13.12.07
Falmouth’s double whammy at Royal Television Society Awards

For the second year running, Falmouth students from BA(Hons) Broadcasting scooped both the undergraduate Drama Award and the Documentary Award from The Royal Television Society. The winning students accepted their trophies at a ceremony in Plymouth last week.

Mia Fry, Steve Whiting, Dave Whiting and Chris Rogers’ film, ‘Duplicity’, a gripping murder mystery, beat four other programmes to win in the Drama category. ‘The Bridge’ by Cleone Palmer, Anna Devey, Irfhan Mirza, Jo Blackmore and Matt Martin, combined a social networking space with the familiar music programme format, to win the award for best factual programme, beating five other entries. These highly innovative cross platform productions will now go forward to the national competition to be judged next March before screening in London next May.

Chaired by Duncan Bexter, ITV Westcountry, the esteemed judging panel comprised Dimitri Houtard, BBC, Karen Stockdale, Independent Producer, Roy Simms, ex Vice Principal of Plymouth College of Art and Design and Bob McCann, The Royal Television Society. The Royal Television Society Awards are the gold standard of achievement in the television community, designed to recognise excellence across the entire range of programme making and broadcasting skills.

The jury was extremely impressed with ‘The Bridge’ and pronounced: “The quality of the presenters coupled with the overall set design, especially for the acoustic performer, was of the highest order. The pace of the programme impressed the judges as did the excellent location pieces.”

Both films incorporated the extra dimension of a website, which in the case of ‘Duplicity’, gave viewers the opportunity to cast votes as to whodunnit. The judges welcomed these attempts to blend an interactive thread into the programmes and said: “It is this link which broadcasters see as essential rather than an add-on.”

In praise of Duplicity, the jury commented: “To write, plan, shoot, direct and edit a murder mystery involving the building of multiple characters while maintaining threads of suspense and storyline is a very difficult task. The producers of Duplicity achieved this with ease. The film is superbly written, acted and produced and the script is nothing short of stunning, with well-defined central characters.”

Senior Lecturer on Falmouth’s BA(Hons) Broadcasting, John Parker-Rees said: “These awards are an affirmation of the course’s strategy to combine critical, research-based content development with modern technological opportunities for delivery to carefully targeted audiences.”

University College Falmouth’s Director of Media, Paul Inman, commented: “Once again Falmouth has shown that in the broadcasting field, its courses are turning out award-winning student work and graduates who are ready to hit the ground running in the world of work.”

For further information about BA(Hons) Broadcasting at University College Falmouth, please visit: www.falmouth.ac.uk/broadcasting, email admissions@falmouth.ac.uk or telephone Admissions on 01326 214355.

University College Falmouth is a founding partner in the Combined Universities in Cornwall (CUC), a unique initiative to promote regional economic regeneration through Higher Education. The CUC is funded mainly by the European Union (Objective One), the South West Regional Development Agency, and the Higher Education Funding Council for England, with support from Cornwall County Council.

For further information please contact Jilly Easterby, Head of Public Affairs, University College Falmouth on 01326 213792 or email jilly.easterby@falmouth.ac.uk.

The Objective One Programme for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly has invested in the Combined Universities in Cornwall (CUC) project, both Phase 1 and Phase 2, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the European Social Fund (ESF). UniversityCollegeFalmouth is a partner of the CUC.

Editor's notes:

The Royal Television Society is the leading forum for discussion and debate on all aspects of the television community. In a fast changing sector, it reflects the full range of perspectives and views.

www.rts.org.uk

Clare Morgan
Media Relations Manager
The Partnership Office
Castle House
Pydar Street
Truro TR1 2UD
Mobile: 07973 813647
Telephone: 01872 223439

cmorgan@cornwall.gov.uk

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