News

Thursday 6 December 2007

"Blast" off for new young directors at Nottingham Trent University

Two groups of Multimedia students from Nottingham Trent University have had their work chosen to be aired on a BBC television programme, showcasing films from some of the hottest young directors in the UK.

“Being Ed” and “The Art of Movement”, have caught the eye of BBC project “Blast”, which aims to support and inspire the creativity of 13 – 19 year olds with ideas in art, dance, film, music, writing and games.

Both projects received critical acclaim earlier this year whilst being showcased at Nottingham’s very own Bang Film Festival 2007. It was from here that both pieces of work were submitted to BBC Blast and then chosen to be aired.

“Being Ed”, by Christopher Robinson, Michael Russell, William Marshal, Barry Pulver, and Luke Schumacher, features 19 year old transvestite Ed Ruggiero and the ups and downs that come from his openly different way of life.

Speaking on behalf of his group, Christopher said: “It’s great that our work is being appreciated by others, and we can’t wait to see it aired on TV. Being Ed was an awesome project to work on and we all really enjoyed ourselves producing it. We’d really like to thank Ed and Julie for letting us feature them in this project.”

“The Art of Movement” showcases the remarkable abilities of a group of parkour performers as they vault buildings and traverse architectural spaces in and around Nottingham. Parkour has risen in notoriety ever since the release of the BBC’s Jump Britain in 2005 and Nottingham now has its very own collection of enthusiasts

Project group members Rebecca Crossdale, Matt Choules, Jamie Humphrey and Elliot Bridgewater stumbled upon the parkour scene by chance whilst looking for a subject topic to film. Rebbecca explained: “It was fascinating to learn all about this growing sport, and to hear from the performers themselves just what it means to them. There are some incredibly talented performers here in Nottingham and we’re really grateful for being given the chance to follow the guys whilst we made the film.”

Deborah Tuck, Multimedia lecturer for Nottingham Trent University added: “We’ve nurtured a terrific amount of creative talent at Nottingham Trent University over the years that the Multimedia course has been running. To have two student projects chosen to be aired by the BBC is brilliant. We’re all really proud – staff and students alike.”

The Blast Film Festival aired as part of the Learning Zone, on BBC 2, Friday 7 December.

ENDS

Notes to Editor

“Blast” is the BBC’s youth creativity service offering tools and resources to young people to help them make their ideas a reality.  Learn more at the Blast website.

For more information please contact Matt Wallace, on +44 (0)115 848 8785, or via email: matthew.wallace@ntu.ac.uk; or Therese Easom, Press and Media Relations Manager, on +44 (0)115 848 8774, or via email: therese.easom@ntu.ac.uk.