-recording mixer on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1) also worked on Peaky Blinders (pictured above) and has been nominated for a BAFTA Craft Award for Best Sound-Fiction.

Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight, who recently gave a masterclass at the NFTS, said: "It's incredibly gratifying when truly creative people who are truly committed... are rewarded."

Stuart is also nominated for Best Sound –Fiction - for the BBC One TV series The Escape Artist - a drama/thriller three-part series, starring David Tennant.

Also nominated for Best Sound – Fiction– on The Escape Artist is NFTS Sound Design graduate Duncan Price. Duncan, who graduated in 2010, is well known for his work as dialogue editor on the TV series Great Expectations, Black Mirror and Silent Witness.

Speaking to the NFTS, Duncan Price said; “My NFTS education on the Sound Design course has given me an invaluable stepping stone into the industry.”

This year’s ceremony will be held at The Brewery, in the City of London, on Sunday 28 April.

APPLY for the NFTS Sound Design and Composing MA courses by the deadline May 8th

Sky today announced details of five Sky Academy TV Scholarships to be made available for successful applicants on the existing Sky partnered courses run by the NFTS.

The scholarships will fully fund three places on the NFTS Broadcast Production course and two on the NFTS Digital Content and Formats course. The scholarships are part of Sky Academy - a set of initiatives which aims to use the power of television, creativity and sport to give up to one million young people opportunities to build skills, experience and self-belief. As an industry partner, Sky already supports both these courses by providing placements and mentoring.

The scholarships will be offered to young people from economically disadvantaged backgrounds with the aim of supporting and encouraging individuals who may not otherwise have considered a career in the media. There will be a particular focus on supporting students from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds and disabled talent. This reflects Sky’s determination to encourage diversity and inclusion in its business on the basis that having a workforce that is more representative of its customer base means that the decisions it takes and the content it produces will better reflect their interests.

Sky’s Managing Director of Content, Sophie Turner Laing said: “Part of our commitment to developing home grown content is about investing in the next generation of production talent. Fundamental to this is ensuring everyone, regardless of background, has the opportunity to get a start in the industry. We are therefore delighted to strengthen our partnership with NFTS by offering these five new scholarships.”

Ed Vaizey, Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries expressed his support, commenting: “It’s great to see Sky driving and encouraging access into the creative industries for young people through the Sky Academy TV Scholarships. The creative industries are the fastest growing sector in the UK, and these scholarships help to ensure that the industry is open, diverse and accessible, whilst equipping the next generation with the skills they need.”

NFTS Director, Nik Powell said: “The NFTS is proud to partner with Sky on these two courses. The five fantastic Sky scholarships will enable the NFTS to attract the most talented students, regardless of background, to be trained to the highest standards.”

The NFTS Broadcast Production course provides training for vision mixers, sound, lighting and camera specialists. As part of the course, students receive a six-week placement at Sky and then one student receives a three-month paid placement at the end of the course. All students also receive a mentor at Sky.

Launched earlier this year, the NFTS Digital Content and Formats course trains students in interactive and new media skills. All students receive mentoring from Sky and one student will receive a three month paid placement at the end of the course. In addition to the funding, each scholar will receive:

• Group mentoring session with Sky’s Managing Director of Content, Sophie Turner Laing

• One year’s free membership of the Royal Television Society, which includes one year’s free membership of The Hospital Club

• Networking opportunities within RTS and BAFTA including invitation to industry events and chance to join BAFTA Crew online master classes

• An opportunity for a place on the BAFTA Youth Board

Applications close on 5th June 2014 and further information can be found at www.sky.com/academy/tv_scholarships

Simon Chinn, the double Academy Award winning producer of Searching For Sugar Man and Man on Wire has told up coming documentary-makers to look to the ‘small screen’ when making films in future.

Speaking in conversation with Dick Fontaine, NFTS Head of Documentaries at an NFTS Film Clinic event, hosted at Google UK HQ in London, Simon Chinn, said although documentary films could still be theatrically released, the landscape of distribution was changing. Chinn recently launched a new company, Lightbox, to create high quality non-fiction content for the international television and digital marketplaces.

He added: “There is a hunger for documentary content for the small screen, especially from American online companies such as Netflix, Amazon and Xbox. New opportunities are emerging online for a diversity of documentary makers and new audiences are opening up. The public wants more documentary content, partly driven by reality TV. But the bar has risen; documentary makers have to tell stories in an even more entertaining and emotionally engaging way than fiction.”

Five films by up and coming documentary makers in the UK were showcased at the NFTS Film Clinic event (on Wednesday March 26). Sponsored by YouTube, the NFTS Film Clinic is a completion fund, led by founder and director Lara Agnew, which provides mentoring, funding and post-production support for emerging documentary-makers to help finish their films.

Explaining why YouTube is supporting the initiative Rich Waterworth, Head of EMEA Marketing at YouTube, spoke of the company’s excitement at supporting a new generation of directors who can maximise the potential of the internet to capture new audiences for their films: “These days, everyone can access the technology to make and distribute a film through the internet. We wanted to give emerging new talent the chance to access the editing skills and post production expertise that professional filmmakers benefit from. The documentaries that have come out of the NFTS Film Clinic make fantastic viewing.”

Peter Barron Director of Communications and Public Affairs, Google, EMEA, told the packed room documentary and film industry guests: "One of the most exciting things about the NFTS Film Clinic is that just as there are great real life stories waiting to be told there are also great documentary filmmakers out there waiting to be discovered. Given the great accessibility offered by new technology, many of these filmmakers may already be making their films alone. They may have special access to their subject matter; it may be a story that only they can tell. The Film Clinic gives those filmmakers an opportunity to get their films finished and maximise their potential with a global audience using the expertise and state-of-the-art facilities at NFTS."

The NFTS Film Clinic selected five films from 100 applicants. Lara Agnew, NFTS Film Clinic founder and director said the experience of working with the directors had been inspiring: “When the film makers applied to us some of them had been filming for many years, often working in isolation in their bedrooms on their personal computers trying to craft many hours of footage into a narrative. “Working with such dedicated, unpaid, under-resourced film-makers who are driven by a passion to tell stories has been inspiring. I believe this kind of filmmaking will be a source of great work in the future. It is exciting that the accessibility of film technology and the internet are encouraging new methods of filmmaking and distribution.”

About the NFTS Film Clinic films:

Umut Gunduz is a sound designer from London. His documentary, Stevie G is a film about his estranged younger brother. What went wrong and why has Stevie spent most of his life - starting at Feltham aged 15 - in and out of prison?

Chloe Ruthven is an artist and filmmaker from London. The Do Gooders is an acutely personal documentary on the complex political issue of Western Aid in Palestine. Her film premiered at the 2013 London Film Festival.

Johnny Howorth is an online journalist at The Times. He has made a documentary, Run that follows a group of six Maasai warriors from rural Tanzania to London. They are running the London Marathon to try and raise enough money to build a well for their village.

Seemab Gul is originally from Karachi, Pakistan. With the support of NFTS Film Clinic she developed her autobiographical animated documentary, Price of Freedom about running away from home to avoid an arranged marriage. What was the price she paid for this freedom and can she make amends with her estranged family?

Michelle Heighway works as a receptionist in Huddersfield, Yorkshire. Her film Mr Somebody?, filmed over many years, seeks to understand the town’s renowned eccentric and his very unusual lifestyle which rejects the norms of society.

APPLY NOW for the NFTS Directing Documentaries MA before May 8th, 2014.

APPLY NOW for the NFTS Summer Docs course - deadline April 10th.

NFTS 2014 Directing Fiction graduate Rose Glass (pictured left) has been selected by Giorgio Armani to direct a short film that represents the London section of a prestigious international project ‘Films of City Frames'.

The Armani initiative, created in collaboration with Rai Cinema, seeks to connect with the world of cinema through the universe built around Frames of Life. Directors from six of the best film schools in the world have been selected make short films from London, New York, Los Angeles, Rome, Paris and Hong Kong.

Giorgio Armani gave each school the task of selecting the most promising talents from their courses. These students then had to create short films based on a defined brief: to narrate the fragments of life, emotions, signs and sights that are captured and filtered through the eyewear collection, Giorgio Armani Frames of Life.

The NFTS film is being made by NFTS graduates using the School's world-class facilities. Filming is due to start this month with delivery to Armani in June. The NFTS graduates involved are: 

Rose Glass - Writer/Director

Franziska Lindner - Producer

James Blann - Cinematographer

Manuela Lupini - Editor

Jonas Jensen - Sound Designer

Arran Price - Composer

Other non-NFTS crew are: 

Elena Riccabona - Production Designer

Alice Whiting - Costume and Styling

Rose Glass, who graduated from the NFTS in February 2014, said: "To move on to a project like this straight after graduating is a fantastic opportunity for all of us! I'm really excited about the prospect of working on something which, while still narrative fiction, is far closer to the worlds of commercials and fashion films than anything I have made before"

Film Director Paolo Sorrentino has enthusiastically participated in this initiative and selected Piero Messina, his assistant and a graduate of the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, to direct the pilot in which the Oscar winning Director himself is the main character. The video, produced by Indigo Film, is currently online at www.framesoflife.com and on the Armani Facebook page. Messina directed this thrilling and lyrical short film inspired byLouis Ferdinand Céline’s Journey to the End of the Night, and includes unreleased sequences from Sorrentino’s The Great Beauty.

Films of City Frames acts as a platform for recognising emerging talents, allowing them to partner with Giorgio Armani eyewear – a product always greatly beloved by the fashion designer himself, who transformed them into true fashion accessories. In this project, Armani eyewear defines the faces of the characters and an instrument through which to observe reality, capture sensations and experience adventures in different cities that are the sets for the six short films.

From mid-March, the different production stages of the short films will be described online in a dedicated area at www.framesoflife.com and shared on the Armani social media networks. Films of City Frames will be a visual and narrative collage that uses individual points of view as a filter through which to capture the compelling richness of modern day cities.

Films of City Frames is the latest stage of the Frames of Life project started in 2010 with the objective of narrating through the medium of film real life stories that all embody a constant shared element, eyewear. These are objects that are impossible to be separated from, and act as instruments to intensively capture the nuances in each moment. Giorgio Armani chose the partner Rai Cinema, a subsidiary of Gruppo Rai and a leading company in the Italian cinema industry, to supervise the creation of the short films throughout their production phases, from evaluating the scripts, to editing and post-production.

Dolby Laboratories, one of the world’s leading sound innovation companies, will celebrate excellence in sound post production and sound design achieved at the NFTS. Dolby creates audio, video and voice technologies that transform entertainment and communications in the cinema, in mobile devices, at home and at work.

The company has launched a new Dolby Award for Best Sound with the NFTS to recognise excellence in sound mixing, sound editing and sound design in a student short film. The winner will have the opportunity to present their next feature film at the Ray Dolby Theatre, in Soho where many established filmmakers showcase their movies.

The competition is open to the NFTS Sound Design students graduating in 2014, whose short films will be judged by a jury of Dolby's own sound consultants. All of the entered films will be showcased to industry sound professionals at the state-of-the-art Ray Dolby Theatre in Soho, London, on April 9th where the winner will be announced and presented with the prize.

Also at the event, there will be an award for Excellence in Sound Design 2014 presented by Avid, a long-time supporter of the NFTS. Its proven and trusted video, audio, media management and storage solutions are used in the creation of the most prestigious and award-winning feature films, music recordings, and television shows, as well as live concerts and news broadcasts.

“This collaboration with NFTS celebrates new and exciting talent across the film industry. We hope that the Dolby Award for Best Sound will showcase how innovative sound mixers and editors are using sound to transform the art of storytelling to create the best possible entertainment experience," said Andy Dowell, Dolby Regional Director, Northern Europe.

The announcement comes hot on the heels of NFTS Sound graduates winning their 12th Motion Picture Sound Editors (MPSE) Golden Reel Award.

The Verna Fields Award for Sound Editing in a Student Film was presented to Sound Designer Ting Li Lim for her graduation animation Robomax (directed by Moayad Fahmi).In addition, alumnus Simon Chase was the Supervising ADR editor on Captain Phillips, which won the award for Sound Editing in a Feature Film.

The Verna Fields Award for Sound Editing in a Student Film is a prestigious accolade that has been won by the NFTS 12 times since 1996 making it consistently the best in the world for sound editing and the only UK school nominated for an award.

NFTS Deputy Head of Sound Chris Pow said: "We are thrilled to win our 12th Golden Reel student award; the NFTS sound courses are now undeniably the best in the world. The School has had long-standing associations with Dolby and Avid whose systems and software our students use regularly. We are delighted that our students' talent is being recognized with these new awards, which will help launch their careers."

NFTS SOUND DESIGN & COMPOSING GRADUATES SNAP UP 4 BAFTA TV CRAFT AWARDS

FilmNation Entertainment – one of America’s biggest film distribution companies – has snapped up a Sci Fi script written by Krysty Wilson-Cairns just a year after she graduated from the NFTS Screenwriting MA course. The company has announced that it is to produce, finance, and sell internationally the sci-fi thriller ÆTHER.

FilmNation's Aaron Ryder and Karen Lunder will oversee the project, while story details remain confidential. The script was written by Krysty Wilson-Cairns on spec following the project's development United Agents. The company is reported to be moving quickly to find a director. Plot details are currently being kept under wraps.

“I’m astounded by the level of talent and inventiveness we’ve come across from such a young voice,” said FilmNation production president Aaron Ryder. “We’re terribly excited to produce this film. We’re also anxious to learn how to pronounce its title!”

Krysty Wilson-Cairns initially developed the script and then wrote on spec.

“I am absolutely thrilled to be working alongside such a talented group of likeminded people,” said Krysty. “FilmNation makes the kind of movies I love to watch, and I am so pleased we’ve put Aether into their safe hands.”

Voicing her gratitude to the NFTS and Head of Screenwriting Corinne Cartier, Krysty added: “It's just kind of a dream come true and I just wanted to thank you, I'd never get a shot like this if it wasn't for you and all your help at the NFTS.”

Corinne Cartier said: “Krysty graduated just one year ago from the Screenwriting Course and this is a fantastic achievement. It's a real tribute to her talent and originality, and reflects the standard of excellence of our best students.”

Also in Krysty's year group was Sarah Woolner who has just won a BAFTA Short with her team for film Sleeping With the Fishes (Animation short) and fellow graduate Maurice Caldera filmed his first feature I Harlequin in Italy in 2013. 

APPLY NOW for the NFTSScreenwriting MA course – Deadline May 8th.

NFTS 2014 SCREENWRITING SHOWCASE ATTRACTS APPLAUSE FROM INDUSTRY

The NFTS Screenwriting MA Graduation Showcase at the Soho Theatre, London, last month, was applauded by a packed audience of agents, talent spotters, production companies and industry professionals. Among the invited guests were representatives from United Agents, Curtis Brown, Casarotto Agency, MacFarlane Chard Associates, Richard Stone Partnership, the BBC, Sky, Google,Dreamworks, the Royal Court Theatre, film companies such as Kudos, Scott Free Films, Fifty Fathoms, Warp Films, Touchpaper Television, Partizan, Ruby Films, Montebello Productions, Scala Productions Ltd , as well as Creative Skillset, Creative England, Film Agency for Wales and many others.

The graduating Screenwriter have had approaches from many of London's leading literary agents and currently four writers have been signed.

Dolby Laboratories, one of the world’s leading sound innovation companies, has announced the winner of a new Dolby award for sound with the NFTS to recognise excellence in sound mixing, sound editing and sound design in a student short film.

Following a screening of selected NFTS 2014 graduation films at the Ray Dolby Theatre, Soho, London, Dolby Sound Consultant James Shannon presented NFTS Sound Design graduate Rob Hardcastle with the Dolby Award for Best Sound for his work on the short fiction film Room 55.

He will now have the opportunity to present his first feature film at the Ray Dolby Theatre where many established filmmakers showcase their movies.

Rob Hardcastle said: "I'm delighted to have won the Dolby award and am very much looking forward to using the Ray Dolby Theatre to screen my first feature."

Dolby creates audio, video and voice technologies that transform entertainment and communications in the cinema, in mobile devices, at home and at work.

Also announced at the event was the winner of the new Avid Award for Excellence in Sound Design presented by Simon Caton, Avid Territory Account Manager, Audio. Avid is a long-time supporter of the NFTS whose proven and trusted video, audio, media management and storage solutions are used in the creation of the most prestigious and award-winning feature films, music recordings, and television shows, as well as live concerts and news broadcasts.

Jonas Jensen said: “Winning the Avid award is such a privilege. The opportunity to immediately set up a professional workflow where I can continue to work on projects, using the 2 years at NFTS as the foundation to build and develop my skill-set. I am very grateful.”

APPLY for the NFTS Sound Design MA course by May 8th.

Pictured is Rob Hardcastle winner of the Dolby Award for best Sound and James Shannon, Dolby Sound Consultant

The Royal Television Society (RTS), Britain's leading forum for television and related media has announced that NFTS graduates have scooped 7 out of the 11 post graduate nominations for the RTS Student Television Awards 2013.

NFTS graduates are nominated in ALL of the categories and have received BOTH of the nominations for the Entertainment Award, 2 of the 3 nominations for Animation, 2 out of the 3 nominations for Fiction and one of the 3 nominations for Factual.

Chaired by Patrick Younge, Founder and Director of WeCreate Associates Ltd and former Chief Creative Officer for BBC Productions, the Awards celebrate the best in student television from across the UK.

NFTS graduates have been nominated in all 4 categories: Fiction, Entertainment, Factual and Animation.

The winners will be announced at a ceremony on Friday 16 May at the BFI Southbank.

DON’T MISS YOUR CHANCE TO JOIN ONE OF THESE COURSES.

APPLY for Directing Documentary and Directing Fiction MA courses by May 8th.

APPLY for Producing and Directing TV Entertainment by June 8th and contact Registry for Directing Animation.

The RTS Nominations:

Postgraduate Animation:

Miss Todd Kristina

Yee, Frances Poletti, Suzanne Mayger and Team

The Magnificent Lion Boy:

Ana Caro, James Cotton and Team

Postgraduate Entertainment:

Killer Moves

Ben Hillyar, Tim Partridge and Team

The Big Steal:

Andre Sousa, Anti Reinthal and Team

Postgraduate Factual:

Sodiq

Adeyemi Michael and Team

Postgraduate Fiction:

Cocoons

Joasia Goldyn, Sarah Woolner, Dan Remissie and Team

Wasted:

Cathy Brady, James Walker and Team

Ten of the best British and American film-makers have visited the NFTS to give Masterclasses in the past 10 days!

Director Mike Newell (Harry Potter, Four Weddings and a Funeral), L.A based British Producer Colin Vaines (Coriolanus, Gangs of New York, My Week with Marilyn), Writer Tony Grisoni (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, How I Live Now, Red Riding) Production Designer Paul Kirby (Captain Phillips, Batman Begins, Captain America), actor David Morrissey (Walking Dead, State of Play), VFX Supervisor Tim Webber (Gravity, the Dark Knight, Avatar), Composer Nathan Johnson (Brick, Looper), Pawl Fulker previs (Skyfall), Jake Wynne editor and music vid director, Director Destiny Ekaragha and Writer Bola Agbaje (Gone Too Far) have all come to the NFTS to help train a new generation of film-makers.

And very special guests Lenny Henry, CBE, the actor, writer, comedian and television presenter, co-founder of charity Comic Relief visited the School to speak to the young film-makers about the need for greater diversity in the British film and television industry.

Their Masterclasses were part of the two-week long BFI Film Academy Craft Skills Residential delivered by the NFTS, which this year has trained 66 of the country’s most promising young film makers aged 16-19 today.

This is the second year that the NFTS has run the scheme aimed at hothousing the filmmaking stars of the future. During the two-week residential, the teenagers specialise in Directing, Producing, Production Design, Editing, Cinematography or Sound Recording and form teams to make 6 short films from scratch using the NFTS’s film studios and world-class facilities.

The Academy culminates in the premiere of the 6 films at the BFI IMAX, London on Thursday April 17th in front of an audience including film industry and family guests.

This year, the participants also wrote their own scripts during a screenwriting weekend also hosted at the NFTS. Previously, scripts written by NFTS Screenwriting MA students had been used for the films. In addition to the Masterclasses, the intense and unique learning experience includes training with some of the UK’s best tutors and Masterclasses with Craft Tutors including Cinematographer Brian Tufano (Trainspotting, Billy Elliot), Producer Lee Thomas (Road to Guantanamo), Producer Michelle Eastwood (In our Name), Sound Recordist Fraser Barber (Silent Witness, Full Circle with Michael Palin), Editor Robin Sales (Johnny English, Miss Potter, Mrs Brown, Topsy-Turvy), NFTS graduates including Grierson winning Director Adeyemi Michael and Shola Amoo plus tailored industry support from BAFTA and visits to the National Gallery, The Imaginarium Studios – actor/director Andy Serkis’ studio specialising in performance capture.

Pictured is actor David Morrissey with BFI Film Academy film makers at the NFTS.

The Wellcome Trust– the global charitable foundation dedicated to achieving extraordinary improvements in human and animal health– is offering a full scholarship to enable a biomedical science PhD graduate to study at the NFTS.

The generous scholarship, which will cover both the student’s two year MA fees and living allowance, is open to PhD graduates with a biomedical background who want to study NFTS courses in Games Design and Development, Directing Fiction or Screenwriting.

The Wellcome Trust supports the brightest minds in biomedical research and those engaging the public with it. With this in mind, the NFTS scholarship aims to broaden the possibilities for working scientists to move into the entertainment industries, to better represent and reflect science in games and film.

Rachel Hillman, Broadcast and Games Manager at the Wellcome Trust said: “The Wellcome Trust is committed to exploring the ways in which biomedical science can become embedded in the cultural landscape. We believe that media has the power to shape culture, and should, therefore, reflect it. As part of this, we want to encourage people with scientific backgrounds to explore roles in making and shaping media and are delighted be able to offer support for those wishing to do so on the excellent courses at the NFTS.”

Nik Powell, NFTS Director said: “We are delighted that the Wellcome Trust has chosen to provide such a generous scholarship to enable a science graduate to study at our school. The NFTS produces films and games which use cutting edge technology and innovative approaches to tell stories that entertain and enthrall audiences.”

The NFTS has an established relationship with the Wellcome Trust which is to provide £25,000 funding for NFTS Games graduate Bojan Brbora and NFTS Screenwriting graduate Stefan Kaday to create an interactive game inspired by and to complement the Wellcome Collection’s forensics exhibition that opens in London, in October 2014.

In addition, the Wellcome Trust and BFI last year launched a Screenwriting Fellowship in association with Film4 which was presented in 2013 to NFTS graduate Director Clio Barnard, whose latest feature film The Selfish Giant won the Europa Cinemas award at the Cannes Film Festival and won Best Film at the 24th Stockholm International Film Festival.

Jon Weinbren, NFTS head of Games said: “We’ve had great successes on the Games course with applicants from diverse backgrounds including physics, architecture, literature, psychology and other fields of expertise. Biomedical science is another very exciting talent pool from which to draw experts who can help shape the future of Games.”

To APPLY for this amazing Scholarship contact Jon Wardle on email jwardle@nfts.co.uk

Pictured is Lagena species – Spike Walker, Wellcome Images

NFTS graduation film The Bigger Picturedirected by Daisy Jacobs, produced by Christopher Hees& co-written by Jennifer Majka has been selected for the prestigious Cannes Film Festival.

It is one of only 16 films that were selected from 1631 entries that were submitted from all over the world to the Cinéfondation - and is the only film from the UK in the Cinéfondation and Short film categories.

This is the third year in succession that an NFTS film has played in this category. Many congratulations to all of the filmmakers !

The Bigger Picture is a larger than life-size animated film that tells the stark and darkly humorous tale of caring for an elderly parent. One son flees when anything practical needs to be done, leaving the other an unwilling martyr – and Mother doesn't make it easy for either of them. In a surreal and comic world, the brothers endeavour to deal with a situation most of us face in the end – what shall we do with our parents?

PRINCIPAL CREW (1st years and Non-NFTS crew are marked with an asterisk)
Directed, Written and Animated by: Daisy Jacobs
Stop Motion Animation: Chris Wilder *
Producer: Chris Hees
Co-Writer: Jennifer Majka
Cinematographer: Max Williams
Production Designer: Elo Soode
Editor: Vera Simmonds
Composer: Huw Bunford
Sound Designer: Jonas Jensen
VFX / SFX Supervisor: Ross Allen
Online Editor & Colour Grader: Ross Allen
Motion Control Technician: Christophe Leignel *
Additional Animation: Natasha Tonkin *
Production Assistant: Gemma Priggen


CAST (Principal roles only):
Nick: Christopher Nightingale
Richard: Alisdair Simpson
Mother: Anne Cunningham

APPLY for the NFTS' award-winning Directing Animation MA by July 10th

The Chicken - a short film written and directed by NFTS 2010 graduate Una Gunjak (Editing) - has been selected for the International Critics' Week at the Cannes Film Festival 2014.

The film includes NFTS graduates Jelena Goldbach (Producing 2011), Matthias Pilz (Cinematography 2012) and Giacomo Matteucci (DPP 2011) and has already won the Robert Bosch Stiftung Film Prize for Short Fiction.

In addition, NFTS 2014 Directing Animation graduation film The Bigger Picture directed by Daisy Jacobs, produced by Christopher Hees& co-written by Jennifer Majka has been selected for La Cinéfondation - created to inspire and support the next generation of international filmmakers at the Cannes Film Festival.

It is one of only 16 films that were selected from 1631 entries that were submitted from all over the world to the Cinéfondation - and is the only film from the UK in the Cinéfondation and Short film categories. This is the third year in succession that an NFTS film has played in this category.

Many congratulations to all of the filmmakers and good luck!

For a full crew list click here

APPLY FOR EDITING, PRODUCING AND DIRECTING FICTION MA courses by the May 8 deadline

APPLY for Directing Animation by July 10th 

Sound Design 2014 graduate Rob Hardcastle has been named the winner of the Goldcrest Internship. He will receive a two-month paid internship in sound post production at the Goldcrest London office.

Following the announcement, Rob Hardcastle said: “As a student at the NFTS for the past two years I have benefited enormously from exceptional teaching and facilities and now I can't think of a better opportunity to gain first-hand professional experience than through this structured paid internship with such a highly respected company as Goldcrest and under the mentorship of Adrian Rhodes."

Working under the mentorship of Goldcrest's BAFTA winning sound supervisor Adrian Rhodes, the successful intern will experience how a project is brought into a facility, the various milestones, through to final sound mix and deliverables for both feature film, broadcast and other media. It is part of a three-year Goldcrest deal with the NFTS.

Adrian Rhodes said the selection process had been difficult due to the wealth of talent among NFTS Sound Design students but added: “I saw in Rob Hardcastle a good combination of technical skills & creativity across both sound editorial & mixing processes. This along with his good communicative abilities, I felt his talents would fit Goldcrest's sound department well.”

A long established and privately owned fully integrated filmed entertainment company, Goldcrest's list of credits includes Academy Award winners The Iron Lady, Les Misérables and Skyfall together with One Direction: This is Us, Twilight and Harry Potter.

The Goldcrest Internship will be structured across eight weeks embracing key areas of Sound Design, Mixing and Delivery for distribution and broadcast.

Goldcrest CEO Chris Quested said: "We value the quality of NFTS sound graduates and are keen to embrace their talent by introducing them into the professional working post sound world."

APPLY BY MAY 8TH for the NFTS Sound Design MA course

Pictured is Rob Hardcastle in the NFTS Dubbing Studio with Rose Glass, Director of 2014 graduation filmRoom 55.

NFTS Directing Documentary graduate (2013) Marc Williamson's film The Last Chance School will be broadcast on Channel 4's First Cut strand on Tuesday April 29th at 10pm.

The observational documentary is about three boys attending Muntham House School in West Sussex - a specialist boarding school for young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties.

It is based on Boys–  Marc Williamson’s award-winning NFTS student film, which won Best Student Doc prizes at Sheffield Doc Fest and was nominated for Best Student Doc at the Grierson Awards, in 2013.

Congratulations Marc and his team which includes NFTS Producing graduate Emma Lamont who produced both films and NFTS Editing graduate Johannes Bock who edited both films.

Pictured is a still from the film The Last Chance School.

Contact the NFTS Registry to APPLY for the NFTS Summer Docs 10 week course that starts in July 2013 

Apply here for the NFTS Directing Documentary MA course by the May 8th deadline.

NFTS Editing MA graduates have editing credits on two new films in UK cinemas this month, scoring 4 and 5 star reviews in the national press.

The Double directed by Richard Ayoade - starring Jesse Eisenberg and Mia Wasikowska and based on a novella by Fyodor Dostoevsky - is edited by NFTS graduate Nick Fenton. He also edited Ayoade’s first feature film Submarine, NFTS graduate Clio Barnard’s award-winning film The Selfish Giant and Austenland.

Exhibition written and directed by NFTS graduate Joanna Hogg and edited by NFTS Editing graduate Helle le Fevre is an intimate examination of a contemporary artist couple, whose living and working patterns are threatened by the imminent sale of their home. NFTS graduates who also worked on this film are: Producer Gayle Griffiths, Sound Mixer Howard Peryer and Production Designer Stephanie Collonge, Art Director Pedro Moura and Boom Operator Kyle Pickford.

Writing in the Guardian newspaper, critic Peter Bradshaw describes Exhibition as “…a masterful cinematic enigma. The anxieties of the bohemian classes are up for inspection in this sensual, brilliant film about two dysfunctional artists.” 

The Camera d’Or winning debut feature film Ilo Ilo directed by NFTS Directing Fiction graduate Anthony Chen and edited by NFTS Editing graduate Hoping Chen is also in cinemas this month.

They are among many alumni from this successful course who’ve gone on to work on independent and Hollywood productions including Lucia Zucchetti who edited The Queen, Boy A and the Emmy Award winning TV mini series Game Change.

Tariq Anwar (American Beauty, The Kings Speech) and Mick Audsley (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Twelve Monkeys, Interview with a Vampire) will be returning to the NFTS this month to give Masterclasses to NFTS Editing students.

Head of Post Production Dean Humphreys– an Award-winning Re-Recording Mixer who has worked with many of the world's leading directors, including Roman Polanski, Ridley Scott, Luc Besson, Bernardo Bertolucci and Franco Zeffirelli– said: “We are delighted to be welcoming back editors of such caliber as Tariq Anwar and Mick Audsley who are keen to share their knowledge and experience with NFTS students.”

Apply for our Editing, Directing Fiction, Editing and other popular NFTS courses by the May 8th deadline.

NFTS students have swept the board at the prestigious Kodak Nahemi 2014 Student Commercial Awards. The School scooped seven awards and won in 4 out of 5 categories, including 1st and 2nd prizes for Best Overall Commercial.

This is the second year in a row that the NFTS has dominated these awards, presented by Sir Alan Parker at the University of Westminster – home to the cinema that hosted the first showing of the Lumiere brothers’ film in the UK.

Congratulations to all of the NFTS winners of the Kodak Nahemi Awards 2014:

BUTLINS

Title of Commercial: First Time

Director: Ryan Vernava

Cinematographer: Craig Devine

Production Manager: Annys Hamilton

Title of Award: 1st Butlin’s Brief

Title of Commercial: Leave Your Family at Home

Director: Ewan Stewart

Producer: Daniel Negret

Cinematographer: Adrian Peckitt

Title of Award: 3rd Butlin’s Brief

COAP (Children of Addicted Parents & People)

Title of Commercial: The Morning After

Director: Stewart MacGregor

Producer: Charlotte Campbell

Cinematographer: Stewart MacGregor

Production Manager: Kirsty Barham

Title of Award: 1st

COAP Brief

Title of Commercial: Baggage

Director: Rob Zyweitz

Cinematographer: Paul Ozgur

Production Manager: Corrin Allen

Title of Award: 3rd

COAP brief SFTS

Title of Commercial: Once She Was Just Like You

Director: Dan Neeson

Producer/Writer: Jo Buckman

Cinematographer: James Blann

Production Manager: Timea Huszar

Title of Award: 1st

Shelter From the Storm Brief OVERALL

Title of Commercial: Once She Was Just Like You

Director: Dan Neeson

Producer/Writer: Jo Buckman

Cinematographer: James Blann

Production Manager: Timea Huszar

Title of Award: 1st Overall

Title of Commercial: First Time

Director: Ryan Vernava

Cinematographer: Craig Devine

Production Manager: Annys Hamilton

Title of Award: 2nd Overall

Pictured: NFTS Director Nik Powell with Sir Alan Parker at the Kodak Nahemi Student Commercial Awards

The NFTS was honoured to welcome this week one of France's most successful directors and biggest acting stars Albert Dupontel.

Dupontel has directed some of France's most unusual dark comedies over the last 15 years films and worked as an actor with many great French directors, including Bertrand Blier and Gaspar Noe. He starred in Noe’s controversial and ground breaking film Irreversible.

Speaking in conversation NFTS Head of Producing Chris Auty, the multi-talented Dupontel talked about his latest film 9 Month Stretch, which he wrote, directed and acted in. It won the César Award for Best Writing (shares with Laurent Turner).

Describing writing as ‘…the most difficult part of the medium,” he said he has great admiration for writers as the ones who “…initially craft the story.”

One of his favourite aspects of filming 9 Month Stretch was being able to shoot on digital, which allowed him to “…keep rolling the camera and let the actors explore their roles more.”

Dupontel has been proud to stand outside the main stage of French cinema and said he likes to focus on both darkness and humour - no surprise given his close relationship British comedians The Pythons who have played cameo roles in his films. Terry Gilliam appears in 9 Month Stretch and Terry Jones plays God in another film.

Explaining how he studied to become a doctor for 5 years but gave up in order to pursue an interest in stand up comed, he said it was thanks to his hugely successful, albeit shocking, one man stand up show called Dirty Stories that he was able to finance his first short film and first feature Bernie.

Dupontel said he was proud that he had never depended on government subsidies to make films. Asked by students what inspired and influenced him as an actor, Dupontel said he admired directors such as Alexander Mackendrick (The Ladykillers) Billy Wilder (Some Like It Hot) and modern directors such as the Coen brothers and The Pythons.

Quoting one of The Pythons, the film director Terry Gilliam, who once said,'…the worst film in English will travel further than the best film in French', Dupontel said he hopes one day to make a film in English because of the hurdles faced by French directors in getting their films released to international audiences.

APPLY FOR DIRECTING, PRODUCING AND SCREENWRITING MAs BY MAY 8TH DEADLINE.

Pictured: Albert Dupontel with NFTS students and Chris Auty NFTS Head of Producing

Credit: Simona Susnea

NFTS 2014 graduation film Manila Dreaming directed by San San F. Young has won the Best Student Documentary at the prestigious One World Media Awards, in London. It is the School’s second win in four years in this competition.

Manila Dreaming is a coming of age story about four boys who were wrongly imprisoned in the Philippines; children jailed for crimes ranging from loitering to murder.

The annual One World Media Awards is one of the foremost awards events in the UK. It rewards the most outstanding coverage of the developing world and recognises the unique role of journalists and filmmakers in increasing cultural understanding and promoting fairness and justice worldwide. Now in their 26th year, the One World Media Awards have a long track record of rewarding excellence in media coverage of the developing world. They highlight the unique role of journalists, filmmakers and broadcasters in increasing cultural understanding and promoting fairness and justice worldwide.

“The winning entries remind us that we all share a common humanity, regardless of the lottery of where we are born. It’s essential to recognize the journalists, broadcasters and filmmakers who help us fully understand what is going on in the world and how our lives are all interconnected,” said Clothilde Redfern, Director of One World Media.

Pictured are Yann Heckmann, San San F. Young, Stephanie Paeplow and Rob Hardcastle

Credit: Hannah Maule-ffinch

And the NFTS graduation film Beach Boy directed by Emil Langballe continues its run of success at international festivals by winning an Honourable Mention for Best Short Documentary from HotDocs, the Canadian International Documentary Festival.

The film has already won Best Documentary awards at Tampere and Karlovy Vary IFF and an Audience Award in Thessaloniki. Well done to the NFTS teams!

APPLY FOR DIRECTING DOCUMENTARY MA COURSE BY MAY 8th DEADLINE 

NFTS student credits for Manila Dreaming:

Director/ Producer/ Cinematographer/ Archive Material - San San F. Young

Production Manager – Stephanie Paeplow

Editor – Yann Heckmann

Production Sound Mixer – Dom Corbisiero

Sound Editor & Re-recording Mixer – Rob Hardcastle

Composer – Arran Price

Online Editor & Colour Grader - Fabio-Miguel Campos

NFTS student credits for Beach Boy:

Director/ Producer/Cinematographer – Emil Langballe

Production Manager - Natalie Langowski

Editor – John Murphy

Sound Recordist – Vytas Kizala

Sound Designer and Dubbing Mixer – Maiken Haberg Hansen

Composer – Finn McNicholas

Online Editor & Colour Grader – Chang Lui