Huge congratulations to Creative Writing BA student Olivia Shaw on her David Thomas Award win.
The annual award is open to second year students in the School of Humanities and Social Science who have a passion for filmmaking. The winner is provided with £500 towards the making of a short film or moving image piece that is aligned to the university’s global challenges of Equality & Inclusivity, Wellbeing, Climate Change, and Creative, Sustainable Economies. David is an alumnus who sadly passed away in 2013 and the award is funded by David’s family in his name.
We caught up with Olivia to find out what winning the award means and how it has helped her.
Why I entered
I had been playing around with video formats, and when one of my lecturers advertised the award, I decided to apply mainly on a whim, and I’m glad I did since it was a lot of fun to work on!
For the application, I had to fill out a form with a basic proposal and the reasons I wanted to make a short film. I focused on the global challenge of equality and inclusion by writing a queer story.
Finding out I’d won
I woke up to the email that I had gotten the award after sleeping over at my friend’s house and so the first thing I did was go upstairs and tell them. Immediately I was really excited to finally work on something with a real budget, while also scared because I had no idea what I was doing.
I then spent that morning putting together preliminary storyboards and figuring out how I was going to make it happen.
Making the film
My friend, Lilly Pitishova, helped me out when I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. My only practical experience had been making YouTube videos in my bedroom, and Lilly showed me how a real production works (or as close as we could get with a student production).
She also shot the entire thing with her camera while I was doing my best to direct. All the camerawork in the film is her eye, and it was a lot of fun to work together with a real budget.
The film absolutely would not have been possible without her.
Lilly is left in the photo in the back row. Also, in the photo are Naomi who played the lead, and Matteo and Bernie who played the other two characters.
About my film
My film, The Walk Home, is about a queer long distance relationship similar to my own relationship with my partner. It follows Abby as she plans a birthday party for her friend, told through the narrative device of the voice notes she leaves for her partner, alongside scenes from her life.
The birthday party aspect was mainly decided based on the fact that I had some decorations laying around, but it ended up working out as a central theme/metaphor.
Watch Olivia’s film:
How the award has supported my learning
It was an amazing opportunity and pushed me out of my comfort zone in a way that allowed me to grow a lot, both personally and with my work.
Working on the film allowed to explore my interest in production and screenwriting, which I’ve used for a lot of my classes and for my own personal projects.
I’m really grateful to have gotten the chance to make something with full creative freedom and budget to work with. I’m also thankful for all my other friends who helped me out with the film, from making little drawings to holding up a jacket as a makeshift wind guard. And of course, none of this would have been possible without the amazing and talented actors, all of whom were a pleasure to work with.
Find out about studying a creative writing degree at Brighton.
If you are a current student studying in the School of Humanities and Social Science find out how you can enter this year’s David Thomas award.
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