It was a fantastic night for our school at this weekend’s Royal Television Society North East and The Border Awards 2023 which saw our alumni in multiple categories with graduate Sam Burt winning Best Student Drama! These annual awards celebrate film and content makers in the North East and surrounding areas. The Northern School of Art sponsored The Drama Performance of the Year award, our Chair Tim Bailey presented winner Justin McDonald for his role in Fist.

Our winner Sam Burt took his award for his film Boulder and Pebble a story about a sports prodigy carving out his own path instead of the one laid out for him by his farther. His film has won multiple awards including a BFI win earlier this year!

Sam received his award from the creator of Vera author Anne Cleeves, speaking of the event Sam said “It’s pleasing to see North East talent being highlighted.” Commenting on his win he said “It was an unexpected but well appreciated award, it was a great night building a lot of contacts with people who are also in the game in this area. Thank you to The Northern School of Art.”

Other categories and nominations included Love Bethany by Oscar Fitchett, speaking of the award night Oscar commented: “Being a part of the RTS North East Borders Awards is an exciting moment. It’s amazing to be involved in such a prestigious event surrounded by the professional standard of the regional industry. More than anything, I’m just over-the-moon that me and my fellow graduates can be considered as belonging in that space.”

Other short-listings include Robbie Tweedale who was nominated for Best Student Comedy for his film A Story of Love and Inter-Planetary Warfare.

We were also pleased to see the work of alumni Adam Bouabda being recognised. Adam who works at the Hartlepool based Sea and Sky Pictures walked away with the award for Best Short. This topped off a great few days for him with Sea and Sky having only just been awarded funding from the BBC’s Small Indie Fund.

This fantastic night really highlights the growing screen sector in the North East and the opportunities available to young film makers to develop their work regionally. Congratulations to all the nominees and winners!

If you are interested in a career in the screen industries make sure you check out our BA (Hons) Film, TV & Theatre Production degree.