Category Archives: Class of 2009

University of Lincoln Graduates & Chris Packham | BBC TWO series

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MeAndMyDog_UoLalumni_5April2017_fromDanBowringFOUR University of Lincoln alumni – 3 of them our media graduates – have been worked on the BBC Two TV programme, Me and My Dog: The Ultimate Contest, which is a 4 part series that begins on-air this evening (5th April) at 8pm.

The show’s presenter Chris Packham – University of Lincoln’s Visiting Professor – will be joined by the programme’s Dog Trainer and Behaviourist Sian Ryan [MSc in Clinical Animal Behaviour]. The behind the camera team working on the show included Daniel Bowring [BSc (Hons) Media Technology, 2009] pictured far left, who has sent the graduate group photo; our industry mentor Jonathan Sidwell [BA (Hons) Media Production, 2007] was 1st AD; and former LSFM student-mentee Bryony Hooper [BA (Hons) Media Production, 2015] was in the Production Team. Continue reading →

Michael Henry, Class of 2009 | MUTE (2016) released 21.05.2016

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MUTE-poster_May2016Independent filmmaker Michael Henry, our 2009 graduate and one of LSFM’s industry mentors, has been in touch about the general release of MUTE (2016). The film will be available on demand, DVD and to download, from Saturday 21st May 2016 then it will do the rounds at various international film festivals. The 76-minute film, by award winning production company Quandary Productions (QP), has a freedom of expression theme.  

The indie said: Filmed in and around Lincoln, the independent film stars some of Lincoln’s finest acting talent including Nikki Mclusky, Tom Bridger, Charles Cromwell and Rob Smith. The film was shot July 2015, with the help of over 30 film students from the local College and University. The crew on MUTE included LSFM media production alumni: James Jackson, Producer/Sound Recordist, Louise Bawtree, Associate Producer and Nathan T. Dean, script supervisor. The feature film was written and directed by Michael Henry who explains his idea of MUTE.

Pre-order DVD (£5.99 before 21 May) | More info about digital download on the QP site Continue reading →

BAFTA TV Awards 2016 | LSFM Alumni on Wolf Hall and Big Blue Live

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BAFTA-TV-Award2016_BigBlueLive_JackJohnstonBritish Academy TV Awards, last night, was celebrated by LSFM alumni who worked in the production teams of BBC shows. Well done to BBC One’s Big Blue Live, winner for Live Event. Part of the team were our 2002 graduate, producer/director of wildlife TV shows Joanne Ashman said it was “the hardest, and the best job I’ve ever done. So proud to be part of the team” and our 2009 Media Production alumnus who is a freelance editor, specialising in wildlife documentary, Jack Johnston (pictured with Dan Wardle) said: “such an amazing team and such an amazing production!” Jack is one of LSFM’s Industry Mentors. You can read his archive post on this blog when the BBC Springwatch team won an inhouse Production Award in 2015.

WolfHall_BAFTA-TVawards2016

Congrats to BBC Two’s Wolf Hall – it picked up two awards: Mark Rylance for leading actor and also won in the category for Best Drama Series. Our 2013 Film and Television graduate Ashley Turner was “thrilled” to work as a floor runner on the BBC’s six part historical drama series and shared from experience how to get work as a runner – from the BBC’s Production Talent Pool to the adaptation of Dame Hilary Mantel’s best-selling period drama Wolf Hall. Read 2014 blog post. 

Michael Henry, Class of 2009 | Official Trailer ‘MUTE’ (2016)

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Michael Henry_2009GradIndependent filmmaker, who is one of our inspirational LSFM Industry Mentors, 2009 alumnus Michael Henry has posted an update on the latest development at Quandary Productions. 

We’ve recently released the official trailer to our latest feature film ‘MUTE’, written and directed by me, and here’s the synopsis:  Verbal communication has been outlawed by the rich elite, in an attempt to stop people speaking out against the conditions they live in. The new laws are enforced by the security department of the ‘Spectrum’ corporation – a huge conglomerate of the five biggest companies in the world. A voyeuristic filmmaker falls in love with an underground spoken word artist. As they find themselves unable to talk to one another, they start to make small films and write letters to one another. As the poet speaks out against ‘Spectrum’ and its owners, their lives become in danger. Will they be able to save each other in time?

To be released May of this year, on various platforms, including 4k Ultra HD, we’ll be looking to make this a huge hit at festivals around the world. Continue reading →

Jack Johnston, Class of 2009 | BBC Production Award

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Congrats to our alumni who work on BBC TV’s Springwatch on winning an in-house award for the most sustainable production team. 2009 Media Production Graduate Jack Johnston’s role was Lead Edit Assist (now Editor on BBC World Wide versions of the show). He said: 12088195_649740769988_6136445753219117447_n Springwatch is a three week Live Natural History TV event with 12 BBC Two shows as well as a multitude of online and red button shows broadcasting 24 hours a day. With huge numbers of live cameras set up across a nature reserve, a production team of over 100 people and miles of cables, it’s an exciting production to be a part of.

Jack SpringwatchI graduated from Lincoln back in 2009 and have now been working on the “Watches” in post production for a year. Laurence Whitaker joined the team early in 2015 as part of the research team. After talking in the office one day we found out that we had in fact both graduated from Lincoln, Laurence in 2011. The series this year went very well, drawing in fantastic viewing figures and giving birth to a new national hero, Spineless Si, a tiny stickleback fish who just wanted to be a good father!   Continue reading →

Michael Henry, Class of 2009 | Web Series This is Good (2015)

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MichaelHenry_ThisIsGood2015_webseriesOur 2009 graduate and independent filmmaker Michael Henry summed up the web series called This is Good  (2015), which was written and directed by Tom Bridger as “the funniest project we’ve all been part of.”  At Quandary Productions Mike was the Producer/DOP on the 7-part series and Tom also runs the Actor Support Scheme at the indie to help actors achieve their goals. One of our recent graduates Liam Gilroy worked as an Intern at Quandary Productions and is the lead actor in episode 5.

This is Good is described as a British comedy web series about people trying to find their definition of being happy.  The series has 7 stories, 7 styles and 7 main characters. Here’s episode 2 called Mike and it features Tom Bridger and stars Michael Henry. Also look out for 2009 alumnus who is a media producer Stuart Almond (he’s the one with toy guns!).  He said the web series “is exactly what the title says it is, Good!  It’s also completely free which is a rare thing.”

You can see the web series at Quandary’s site. From the indie: If you liked it, please share! Like us on Facebook: facebook.com/thisisgoodwebseries  Continue reading →

Kassie Bowen, Class of 2009 | Video Producer, Wanderlust FP

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Kassie-Bowen_2009Grad5 years after graduating, I’m running my own business  (joint company director and video producer) and travelling the world filming.  We say Wanderlust FP is a production company based out of a backpack!  Here’s one of our latest videos produced for Audley Travel on Vietnam.

I completed my degree in 2009 with first class honours, something I worked really hard for. It didn’t come easy; I sacrificed a lot of nights out to get the grade but it was well worth it. I had planned to start my own business straight out of Uni but I ended up working on various productions large and small for other people, which was ultimately better as I learnt a lot from it. I made some great contacts through my R&D project, which meant I got to experience being on set for a big feature film Never Let Me Go (2010) with Keira Knightly.  Continue reading →

Ash Knight, Class of 2009 | Update on Knightvisions Productions

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AshKnight_knightvisions-productions-logo2009 alumnus Ash Knight is busy as usual as a Media Producer and Director at Knightvisions Productions. It’s a video production indie and for the last few months Ash has been developing the focus of his company, as you’ll see at his updated KVP site. He said: I am motivated by producing unique, refined, artistic content that culturally educates and inspires my audience.

For example last month: “Knightvisions Productions provided camera-crew and production support to Ed Cole Photography on the mini-documentary Catching the Light … Ed seeks out what he considers to be the optimal conditions for catching a great photograph.”

Knightvisions Productions  |  Follow Ash on Twitter  |  Ash’s blog posts 

Jordan Livermore, Class of 2009 | Update: Life in TV Production

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Jordan Livermore, our 2009 graduate and one of LSFM inspirational mentors, has produced a series of TV coaching videos on Work experience; CVs; Degrees; and Lifestyle. They are based on his 5 years working in television because he said  “I know how tough it was” and he wanted “to help newcomers to the TV industry. Anyone who is looking to move into, upwards and onwards in TV should start here.”  

So where have I been!? Well if I remember correctly the last time I updated this blog was when I was out in Bristol, coming toward the end of my contract on Deal or No Deal as a contestant researcher.  And what makes this industry so amazingly fun is also what makes it so petrifyingly scary at times … it’s unpredictability. So whilst this post might seem to flow like a well thought out, calculated journey, the reality is that I had no real idea where I was going to end up! Continue reading →

Michael Henry, Class of 2009 | Screening ‘Time and Place’ 1st Nov

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Michael-Henry_TimeandPlace_releaseOne of our creative media mentors is 2009 alumnus Michael Henry at Quandary Productions who’ll be at ‘Meet the Graduates’ network event this Wednesday to share advice about indie filmmaking and opportunities. Timely because he’s just completed the final cut on his latest film ‘Time and Place‘ (2014). There will be a free public screening on 1st November in Lincoln (UK) and the film will be released with ‘Pay-What-You-Want’ On Demand. The production team said ‘it’s the best thing we’ve ever made’. Mike said he’s excited in his latest posting:

Finally, the time has come! After months of hard work ‘TIME AND PLACE’ is finalised, exported, and sent off for DVD batch production. We premiere the film in one week, crowdfunders can expect their DVDs a day or two earlier next week, and we’re very excited about the ‘Pay-What-You-Want’ release on November 1st – same date as the free screening at The Collection in Lincoln. ‘TIME AND PLACE‘ took a good nine months to write, three to shoot, seven months of editing and will no doubt be months before I consider it entirely over, once all the promotion is done and festival fates are sealed. We’re trying something a little different this time – audience members will have the choice of how much they pay to see the film. So what’s different about our On Demand release?  Continue reading →