South Eastern Regional College students scoop top television award

Four students from South Eastern Regional College’s (SERC) Northern Ireland Film & Television School (NIFTS) have won a prestigious Royal Television Society (RTS) Student Award.

Samantha Davies, Marc McCabe, Stephen Parker and Lee Seales won the Drama Category for their short film entitled Circles - a thought-provoking thriller that sees a man granted the right to seek revenge.

The students all studied on SERC’s NIFTS part-time HNC in Creative Media Production and then progressed to the part time HND of the same title from which they all graduated in June 2019. The team now attend an evening NIFTS Graduate Filmmakers Class where they have been working on several fiction scripts for production.

Alison Thompson, Course Coordinator and Lecturer at SERC’s NIFTS said: “We’re thrilled that four of our very talented NIFTS students have scooped what many consider to be the biggest student filmmaker’s award and we congratulate each of them on their success. Stephen wrote Circle in his HNC year and later filmed it with his three classmates, Samantha, Marc and Lee, on the Ards Peninsula. It also stars another NIFTS student, Colin Bloomer, and Stephen’s young daughter, Lily. It’s quite a thought-provoking thriller that sees a man granted the right to seek revenge and, in our eyes, a worthy winner of Best Drama and one that will stay with you when you get the chance to see it.

“ This is fantastic recognition for the students. To win such a prestigious award at this early stage in their careers is a huge honour and an incredible boost to their prospects when it comes to securing more industry freelance positions.”

The team also recently wrapped on a Short on location in Moira, a horror entitled She Cries All Night, also written and directed by Stephen Parker.