Achievements

Early Education

I took my GCSEs two years early, and due to achieving great grades, decided to leave secondary school straight after to start the next level of my education. As a result, I started university aged 16. This was my first accomplishment as a student.

BA (Hons) in Screenwriting and Producing

Throughout my university career, I consistently achieved firsts for my submissions and worked conscientiously. Despite initial concerns regarding my age, I ultimately won the respect and recognition of my peers through determination and perseverance by graduating at 20 years old with a Bachelors Degree in Screenwriting and Producing with Honors. By far, my greatest achievement!

Work Experience

I went to the BBC Studio in Wales for a week’s work experience and sat in on the production of a radio play by Rob Gittins called ‘Operation Julie’. I helped out with script redactions and I also helped to direct the actor’s, offering my input whenever prompted to do so. I also helped with the foley recording and audio engineering of the production. I often go to view recordings of Radio 4 shows at the BBC London. I’ve met many great people during these shows, and established many contacts. I was a member of the young Rotarians where I helped organise fundraising and social events for charity and I also helped run several drama groups over the weekends where I got to try my hand at directing theatre plays which is in many ways more challenging than directing film.

Dean’s List, Scholarship for Academic Excellence and the Student Council

During my first year, I was placed on the Dean’s list for outstanding achievement every semester and was awarded a full scholarship for Academic Excellence which I received each year of my course after this. I was voted to be a member of the student council and representative for the Screenwriting course. As a council member, I had to organize and plan events as well as run meetings and manage administration for the course’s council projects. Many of our events involved scouting industry professionals and convincing them to attend as judges or guest speakers which took a lot of persuasive skill. We also were in charge of planning and putting on performances and entertainment such as Regent’s Got Talent which was basically a live show that we carefully planned and executed - helping me become adept at live television broadcasting and scripting.

Study Abroad

I participated in a 3 month study abroad period in California in my second year at university where I learned a lot about Adobe editing softwares in a Video/Multimedia course. We were tasked to create two animation projects - one blended with live action footage. It was my first time ever attempting animation with Adobe but I am proud of how it turned out and can now say that I am very familiar with the software and am capable of calling myself an animator. The experience also helped me with my animation writing since I learned how important it is to write with visuals in mind.

Filming Experience

I have been working on short films for many years now, all of which are self-funded and produced for the web. My most recent film “Reality Check!” was the most challenging. I was very ambitious with this project, working with a lead child actor, an animal actor, shooting on location outside of London, filming mostly exterior day scenes in December, and having animation involved in post-production. Basically everything they tell you not to do on a student film! While they were all challenging, thanks to intense planning and dedication on set, I managed to overcome these hurdles and I consider the film a success.

After all, the film had a full cast and crew of industry professionals. My 1st AD had previously worked on “Last Christmas” starring Emilia Clarke. And my lead actor was “Bastian Fuentes”, an up and coming child actor who has been in commercials and TV Shows. Despite being the only amateur in the crew, I was in charge of the creative team and learned what it takes to be a good director/producer since I had a lot of experienced eyes on me. My crew’s feedback at the end of the experience allowed me to feel proud in my skill at directing and leading professionals.

Charity and Volunteer Work

I have participated in many creative or charitable activities outside of the syllabus throughout the years. I volunteered with fundraising for Gravesend Rotary Club and despite the long hours without rest, I remained enthusiastic. I also offered my time at the Riverside Community Resource Trust for which I had to be approachable and develop my communication skills.