Ravensbourne student filmmakers nominated for Royal Television Society award

Congratulations to a team of Ravensbourne students from the BA (Hons) Digital Television Production course, who were nominated for a Royal Television Society (RTS) award for a short film they wrote, filmed and edited in just 48 hours.

Entrants to the Futures 48 Film Challenge 2020 were only told the title of their film at 7.00pm on Friday 9 October, and had to submit their entry before 7.00pm two days later. All work in producing their three-minute film had to be completed within this 48-hour period, including script writing, costume/set/sound/lighting design, filming and editing.

The 2020 brief, the inaugural year of the challenge, was to create a film called ‘Tomorrow’. The Ravensbourne team’s entry tells the tale of office worker Michael, who has a tendency to put off his responsibilities – to the frustration of one of his colleagues.

Along with four other entries, the film was nominated by a panel of television industry heavyweights and is now featured on the RTS YouTube page.

The Ravensbourne team was comprised of seven students, with Emma Bolton as producer; Joey Houldsworth as director of photography and editor; Niamh Duffy as director and scriptwriter; Erin Bannister as co-scriptwriter; Ethan Arif on lighting; Charlie Stalker on sound; and Marcus Ayrton as digital imaging technician.

The Futures 48 Film Challenge was conceptualised by actor and director Daymon Britton, whose resume includes ‘Emmerdale’ and ‘Tales from the Lodge’. Entrants may enter as a team or an individual, so long as they do not have any UK broadcast credits.

Daymon said: “With so many people recovering from the effects of COVID-19, and personally reflecting on how huge the impact has been on our industry, I wanted to bring creatives together for something positive. The challenge gives a focus, a deadline, and an incredible platform for those taking part.”

Mostafa Nagy, senior lecturer on the Ravensbourne Digital Television Production course, said: “I am very proud of our students for producing this film in a very short space of time, and this just proves that if you work creatively as a team, you can overcome any challenge.”