Tag Archives: awards

BU are sponsoring the Rock Star Awards 2015

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Rock Awards BU-bannerLocal recruitment agency ‘Rock Recruitment Specialists’ are looking to celebrate the achievements of people aged 16-26 in the Dorset area, and show local businesses what young employable talent Dorset has to offer through a scheme called the ‘Rock Star Awards’.

Bournemouth University are sponsoring the Rock Star Awards this year and want to encourage as many students and graduates to apply for the awards as possible. In the past BU students have done well in these awards and won several categories, creating useful contacts and opportunities for their careers.

Details of the awards and how students and graduates can apply can be found on the Rock Recruitment website here. This is a fantastic opportunity for the winners of these awards to showcase their achievements to a network of 400 employers in the Dorset area at a special gala dinner event and not only make useful business contacts with influential business people, but such an opportunity could also lead to a future job offer!

BU TV Production graduate wins Royal Television Society Award

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A Bournemouth University TV Production graduate has won a prestigious Royal Television Society (RTS) Award.

Beth Lamont won the Best Entertainment RTS Southern Student Award, for a cookery programme she created in her third year of the BA (Hons) Television Production course at BU.

The show, Mini Munchies, is targeted at pre-school children and their parents, and aims to encourage them to cook and eat healthily.

It features a mother and daughter making a vegetarian pizza together and is also narrated by a child.

“It was a huge surprise to have been nominated, let alone to take home the award, particularly given the great work of my fellow nominees,” said Beth, who graduated from BU in 2013.

“I’m delighted to have won and the film has already opened doors for me by helping me secure an internship at Disney this year, which has so far been a brilliant first step in to the industry.

“I’d like to extend my gratitude, again, to the crew and cast who share this award with me.”

The RTS Southern awards, which took place at Winchester Guildhall on 21st February, celebrate the best in television talent in the South and highlight the quality of content produced by the region.

Bournemouth University graduates had been shortlisted in all of the student categories – with Ben Witt also nominated in the Best Entertainment category; Gulliver Moore for Best Fiction; and, in the Best Factual category, Matt Cotton.

Nick Bamford, Programme Leader of the BA (Hons) Television Production degree course at BU, said that the team were proud of all the graduates who were shortlisted for this year’s awards.

“The staff who teach on BA TV Production are thrilled to see such a good representation of our graduates’ work in the RTS awards,” he added.

“It’s a fitting testament to the creativity and hard work of our students, and a shining example to those who follow them of what they can aspire to.”

Winners of New Media Writing Prize revealed at BU

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A sitcom based around conversations with voice-activated app Siri, a multi-media project on gang warfare in El Salvador and an interactive poetry website were named winners at the New Media Writing Awards.

The international competition, run by Bournemouth University’s Media School, showcases innovative story-telling designed to be accessed through new media devices.

The winners were announced at an awards ceremony at Bournemouth University, with prizes awarded to an overall winner, a people’s choice winner decided by an online public vote, and a student winner.

Esmeralda Kosmatopoulos was named overall winner, receiving a prize of £1,000.

Her entry, Siri and Me, consisted of a virtual sitcom made up of conversations between her and the voice-activated phone application.

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Esmeralda Kosmatopoulos receiving the New Media Writing Prize award via Skype, for her virtual sitcom Siri and Me

Esmeralda, who lives in New York, received her award over Skype, saying: “I’m really excited and happy,”

“The way Siri talks to me now may be the way my fridge will start talking to me in the future. You will start to have relationships with your appliances.”

The student prize was won by David Devanny from Falmouth University, for his project Orange Sweatshirt.

His interactive site generates poems, which readers can then alter by changing words, the tone, and format used.

David Devanny

Student prize winner David Devanny (right), with Peter Phillips of Unicorn Training

David, whose prize was a three-month paid internship with e-learning company Unicorn Training said: “It’s amazing. The whole thing has been a very good experience, and I’m very shocked and surprised.

“I like the idea of giving over control to the reader as much as possible, so I try to make a point of doing that in my work.”

The winners were decided by a panel of judges which included Dan Franklin, Digital Publisher at Random House; Chris Meade, founder of if:Book UK, which explores the future of books; and  Joanna Ellis, Associate Director of The Literary Platform.

Chris Meade said: “What I love about this competition, and this year more than ever, is it’s about a new kind of writer. They are creating things for different platforms and not just writing for a book.”

There was also a People’s Choice Award, decided by an online public vote, with a prize of £250.

Ann Luce and Jim Pope

Ann Luce, one of the creators of People’s Choice award winner The Engineer, with event organiser Jim Pope.

Over 1,000 votes were received and the award was won by Mathew Charles, Juan Passarelli and Ann Luce for their multi-media project The Engineer, which follows El Salvador’s only forensic pathologist and looks at gang crime in the country.

As well as the winners being announced, the awards ceremony also featured talks from leading new media figures, including Rob Sherman, author of Random House’s first fully interactive fiction Black Crown, and Julian McCrae, creator of multi-media thriller The Craftsman.

They spoke about their work and gave tips for students in the audience who wanted to go into digital storytelling, including quickly making the reader care about your piece and characters, and knowing the genre and audience expectations.

 Andy Campbell, who has created Dreaming Methods – a digital scrapbook for authors featuring animation and visual imagery alongside written pieces – also spoke at the awards ceremony.

He said: “It is really a fantastic event and a great showcase for this type of work.

“It’s a nice chance to hopefully influence some up-and-coming writers and encourage people to give it a go.”

The New Media Writing Prize is now in its fourth year and organiser and judge Jim Pope said it was bigger and better than ever.

“I think it has been the most successful awards ceremony we have run, the biggest and most varied range of entries and audience,” said Jim, who is also Course Leader for BA (Hons) English at Bournemouth University.

“The quality of the entries was fantastic and it was so hard to choose a winner because they were all so different, it was like choosing between chalk and cheese.”

New Media Writing Prize shortlist revealed

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An interactive murder mystery on a spaceship, a project about gang warfare in El Salvador and a sitcom based around the Siri voice application are among the shortlisted nominees for the New Media Writing Prize.

The international competition, run by Bournemouth University’s Media School, showcases innovative story-telling designed to be accessed through new media devices.

Entries could be anything from a short poem to a film or computer animation with audience interaction.

The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony at Bournemouth University on the evening of Wednesday 22 January.

The New Media Writing Prize 2013 shortlist is:

  •  The Engineer (a multi-media project following El Salvador’s only forensic pathologist and looking at gang crime in the country) – Mathew Charles, Juan Passarelli, Ann Luce
  • Siri and Me (an online sitcom featuring conversations with the voice-activated application) – Esmeralda Kosmatopoulos
  • Orange Sweatshirt (an interactive poetry site where readers can control the words used and format) – David Devanny
  • Foursquare Tales (stories and song playlists to accompany places on the Foursquare location application)  – Declan Dineen
  • Opacity (a four-part interactive story accessed online) – Serge Bouchardon

The overall winner, chosen by a panel of judges, will receive £1,000, donated by if:book UK, while a People’s Choice winner – decided by an online public vote – will win £250.

There is also a student category, with the winner receiving a 3-month paid internship with Bournemouth-based e-learning company Unicorn Training.

The shortlisted student entries are:

  • Orange Sweatshirt – David Devanny
  • Foursquare Tales – Declan Dineen
  • The Ghosts of Yamaraja (an interactive murder-mystery based on a spaceship) – Jonathan Saunders

All of the shortlisted entries can be viewed on the New Media Writing Prize website, where people can also vote on their favourite for the People’s Choice Award.

The awards ceremony takes place in Kimmeridge House, at Bournemouth University’s Talbot Campus, from 6pm to 8.30pm on Wednesday 22 January.

The ceremony is free to attend and – alongside the announcement of the winners –three top writers will be talking about and showing their work.

They are:

  • Andy Campbell, who has created a unique body of work called Dreaming Methods.
  • Rob Sherman, author of Black Crown, Random House’s first full interactive fiction.
  • Julian McCrae, creator of The Craftsman, a multi-media thriller.

To book event tickets or to find out more about the awards ceremony visit the New Media Writing Prize Eventbrite page.

 

 

BU receives number of nominations in Student Radio Awards

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Student radio at Bournemouth University has been recognised with a number of nominations for the Student Radio Awards (SRAs).

Online radio station BIRSt, which is run by BU MA Radio Production students, has been shortlisted in the Student Station of the Year category, while MA Production student Aoife Allen has been nominated for Newcomer of the Year.

Aoife, who has just finished her Master’s degree at BU, was Head of Marketing for BIRSt and worked on a variety of content for the station – including audio drama, alternative Irish music shows and a female-led current affairs discussion show.

She said: “I think it was the opportunity I had at BIRSt to delve into all the areas of a radio station, both on and off-air, that has led to the nomination, in conjunction with being lucky enough to have had a team of nine other amazing producers to work alongside.”

Former Nerve Radio station manager Charlotte Gay has also been shortlisted for Best Female Presenter at the Awards.

“When I found out, I was ecstatic,” said Charlotte, who is graduating from the BA Multimedia Journalism course with a First Class Honours degree in November.

“It’s something I’ve worked really hard to achieve over the past three years working with Nerve Radio and even just to be nominated is something I am extremely proud of.

“Radio presenting is something I’ve wanted to do since leaving school and from working with Nerve I realised this was actually possible.”

The Student Radio Awards are run by the Student Radio Association and celebrates the best of student radio nationwide, as well as launching the next generation of radio talent into the industry.

Previous winners have included the likes of Radio 1 DJs Greg James and Scott Mills, with prizes including work experience on big radio shows, one off shows on major networks or equipment for student radio stations.

Jo Tyler, a Radio Production lecturer at BU, said: “BIRSt produces drama, features and programmes on demand and has had many exciting innovative projects on air such as a live ‘choose your own adventure’ drama.

“I am very proud that BIRSt 2013 been nominated for SRA Best Station of The Year alongside their peers in Student Radio with much bigger production teams.

“The course develops production skills and theory evident here and Aoife Allen, nominated in the Best Newcomer category is proof that if you engage with the medium at this level you can produce great work. “

The awards ceremony takes place in London on November 7th.