RTS and BAFTA ceremonies in Scotland and Northern Ireland celebrate talent across the Nations

Award ceremonies in Scotland and Northern Ireland were held last week, celebrating another year of great original television from the nations and bringing together members of the UK screen industry to toast those involved.

Held at Titanic Belfast, the Royal Television Society (RTS) Northern Ireland awards handed out 18 prizes for the best scripted and unscripted entertainment from the country. The ScreenSkills High-end TV Skills Fund sponsored three categories on the night, cementing its support for the screen workforce across the nation and highlighting the work of those craft practitioners behind the camera.

In addition to the post-production and writer categories, the Fund sponsored the ceremony’s new Hidden Hero award, given to Gerard Stratton for his work as a director with Triplevision, an ambitious disabled-led independent production company in West Belfast.

ScreenSkills’ Mairead Kelly, Training Liaison Manager, Northern Ireland, attended the ceremony alongside Head of High-end TV Mid-Level Career progression, Nicky Ball, Working Group member Christopher Myers, Fund beneficiary Nico McClean and Jenny Atcheson, a member of the HETV Skills Fund’s Leaders of Tomorrow programme. They saw Fund contributor Blue Lights pick up the awards in the Best Drama and Writing categories.

In Glasgow, Kate Efomi, Training Liaison Manager, Scotland, was in attendance at the BAFTA Scotland award ceremony with members of the Scotland HETV Working Group: Clare Kerr, Penny Davies and STV Studios Drama Production Exec, Katy Engels. There were wins for Skills Fund contributing productions there too as Film Skills Fund contributor Out of Darkness was the night’s big winner with three awards. Three productions that paid in to the HETV Skills Fund were also awarded as Slow Horses and Two Door Down each collected BAFTAs.

Fellow contributor, Dinosaur, collected prizes in two categories, picking up the audience award for Favourite Scot on Screen as well as the award for Best Writing. During its production the show became an example of how the Fund works in collaboration with industry to create opportunities to the sector’s workforce by offering placements to some of those taking part in some of key programmes developed by the Fund.

Two job sharers were welcomed onto the show’s art department alongside a returner to the craft and tech department and a graduate of the Fund’s Leaders of Tomorrow programme, Rachel Erksine, who joined the production’s editing department. It also became home to industry new entrants by offering placements to two trainees on the ScreenSkills HETV Trainee Finder programme.

There were also wins for production companies that pay in to the ScreenSkills Unscripted TV Skills Fund as Tuesday’s Child won the Features award for Extraordinary Escapes with Sandi Toksvig and Firecrest Films won the award for single documentary for Liar: The Fake Grooming Scandal.

Even the stage had an element of ScreenSkills involvement as Leader of Tomorrow Ayden Millar designed the BAFTA Stage set along with Mark Leese.

We congratulate all productions on their awards and thank them for their contributions to the Skills Funds.