SAE tutors and alumni from the Leamington Spa campus attended the prestigious Raindance Film Festival to network with leading professionals in the independent film industry and forge new connections to help students progress their careers.
Liane Green, Content Creation Course Programme Leader, led the visit to the festival alongside Nai Weaver, BA (Hons) Digital Film Production and MA Professional Practice (Creative Media Industries).
Since completing her studies, Nai has worked as a campus technician, with the intention to shadow the teaching team and develop her academic skills. She is aiming to teach on the film degree from September 2024.
Liane said: “The Raindance Film Festival is one of the biggest globally for independent film. Based in London, the opportunity to network and put SAE on the festival map was the intention for the team. If the academic team leads on engaging with industry, the hope is to secure longer term working relationships that undergraduates will benefit from.”
“We were invited to the week-long festival and various filmmakers and their marketing teams got in contact to request that we review their films during the festival. This opportunity to network, share contact details and form those initial working relationships will lead to longer term links with these filmmakers. The hope is to maintain and cultivate these connections so that our undergraduates can become involved in future filmmaking projects.”
The team attended the opening premier film, Day of the Fight. This was Jack Huston’s directorial debut, telling the story of the journey of a once-renowned boxer on the day of his first fight after being released from prison. The audience were then treated to a post-screening Q&A with Jack, followed by a gala opening party at the Waldorf Hilton Hotel.
The House of Raindance Indie film forum took place on day two of the festival, alongside a wealth of innovative and breathtaking film viewings and galas, parties and events. Isabel Coixet’s Un Amor closed the festival, with Laia Costa playing a woman who relocates to rural Spain, where her acceptance of a disturbing proposal gives rise to an all-consuming and obsessive passion.
Liane said: “The Leamington Campus mantra is to engage with industry as much as possible both by leading on academic live brief projects to meet module requirements, as well as developing networking relationships with industry professionals. The campus holds weekly industry talks and has industry partners all of which supports the undergraduate experience, nurtures confidence and builds ‘work-ready’ SAE graduates.”
“Attending prestigious events such as the Raindance Film Festival is valuable for both academic and undergraduate progress. Engaging with industry at points of celebration of success provides a wealth of connections, forges critical links between education and industry and allows for the flow of talent to enter the professional market at the graduate point in the journey of an SAE student.”
Visit raindance.org/festival for more information.
Photo Credits – Raindance Film Festival Facebook.
Study Content Creation at SAE
Whether you want to work in PR, social media or as a video journalist, SAE’s Content Creation and Digital Marketing Degree could be perfect for you.
Our degree will provide you with the skills, experience and knowledge to create images, video and other forms of engaging online content.
