Category Archives: Alumni Stories

Stories and advice kindly provided by our graduates, categorised by year of graduation. If you know a name, use Search at the top.

Holly Miechowski, Class of 2007 | Casting Producer’s Tips into TV

Posted on by
Holly: Casting Producer , TV

Holly: Casting Producer, TV

During my Media Production Degree, I applied for work experience at a Birmingham based Production Company, Maverick Television. When I got the placement, I was extremely grateful for the opportunity, one that I believe I may not have had without the encouragement and support from my lecturers at the University of Lincoln School of Film & Media. It was a great few weeks, and I worked hard, making sure I networked with who ever I possibly could. It was exciting; I was working on the hit Channel 4 Series, ‘10 Years Younger.’  This is where I got to see how a Production worked. My role involved various admin duties in the office, helping with shoot prep (prop buying etc.) and also being able to go out on the shoot and see first hand how it all worked!

Following the work placement, I went back to University to finish my degree, graduating in 2007 with a 2.1. I then moved to Manchester where I knew there were plenty of TV opportunities, and also because, well, I wasn’t quite ready for the big smoke that is London! It was hard to begin with, I sent many, many, emails and letters, applying for Runner work. It was hard, there was a lot of competition, I had no employment history in the industry, only my work experience and my degree. Whilst I was looking, I signed up to a Recruitment agency, I didn’t really want to do anything other than TV work, but I had my rent to pay and I was no longer living on student loans!

TIP NUMBER 1: Continue reading →

Media Mentors 2018-19 Gallery | LSFM Industry Mentoring

Posted on by

See just a few of our inspirational industry mentors. Lincoln School of Film & Media (LSFM) would like to thank all the professionals who kindly volunteer their time from the world of work to mentor a LSFM undergraduate. Commitment with a student-mentee is to have at least 6 contact times (in person and/or online) across an academic year. If you work in media and would like to join our industry mentors, in future academic years, details are here and you can register your interest at any time: LSFM’s_MENTOR_Registration-Form. Thanks.

Twenty mentors are required for LSFM Mentoring each new academic year.  We are proud many mentors are also Uni of Lincoln alumni. Here are some of our 2018-19 mentors.  Continue reading →

Imogen Hayes, Class of 2018 | My Graduation Day

Posted on by

IMG_1797

On Tuesday the 11th September 2018 I concluded my 3 years as a student of LSFM, Lincoln School of Film and Media. Graduation is something we aim to achieve, but it isn’t until the day arrives that you are filled in a concoction of sadness that your undergraduate journey has ended, and pride at everything you have achieved in your time at Uni. The day involves seeing all your friends and family whilst sharing in each other’s happiness, taking thousands of photos so you can remember the day, seeing your lecturers and having them congratulate you on your achievements.

The ceremonies involve a lot of clapping! But all in all, the day revolves around pride. Pride in your own accomplishments, feeling the pride from your friends and family, pride in your school and pride within yourself. Tell people what you have been up to since leaving because they are genuinely interested and want the best for you. It doesn’t matter whether you got a job in the industry straight off the bat, or if you are taking some time out to think about what you really want to do, everyone will be proud of you.

A few months ago, I started a job at ENVY post productions as a runner. Continue reading →

LSFM, Class of 2018 | Grad Day!

Posted on by

Excited! TODAY 11th of September 2018 is a memorable day for LSFM’s graduands. We are proud of our students’ achievements at the University of Lincoln School of Film & Media. Our Graduation ceremony will be at the lovely Lincoln Cathedral at 2.30pm. The Cathedral doors will open at 1.30pm and all seated please by 2pm. Reminder for graduands and guests to head to the Lincoln Castle grounds to collect your tickets from the Ticketing Desk and your gown from the gowning marquee. #LoveLincoln Graduation Ceremonies will be streaming live. 

We will get an insider’s view of Grad Day with soon-to-be Class of 2018 Imogen Hayes – read her previous post about getting a job – so watch this space! In the meantime, congrats to all who are graduating today and this week. Uni of Lincoln said “notable names receiving honorary degrees from the University include the comedian, actor and writer Robert Webb, best known as half of the comedy double act Mitchell and Webb and TV series Peep Show. In 2017, Robert published his number one best-selling memoir, How Not To Be a Boy.” Read the full press story.

#UoLGrad2018 Thanks! You made our Uni 8th (out of 127 UK institutions) in the National Student Survey.

Leanne Rogers, Class of 2014 | Debut Doco Violet Vixen (2018)

Posted on by

LeanneRogers-2014Grad-LinkedInimageI’m a Project Manager/Videographer at Mediorite, which is a social enterprise and film production company that gets young people into film. Mediorite is split into two divisions: Mediorite, which is run by a bank of award-winning filmmakers, assisted by a young person and MedioritePlus, which specialises in quick, low cost, online content and is run by young creatives. I’m currently the head of MedioritePlus and have more recently been working on larger scale projects as a lead filmmaker on Mediorite jobs, working on more complex briefs.

I was recently inspired to make my first documentary, Violet Vixen (2018). The film looks at the fabulous life of 11 year old Leo who expresses with remarkable articulacy and boldness his distinctive identity. He aspires to be a make-up artist and performer as well as an inspiration to other young boys like him. Since its release on Youtube and Facebook the film has been viewed over one million times.

The idea initially came about when I was pitching ideas to a client. Continue reading →

Joel Murray, Class of 2011 | Visit Lincoln Innovation Tourism Award

Posted on by
Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

Congratulations LSFM alumnus Joel Murray, digital marketing co-ordinator (left on photo,) and Visit Lincoln for winning Innovation in Tourism at the Lincolnshire Technology and Innovation Awards 2018 (7th June). University of Lincoln School of Film & Media 2011 graduate, also our industry mentor, said he was delighted on receiving this accolade:

I led on the project, with my background in digital, so am particularly happy! At Visit Lincoln we managed to get some funding from a central government pot to develop a project aimed at millennial travellers in the US to encourage them to explore England outside of London – there is more to the country than the capital! We did this in a group we are part of called England’s Historic Cities, and that’s the name of the app we created which is available to download on iOS and Android for free.

The idea of the app is the bring history to life using new technology. We worked with Lincoln Cathedral to come up with stories about its history as told by famous Lincolnshire explorer Joseph Banks.  Continue reading →

Media Mentors | Industry & LSFM

Posted on by

Lincoln School of Film & Media (LSFM) is proud to have mentors who work in a range of media jobs. LSFM Mentoring with industry started as a pilot and has been running, developing, for three academic years. Our undergraduates apply, for 20 places, to have their own media mentor. LSFM said: Employability is at the heart of everything we do. Read LSFM’s student story from mentee Imogen Hayes. LSFM Mentoring is in collaboration with the University of Lincoln Careers & Employability team. 

Mentors, many who are our graduates, kindly volunteer time from their busy schedules for LSFM Mentoring. Over summer we’ll check on our mentors availability for the new academic year 2018-19. Timely now to reflect on their massive contribution and say thank you. If you’d like to be a mentor, you can register your interest and details are here.  See a snapshot of some of our inspirational media mentors. Continue reading →

Darren Scales, LSFM Lecturer | Short Opens TFL Fest, Cannes 18

Posted on by

Congrats Daz. University of Lincoln School of Film & Media lecturer and filmmaker Darren Scales, who is also our Industry Mentor, has posted about his award winning sci-fi short: “I’m proud to announce that DARKWAVE: Edge of the Storm is the opening film at the TFL festival in CANNES!” TFL is That Film Life | Cannes 71st Festival 9th to 18th May 2018

Emma Bridgewood, Class of 2016 | Top 10 Tips on Getting TV Work

Posted on by
Emma: TV Runner/Researcher

Emma: TV Runner/Researcher

As a graduate now working in the television industry, I thought I would share with you my ten tips about what it’s like to work in TV land! Whether you’re a prospective Runner, just generally interested in TV, or if you’re just procrastinating about writing an essay, hopefully this will be of some interest to you! Obviously if you have any more specific questions, feel free to give me a tweet or facebook message, I’d be happy to help.

1. It’s okay if you don’t know what you want to do! When you leave university, there’s a lot of pressure for you to suddenly ‘know’ what you want to do with the rest of your life, but you don’t need to know right away! When you work in TV, most people start off as a Runner, working on programmes in all kinds of genres. This is a sort of ‘try before you buy’ stage, you can see what genre(s) of shows you enjoy working on, and hopefully you can specialise into that as you progress. That also includes trying out different roles, and you can decide whether to go down an Editorial (PD / Researcher), Technical (Camera / Sound) or Production (Production Manager / Prod Coordinator / Prod Sec) route.

 2. There isn’t a set way to get into TV.  From talking to people who work in the industry, it is clear there are many different ways to get into TV. Some people are lucky enough to know someone, a few stumble into it from other industries, and others (like me) have worked hard to get where they are! Continue reading →

Neurodivergen Film Fest Winners, DYSPLA | Screening 21.03.2018

Posted on by

DYSPLA_DIMIF_flyer1 copyMedia Production 2008 Grad Kaz Bielecki is the Artistic Director of the first Neurodivergent film festival produced in the UK by the award winning Arts organisation DYSPLA. It works “internationally in film, immersive theatre, installation & digital art to shed light on Dyslexic Narrative and the Dyslexic Aesthetic.” The University of Lincoln School of Film & Media will be screening the winning entries of this film fest on Wednesday 21 March, 1.30-3pm in the Stephen Langton Building (Brayford Pool campus). 

LSFM’s Senior Lecturer Marcella Forster said: The festival showcases work by dyslexic and neurodivergent filmmakers. Festival organisers will introduce students to the winning films and there’ll be an opportunity to ask them questions about the festival. All our students, staff and graduates are welcome to attend.