Royal Television Society Award for student production filmed in Lisburn

The production, She Cries at Night, a sinister short filmed around Lisburn, was written and directed by Stephen Parker, with fellow students making up the production team - Jane McLaughlin, Marc McCabe, John Lennox, Robbie Coey, Antonia Cowan, Josh Bell, Samantha Davies, Lee Seales and Colin Bloomer - was announced winner at a virtual ceremony hosted by local broadcaster Sarah Travers.

Alison Thompson, Course Director at SERC’s NIFTS said: ''We couldn't be prouder of this incredibly talented group of students.

''To win this award once is an amazing achievement, but now Stephen Parker has excelled by writing, directing and winning this prestigious award for the second year running in 2021, which is indeed phenomenal, and we congratulate him, and all the students involved for their hard work and dedication.''

She continued: ''Between them, these SERC NIFTS alumni are fast developing a strong body of industry experience, working on programmes like Mastermind and Who Wants to be a Millionaire, to roles as Runner with Stellify Media, to BBC NI Researcher, to Camera Assistant on the BBC’s The One Show to Assistant Producer in factual at Clean Slate TV, they are amazing. Watch out for their names in programme credits sometime soon.''

Peter Graham, Film Production Lecturer at NIFTS, concludes: ''From the moment they arrived, this class bonded and wanted to get out and film. They bounced ideas off each other, wrote scripts, booked equipment out and filmed. The learning curve was steep, but the results have been staggering. With recent investment in new industry kit here at SERC’s NIFTS, we were determined to help them take their latest production to the next level, and they did just that.

He added: ''If you are looking to start a career in film or television, SERC is the place to be.''

She Cries At Night is currently doing a festival circuit and will be available for wider viewership afterwards.

Visit www.serc.ac.uk.