York St John students nominated for prestigious Royal Television Society award

York St John University will be hosting this year’s glamourous Royal Television Society’s Yorkshire Students Award – with two of its students up for awards.

MA Media Production student MA Beth Cameron has been nominated in the Factual category for her documentary The Impossibility of Happiness, while York St John alumni Lisa Brewis is nominated in the Animation category for her short film Pop Shot.

York St John is a longstanding sponsor of the awards and this year’s prestigious event will take place on Wednesday 6 March in York St John University’s Creative Centre.

The annual awards celebrate the best in student television from across the UK and give students the opportunity to compete against talent from across the region’s universities, alongside showcasing their work to some of the industry’s biggest names. They are the only awards which are judged by professionals in the television and broadcasting industry and are the gold standard of quality.

Michael Donnely, Chair of the Royal Television Society Yorkshire Centre, said that the judges had been “blown away” by the skill and proficiency of this year’s nominees.

“We are absolutely delighted to be hosting this year’s RTS Student Awards at York St John University,” said Michael.

“Celebrating the next generation of filmmakers is some of the most exciting and important work of the Royal Television Society, and to do so in a new venue and key part of our region is a great privilege.

“We offer our huge congratulations to all nominees and wish everyone a wonderful awards ceremony.”

Beth Cameron, who also completed her BA in Film and TV Production at York St John, describes her film, ‘The Impossibility of Happiness’ as an experimental film on happiness and mental health, using archival footage, images and home video.

“When it’s such a vulnerable subject matter you don’t know how people will take it, but the fact that it’s been nominated for the Royal Television Society awards is amazing,” said Beth.

“It’s a very different concept to anything I’d grown up watching, but I did experimental film during my BA and absolutely loved it.”

After graduating from York St John last year with a BA in Animation, Lisa attended the prestigious Gobelins animation school in Paris and has seen Pop Shot play at film festivals as far afield as Stockholm – but she said the Royal Television Society Awards is the one she’s most excited about.

The 2D frame by frame animation was hand drawn and created as her final year project at York St John and tells the tale of an assassin who accidentally becomes a pop star.

“It’s such an honour to be nominated. Writing my script and characters was quite a fast process, but the animation took months,” said Lisa.

“I am very grateful to my course mates and my lecturers at York St John University for all the support I was given throughout this process. I hope this film puts some smiles on some faces!”

There were over 50 submissions for this year’s competition from 8 institutions across the region.

Alex Crowton, Senior Lecturer & Programme Lead in MA Media Production at York St John, said: “Beth is a deeply original filmmaker who brings a strong and distinctive voice to her very personal, and beautifully crafted experimental films. I am delighted that this thoughtful and creative film has made it to the final of this prestigious award. I am sure it will be the first of many more award nominations for her films in the future.”

Richard Jacobs, Lecturer in the School of the Arts, said: “Lisa's Royal Television Society nomination is so well deserved, and is a testament to her hard work and commitment during her final year Major Project.

“Making an animated short film is not an easy task but Lisa combines colour, humour, music and great character performances in Pop Shot to create a piece with a feeling of effortless fun which is guaranteed to lift anyone's mood.”

Students from York St John have regularly won awards at the annual ceremony, highlighting the strength of the film, television and animation courses at York St John University.

More information on the Royal Television Awards.