Sam Shetabi: Still Grinning in Disbelief

20 April 10

Sam Shetabi describes his whirlwind journey so far ever since discovering he was one of the chosen nominees.

Sam Shetabi and Nick Dance
Sam Shatabi with Director of Photography Nick DanceIt’s been a pretty exciting five months since finding out I’d won a Screen Skills bursary! Aside from all the ideas whizzing around my head for the film I get to make (£3000? Sweet!), there has been lots of meeting and greeting of the people who will be helping me along the way.

A few weeks ago, I got the chance to go to the Panavision HQ in London to meet up with some of the best camera operators in the world. The Guild of British Camera Technicians will be lending me their advice and years of expertise to help me pull off the daunting role of Director of Photography for my film, so meeting up with them was great, giving me some first hand guidance from the best in the business.

I can’t wait to go back and get stuck in and use all of their great kit.

The next day I got a tour around the London Film Academy, where I’ll be taught the craft of the DoP. The atmosphere was so friendly I can’t wait to go back and get stuck in and use all of their great kit.

The last few months have also been pretty swanky. Being invited to the BFI Southbank for the Future Film Awards back in February was a great experience – as was picking up a nice little award for the Screen Skills bursary! Not only did I get to meet some great Directors and DoPs, I got to meet the other Screen Skills winners and I’ve been in contact with some of them ever since.

Of course, none of that quite compares to finding out after months of nail biting that I’d been nominated for the Screen Skills Award at the BAFTA TV Craft Awards in May – the grin still hasn’t quite fallen from my face! If the first few months are anything to go by, this summer is going to be an unbelievable experience.