Up and coming British film talent celebrated as the 0 Virgin Media Shorts winner is announced
08/11/2013
Nimer Rashed secured the Grand Prize with his film Touch, after being selected by industry heavyweights including BAFTA Award winning director, Shane Meadows (This is England, Dead Man's Shoes, Made of Stone), respected actor of stage and screen, David Tennant and director Mat Whitecross (Spike Island, Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll) as their worthy winner.
Nimer was presented with his prize by Shane Meadows, which includes £30,000 funding towards his next film, at a star-studded awards ceremony at the BFI (British Film Institute) IMAX in London's Waterloo. The event was attended by an array of stars including Katherine Kelly (Mr Selfridge), Catherine Steadman (Fresh Meat), Olivia Halinan (Sugar Rush), Shelley Conn (By Any Means, Marchlands), Sienna Guillory (Luther, Love Actually) and was hosted by film buff, author and presenter Danny Wallace. Guests then spent the night dancing the night away to top tunes spun by musician and Pulp front man, Jarvis Cocker.
Costing nothing to make, Touch is a poignant reflection on the relationship and love between two people over the course of a life time, told almost entirely through the touch of their hands from their first connection through to their final farewell. The piece was inspired by EM Forster's phrase only connect' and after many weeks of pre-production, shot over one sunny weekend in various locations, including a park, church and restaurant.
The film-maker Nimer, commentated: Filming Touch was a real labour of love and winning Virgin Media Shorts 2013 is a dream come true. The competition always has a really high standard of talent and entering the project does a great deal to elevate the short film form. I wanted to make something that would be really cinematic, where images would tell a story on their own, largely without dialogue. It was an exciting challenge to explain exactly how the film would work, without either a traditional script or storyboards.
Shane Meadows comments: The creativity and breath of talent displayed in the shortlist this year made my job as a judge very tricky. Touch is a beautiful short that manages to convey a range of emotions in a simple and powerful way. It tells a story that we all at some point have been affected by
Dana Strong, chief operating officer at Virgin Media, said: Here at Virgin Media, we're extremely proud to be supporting such talented up and coming British film-makers. Now in its sixth year, the competition has gone from strength to strength, providing British film talent with a real opportunity to step up in a challenging industry. This year has been another fantastic competition with Nimer's short film demonstrating his talent for storytelling in an emotionally charged and beautifully shot short film.
In addition to the £30,000 funding for his next project, Nimer will be able to benefit from mentoring and support from the BFI Film Fund, the UK's largest public film fund and a backer of recent British films a practice that has been provided to previous winners, such as BAFTA nominated Luke Snellin, 2013 Virgin Media Shorts judge Jason Wingard and last year's grand prize-winner Jennifer Sheridan, who has just submitted the script for her next film to the BFI.
Both the Nikon People's Choice Award Winner, which gave film fans from across the UK, the chance to support their favourite, by voting on Twitter and Facebook, and The TiVo Award Winner, as voted for by Virgin Media customers via their TiVo box, were also announced at last night's ceremony. Just Say Hi, directed by John McPhail on a budget of just £200, did the double, scooping both prizes, receiving £5,000 film funding, mentoring from the BFI and Nikon digital SLR camera equipment worth up to £5,000.
Nikon ambassador, John Wright said: It's been a pleasure to be on the judging panel for this year's awards and to be involved in a competition that supports emerging film making talent. I've been so impressed with the quality of entries and hope that more people are inspired to give film making a go.
Nimer's winning short was outstanding; a really well thought out piece of work a deserved winner, well done.
Virgin Media Shorts will continue to give all shortlisted film makers the opportunity to have their work showcased to millions of people across the country through cinemas nationwide, on TV (showcased in a dedicated app on Virgin Media's TiVo service) and online. A unique opportunity for those trying to break into such a notoriously competitive industry.
For more information about Virgin Media Shorts and to watch the winning films visit www.virginmediashorts.co.uk.
LINK: | http://about.virginmedia.com/press-release/9408/up-and-coming-british-... |
See more stories from virgin |
Most recent headlines
04/08/2024
Dalet Appoints Santiago Solanas as CEO to Lead Next Era of Growth and Innovation
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, is excited to announce Santiago Solanas as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO)....
03/06/2024
Dalet and Veritone Reach Agreement to Distribute, Transact and Monetize Media Archives
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, a...
21/05/2024
Comcast Unveils $15 Price Tag for StreamSaver Bundle
PHILADELPHIA Comcast has released pricing and launch details of its recently announced StreamSaver bundle of Apple TV+, Netflix and Peacock services with the ne...
21/05/2024
TiVo Launches TiVo One Cross-Screen Ad Platform
SAN JOSE, Calif. Xperi's TiVo subsidiary continues to expand the capabilities and reach of its independent media platform with the debut of the TiVo One cr...
21/05/2024
COW Job Listing: Expert Viral Editor Viral content
COW Job Listing: Expert Viral Editor Viral content Brie Clayton May 21, 2024 0 Comments Expert Viral Editor Viral content March 6, 2024COW Job Listi...
21/05/2024
Bulls Face Off Against Cardinals Triple A-Affiliate with Two Fireworks Shows, First Responders Appreciation, Wool E. Bull's Birthday and More
First Tacos & Tallboys Tuesday with Tune Tuesday, return of Winning Wednesday & ...
21/05/2024
Avid partners with Post Super on post production training course
The programme aims to provide those working in post with a comprehensive understanding of their role within the broader post production ecosystem By Jenny Prie...
21/05/2024
Stephen van Rooyen appointed VodafoneZiggo CEO
He joins VodafoneZiggo following the retirement of Jeroen Hoencamp and will be based at the companys offices in Utrecht By Jenny Priestley Published: May 21,...
21/05/2024
TVBEurope May/June 2024 issue out now
Our latest issue hears from France T l visions about their plans for Paris 2024, we also celebrate the winners of our NAB 2024 Best of Show Awards and explore c...
21/05/2024
AMG Chooses Brightline For Frame' Ad Format
LOS ANGELES Allen Media Group (AMG) has launched an instream Frame ad for advertisers on its The Weather Channel, Local Now and HBCU Go connected TV (CTV) app...
21/05/2024
Wisconsin TV Stations Change Call Signs, Channel Numbers
MILWAUKEE Low power TV (LPTV) station operator Roseland Broadcasting has changed the call sign and the operating channel number of its two Wisconsin stations in...
21/05/2024
U.S. FAST Channels Hit Record Numbers
NEW YORK Despite rapid growth in recent years and worries that the FAST channel market may be reaching saturation, a new report from FASTMaster shows that the t...
21/05/2024
Cineverse to Offer Remastered HD, 4K Episodes of the Bob Rosss 'Joy of Painting
LOS ANGELES Hoping to build on the success of The Bob Ross Channel, Cineverse ha...
21/05/2024
DLT Launches 80's Sitcom Flashback Fast Channel
NEW YORK DLT Entertainment has announced the launch of 80's Sitcom Flashback, a FAST Channel exclusively curated to celebrate the comedies that dominated pr...
21/05/2024
SPL Media House Selects Grass Valley's AMPP
MONTREAL Grass Valley has announced that SPL Media House (SPL MH) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia has deployed Grass Valley's AMPP SaaS Platform deployment in the r...
21/05/2024
Christ Church Deploys Pliant Technologies Intercoms at West Monroe Location
WEST MONROE, La. Pliant Technologies has announced that Christ Church, which has campuses in West Monroe, Ruston, and Sterlington, has deployed its CrewCom Wire...
21/05/2024
Hollyland Announces Pyro S, a New Wireless 4K Video Monitoring System for Filmmakers
Hollyland Announces Pyro S, a New Wireless 4K Video Monitoring System for Filmma...
21/05/2024
Avid Unveils Revolutionary Post-Production Micro-Certifications with New Learning Partner, Post Super
Avid Unveils Revolutionary Post-Production Micro-Certifications with New Learnin...
21/05/2024
MIX's Carpool Casanova Announces Spirit Award Finalists for Season 3
MIX 101.5's Carpool Casanova will wrap season three this Friday, May 24, 2024, but his final location has yet to be determined. The ultimate Spirit Award W...
21/05/2024
Dr. Ray Seol Awarded Grant for Creative Individuals from Mass Cultural Council
Dr. Ray Seol Awarded Grant for Creative Individuals from Mass Cultural Council The grant will expand his Seu Aprendiz project designed to help individuals bui...
21/05/2024
Skeem Saam: Monday's episode, 20 May 2024 [video]
Skeem Saam: Monday's episode, 20 May 2024 [video]Missed an episode of Skeem Saam? No problem! Watch the latest episode of your favourite South African soapi...
21/05/2024
Popular children's TV shows you may have forgotten
Popular children's TV shows you may have forgottenSouth African television channels have entertained us over the years. Here is looking back at some popular...
21/05/2024
Actor Dumisani Dlamini discusses his role in Isitha: The Enemy'
Actor Dumisani Dlamini discusses his role in Isitha: The Enemy'Legendary actor Dumisani Dlamini has landed the character of Nsimbi in e.tv's popular te...
21/05/2024
Tonight on Smoke and Mirrors: General's romantic gesture to Lulu meets with hesitation
Tonight on Smoke and Mirrors: General's romantic gesture to Lulu meets with ...
21/05/2024
New Performance Optimizations Supercharge NVIDIA RTX AI PCs for Gamers, Creators and Developers
NVIDIA today announced at Microsoft Build new AI performance optimizations and i...
21/05/2024
NVIDIA Expands Collaboration With Microsoft to Help Developers Build, Deploy AI Applications Faster
If optimized AI workflows are like a perfectly tuned orchestra - where each comp...
21/05/2024
RT 2FM announces Drive It with The 2 Johnnies' is to come to an end
RT 2FM today announced that the Drive It with The 2 Johnnies is to come to an end on 31 May. Head of RT 2Fm, Dan Healy said: After two very successful years...
21/05/2024
RT launches a series of Animated Shorts on the theme of Home
HOME IS WHERE THE STORY BEGINS RT launches a series of Animated Shorts on the theme of Home Watch: rte.ie/player/kids Among these short animations is Envelo...
21/05/2024
A Superbloom of Updates in the May Studio Driver Gives Fresh Life to Content Creation
Editor's note: This post is part of our In the NVIDIA Studio series, which c...
21/05/2024
May 20, 2024
New method to reveal what drives brain diseases Scripps Research scientists develop CRISPR screen technology to determine disease mechanism from tissues with ac...
20/05/2024
Masters of Reinvention commissioned for Yesterday & UKTV Play
22nd May 2024 UKTV has commissioned Masters of Reinvention (6x60) for its leading factual channel Yesterday and free streaming service UKTV Play, to be produced...
20/05/2024
The Tuba Thieves Asks What It Means to Listen
PARK CITY, UTAH - JANUARY 22: The cast and crew of The Tuba Thieves pose during the 2023 Sundance Film Festival The Tuba Thieves premiere at Prospector Squa...
20/05/2024
Spotify CLASSICS: The 100 Greatest Hip-Hop Songs of the Streaming Era
Reviews by Carl Chery, Kemet High, and Adrian Covert In February, we launched Spotify CLASSICS-our first-ever program to celebrate catalog music. Our inaugur...
20/05/2024
Hamish Blake to host Alone Australia Season 2: The Reunion on 29 May
Hamish Blake to host Alone Australia Season 2: The Reunion on 29 May 20 May, 2024 Media releases As the season nears its end, SBS's hit series cements ...
20/05/2024
Poolside Gossip
Created by showrunner Abe Sylvia, the Apple TV+ comedic drama Palm Royale navigates the tale of one womans ambitious journey to make it amongst the upper crust,...
20/05/2024
SPL Media House selects Grass Valley AMPP SaaS Platform to Distribute Live Saudi Pro League Football Matches Globally
AMPP's cloud enabled rapid deployment of live production workflows with dist...
20/05/2024
EditShare celebrates anniversaries at CABSAT with innovations, integrations and implementations
EditShare Celebrates Anniversaries at CABSAT with Innovations, Integrations and ...
20/05/2024
Sony-Apollo's Bid for Paramount Gets Serious
A bid from Sony Pictures Entertainment and Apollo Global Management to acquire Paramount gained steam late last week, according to a report in the New York Time...
20/05/2024
Vizrt Unveils Viz Libro 8.3 With New Social Media Cropping Function
BERGEN, Norway Vizrt has released Viz Libero 8.3 with the announcement that its latest software version enables users to crop video to various aspect ratios fro...
20/05/2024
The Vampire Next Door Created with Pocket Cinema Camera 6K and DaVinci Resolve
The Vampire Next Door Created with Pocket Cinema Camera 6K and DaVinci Resolve Brie Clayton May 20, 2024 0 Comments Blackmagic Design today announced ...
20/05/2024
Tom Wills To Retire After Nearly 50 Years at WJXT Jacksonville
Tom Wills, long-running anchor at WJXT Jacksonville, Florida, has announced his retirement. He started at WJXT in 1975 and has anchored early-evening news for o...
20/05/2024
AMC Networks Promotes Emily Gotto to Senior VP at Shudder
AMC Networks said it promoted Emily Gotto to senior VP of acquisition and production for Shudder, the company's horror-themed streaming service....
20/05/2024
Paramount Names Jonathan Bingaman President, Domestic Multi-Platform Licensing & Distribution
Jonathan Bingaman has been named president, domestic multi-platform licensing & ...
20/05/2024
DLT Entertainment Gets FAST Laughs With 80's Sitcom Flashback Channel
Producer and distributor DLT Entertainment said it launched a free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channel called 80's Sitcom Flashback....
20/05/2024
Zeam Media Names Sandie Trombert CMO
Zeam Media said it hired Sandie Trombert as chief marketing officer....
20/05/2024
Meet the VFX producer
Angus Berryman, VFX producer at UNIT studio tells TVBEurope how perseverance paid off as his career progressed By Matthew Corrigan Published: May 20, 2024 ...
20/05/2024
Sony signs NDA with Paramount Global but is reticent about earlier plan
The New York Times said the move was a significant step forward in their effort to court Paramount By Matthew Corrigan Published: May 20, 2024 Updated: May...
20/05/2024
CBC HR Team Getting Ballpark Staff Ready to Play Ball
A pair of stalwart members of the Capitol Broadcasting's dream team have been getting the company's two Coastal Plain League teams ready to launch their...
20/05/2024
Tonight on Skeem Saam: Ntswaki sneaks Toby into the house, but sadly for her, Leeto arrives unannounced
Tonight on Skeem Saam: Ntswaki sneaks Toby into the house but sadly for her, Lee...
20/05/2024
Tonight on House of Zwide: Soka decides to explore things with Ona while still seeing Mampho
Tonight on House of Zwide: Soka decides to explore things with Ona while still s...