Talented Film, Television & Theatre Production degree students used their skills to help promote an award-winning centre for creative businesses in Hartlepool.

Last year’s first year students on The Northern School of Art’s BA (Hons) Film, Television & Theatre Production degree course created a three-minute film to showcase the facilities on offer at The BIS in Whitby Street.

Run by Hartlepool Borough Council, the restored building – a former post office – is home to a wide range of businesses operating in the creative sector.

As part of a module on the film course, students had to pitch their ideas for the film and student Meg Boyle was the director of the winning team’s proposal.

Meg, aged 21, pictured left in the top image, who is from Sedgefield, said: “The BIS chose to go with my group but to also incorporate elements of others so it was a real class effort.

“I really enjoyed working with the business and staff at the BIS, it was a great experience to work on a real life client brief and I was able to practice my organisation and communication skills.

“The producer Holly and I contacted different business within the BIS who felt would best showcase the use of space. I was really happy with the outcome of the two videos and the shorter social media clip that I made. I also enjoyed creating the branding for the video.”

Caron Auckland, the Council’s Enterprise Manager, said: “We are delighted to have worked in partnership with The Northern School of Art on this project, and the students have done a great job with this film.

“If we are to achieve our aim of developing a vibrant, thriving and ultimately successful creative sector here in Hartlepool then we need to be able to retain talent locally. That’s why facilities such as The BIS are so important, as they provide vital support to new businesses just starting out. Who knows, perhaps the students involved in this project could end being future tenants of The BIS?

“The film which includes contributions from a number of current tenants, captures perfectly how The BIS is a creative community which enables resident businesses to network, meet others and exchange ideas.”

Mike Boyle, Film and TV Senior Lecturer at The Northern School of Art, said: “Collaborating with The BIS was a perfect opportunity for the students to gain valuable insight into working on a live project for a client and putting the practical skills they have learned into practice.

“All of the students benefitted from the experience of pitching their ideas competitively and, in turn, they were also able to offer useful insights as a potential future audience for The BIS which is doing great work to support the expansion of the creative sector in Hartlepool.

“On the back of our work, we also made contacts with other local creative companies that we hope will be involved with helping to develop the Film, TV and Theatre Production students and we hope, of course, to be working with The BIS on future projects too.”

Meg added that she likes how the course allows her to explore different areas of the film and TV industry while studying towards her degree.

“I’m learning and developing new technical skills along the way. For anyone wanting to work in the creative industries and gain real world experience I would recommend studying at The Northern School of Art.

“There seem to be lots of new opportunities popping up and here you can be the first to get your foot in the door. It’s a lovely relaxed and creative environment full of like-minded individuals.”

Further information about The Northern School of Art’s BA (Hons) Film, Television & Theatre Production degree course is available HERE

For more information about the facilities and services on offer at The BIS telephone (01429) 363150 or email bis@hartlepool.gov.uk