BAFTA’s expanded global scholarship activity sees the first BAFTA Scholars from mainland China
Three British recipients named Prince William Scholars, supported by BAFTA and Warner Bros.
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) today announced the names of 21 students in financial need who will receive scholarships to study in the UK or US including, for the first time this year, two students from mainland China who will be studying at British institutions. As well as financial support, the BAFTA Scholars will gain free access to BAFTA events and receive one-to-one mentoring from BAFTA members, award-winners and nominees.
In the UK, nine new and three returning British students will receive up to £12,000 as part of their package of support. For a fourth year, three of these students will receive the Prince William Scholarships in Film, Television and Games, supported by BAFTA and Warner Bros. These scholarships – an integral element of Warner Bros. Creative Talent, Warner Bros.’ investment in UK creative industries’ skills and training – are awarded in the name of HRH The Duke of Cambridge in his role as President of BAFTA.
The Prince William Scholars in 2016 are Emily Dring from Harrogate in North Yorkshire, Rosalind Gregoire from Woodgreen in Hampshire and Angela Neil from South Woodford in east. Their fees will be funded by Warner Bros., and they each will receive a short funded work placement with the Warner Bros. group of companies in the UK, access to a Warner Bros. mentor, and invitations to Warner Bros.’ series of industry masterclasses.
The six other UK scholarship recipients announced today are: John Garvey from Harrow in north west London, Robert Gittings from Wednesfield in Wolverhampton, Adam Jones from near Llandudno Junction, Conwy County Borough in Wales, Grace Saif from Crawley in West Sussex, Daniella Smith from Ramsey Mereside in Cambridgeshire and Lauren Grace Wilson from Johnstone in Renfrewshire.
In addition, Tom Barnes from Reading, Tadgh Culley from Burntwood in Staffordshire and Jonny Lavelle from Houghton-le-Spring in County Durham will each receive a further scholarship from BAFTA to complete the second year of their course.
Two students from China – Li Gong from Lanzhou in Gansu Province and Qingling Zhang from Shanghai – have been awarded BAFTA scholarships of up to £20,000 towards tuition fees, plus a bursary for living expenses, as part of BAFTA’s aim to encourage UK-China cross-cultural exchange by enabling talented Chinese nationals to study film, television, or games as an international student in the UK. Li Gong will study Film Directing at Edinburgh College of Art, University of Edinburgh, while Qingling Zhang will study Production Design at the National Film and Television School (NFTS) in Beaconsfield.
For the course details and biographies of the British and Chinese BAFTA Scholars in the UK, go to: https://www.bafta.org/supporting-talent/scholarships/scholarships-2016
Amanda Berry OBE, Chief Executive of BAFTA, said: “BAFTA celebrates creative excellence and a crucial part of its work is to ensure that talented people, whatever their background or personal circumstances, are given every opportunity to engage in the film, TV and games industries. We are proud to award these talented students with the financial means necessary to launch their careers, as well as giving them the chance to build lasting relationships with leading industry figures through one-to-one mentoring and access to industry events. I’m delighted that, for the first time, we have been able to support talented individuals from mainland China.”
Josh Berger CBE, President & Managing Director, Warner Bros. UK, Ireland & Spain, said: “Finding, funding and nurturing the next generation of talent for our creative industries has never been more important and we are delighted to continue to play a key role in this endeavour. As we have seen in the experiences of previous Prince William Scholars, the inspiration, insight and financial support that Emily, Rosalind and Angela are set to receive will have a huge impact on their respective futures – we congratulate them and wish them all the very best.”
The BAFTA Scholarship Programme is overseen in the UK by BAFTA’s Learning and New Talent Committee, chaired by Sara Putt, and made possible by the generous support of a number of individuals, foundations and partnerships. The inclusion of students from China is the latest expansion of BAFTA’s global scholarship activity, which saw scholarships awarded in Hong Kong in 2014.
BAFTA New York specialises in supporting both graduate and undergraduate students pursuing media studies at institutions located within the New York City area, through its Media Studies Scholarship Program. In New York, Brooklyn College students Hassan Williams, Sidnei Afari, and Veronica Austin all received $2,500 scholarships. Ziwei Yao (City College of New York) and Lasse Ulvedal Tolboll (NYU Tisch School of the Arts) were awarded $5,000 scholarships. Rituparna Das Datta (City College of New York) and Rhys Jones (NYU Tisch School of the Arts) received $2,500 scholarships. For more information, go to: http://bit.ly/1KjEuKa.
BAFTA Los Angeles also provides financial support and mentorship to British graduate students who are studying in the US. This year’s scholarship recipients were announced in June: Carol Brown was awarded the Pigott/BAFTA Scholarship for $10,000, and Laurence Zanelli was awarded the BAFTA Los Angeles Nigel Lythgoe Television Scholarship for $5,000. Harriet Beaney, Peter Lam, Sunny Midha, and Iesh Thapar all received $5,000 scholarships. Carol, Laurence, Sunny and Peter, are all current students at the University of Southern California, while Iesh and Harriet are students of Columbia University. For more information, go to: http://bit.ly/2czp9Be.
Notes to Editors:
In 2015, the fourth year of the BAFTA Scholarship Programme in the UK, the scholarship recipients were matched with industry professionals, including BAFTA-winners and nominees, for mentoring support. The BAFTA mentors include: sound effects editor Niv Adiri (Gravity, Ex Machina), actor, writer and director Noel Clarke (Kidulthood, Doctor Who), production designer Stuart Craig OBE (Gandhi, The Elephant Man), animation director Merlin Crossingham (Morph, Creature Comforts), actor Shaun Dooley (Broadchurch, Cuffs), cinematographer Gavin Finney (Wolf Hall, Going Postal), screenwriter Tony Grisoni (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, How I Live Now), animation director Jim Jagger (Grand Theft Auto V, The Fades), visual effects supervisor Hayden Jones (Jekyll & Hyde, Broadchurch), composer John Lunn (Downton Abbey, The Last Kingdom), production sound mixer Chris Munro (Gravity, Captain Phillips), music supervisor Maggie Rodford (Harry Potter, Cinderella), environment artist Karen Stanley (Playstation VR, London Heist), and game designer Ted Timmins (Fable).
The Bigger Picture, directed and written by 2012 BAFTA scholarship recipient Daisy Jacobs, was named best British Short Animation at the EE British Academy Film Awards in 2015, and was nominated in the Short Film (Animated) category at the Oscars in the same year.
Ian Forbes, BAFTA Scholarship recipient in 2013, was the DoP for Edmond which won the BAFTA for British Short Animation at the EE British Academy Film Awards in 2016.
Two other BAFTA Scholars have worked as DoPs on BAFTA-nominated shorts: Steven Ferguson, also a BAFTA Scholarship recipient in 2013, for short animation Manoman in 2016, and Craig Dean Devine, a BAFTA Scholarship recipient in 2012, for short film Three Brothers in 2015.
Rienkje Attoh, who was named a Prince William Scholar in 2013, will see her debut feature film, A Moving Image, screen at this year’s BFI London Film Festival.
For further information, please contact:
In the UK:
Eleanor Pickering / Niyi Akeju at BAFTA
T: 020 7292 5863 / 5865
E: [email protected] / [email protected]
In New York:
Lina Plath / Stephanie Davidson at Frank PR
T: 646 861 0843
E: [email protected] / [email protected]
About BAFTA
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is an independent charity that supports, develops and promotes the art forms of the moving image by identifying and rewarding excellence, inspiring practitioners and benefiting the public. In addition to its Awards ceremonies, BAFTA has a year-round programme of learning events and initiatives – featuring workshops, masterclasses, scholarships, lectures and mentoring schemes – in the UK, USA and Asia; it offers unique access to the world’s most inspiring talent and connects with a global audience of all ages and backgrounds. BAFTA relies on income from membership subscriptions, individual donations, trusts, foundations and corporate partnerships to support its ongoing outreach work. To access the best creative minds in film, television and games production, visit www.bafta.org/guru. For more, visit www.bafta.org.
About BAFTA in Asia
Since 2013, BAFTA has worked with partners in mainland China and Hong Kong to deliver masterclasses and international scholarships and engaging world-renowned, award-winning filmmakers, actors and craftspeople to take part, including Johnnie To, Zhang Yimou, Duncan Kenworthy, Eddie Redmayne and Lois Burwell. Through such events and initiatives, BAFTA promotes a spirit of open, creative collaboration between the UK and China and encourages cross-cultural exchange.
