Graduates nominated for RTS award

Five former Solent University students have been nominated for Royal Television Society (RTS) Award for a documentary they made as part of their final major project.

The group, who all studied Television and Video Production, wrote, directed and edited In the Deep End, which follows Weston-Super-Mare Football Club as they face relegation for the first time in their history.

Luke Hall, Matt Errington, Sam Errington, Jack Ward and Steven Harman graduated in 2019. Being a huge football fan inspired Luke to make a football documentary during his time at university, and the group were excited to be involved.

“We really wanted to find a different take on some sort of football documentary that hadn’t been covered before,” explains Luke, from Ringwood. “Then, when I came across Weston-Super-Mare FC – a team who had never been relegated before, a feat only matched by European super-clubs such as Celtic, Internazionale, Ajax and Barcelona – I knew we could make something really special.

“We approached the club to see if we could cover their season – in the hope they may pull off a great escape. The team were very accommodating, allowing us to film the player areas, interviews with players and to have full access behind the scenes of the club, which really helped us to be able make the documentary.”

The group all had primary roles in the project, with Luke as producer, Matt the director, Sam the editor, Jack on cameras and Steven on Camera and graphics.

“Everyone had an important role to play,” says Sam, from Basingstoke. “And that all came together to create a project that not only told a story, but also came with an emotional impact of what happens to the people behind the scenes during a relegation battle.”

“The team and I are over the moon with the nomination,” continues Luke. “It’s such a great feeling knowing that all of our hard work has paid off and is testament to the crew for being multi-talented and team players.”

Stuart Ray, Head of Television and Sound in the School of Media Arts and technology, adds: “This is a great reward for the group's dedication to this project, which involved many trips to Weston Super Mare and beyond. After many weeks shooting, the hard work continued in the edit suite where the film finally came together. Huge credit to the students involved.”

In the Deep End is nominated in the Factual category in the RTS Southern Student Awards 2020, which will take place at Guildhall Winchester on March 6 2020.