Creative students commissioned to produce Royal film

Newcastle-under-Lyme College (NULC) has commissioned a group of its former creative students to produce a film documenting the College’s Royal visit from His Royal Highness the Duke of York.

Dave Hughes, Tom Pepper and Ben Pritchard all studied at the College’s state-of-the-art University Centre.

Dave Hughes, former NULC student and Creative Director of elloDave said: “This is the first time any of us have worked on a Royal event but we’ve all really enjoyed the project. The day was fantastic and went by in a flash. It was very rewarding to be involved in such a high profile project.”

Dave, from Bagnall, completed the HND in Graphic Design at NULC before going on to set up his own graphic design agency, elloDave based in the Staffordshire Moorlands. The agency has been running for three years and employs a number of former NULC creative students.

Dave continued: “The College has been really supportive both whilst I was studying there and since leaving. The quality of the creative students at NULC is phenomenal and students continually progress in to successful careers in the industry.”

Tom, aged 22 from Newcastle, studied the Foundation degree (Fd) in Graphics and Digital Design and went on to become a freelance videographer after completing his studies at NULC. He has worked on projects for companies including North Face and Touborg.

Ben, aged 25 from Sandbach, also studied the Fd in Graphics and Digital Design. He is now in his final year of a degree in Graphic Communication at the University of Wolverhampton and also works part-time for elloDave as a Graphic Designer.

During his time at NULC, Ben was commended for his film work when he won ‘Best Film’ in the over 18’s category at the 2011 Stoke Your Fires Festival. He also met local Oscar-winner Pete Bebb, another former NULC student, at the NULC Heatwave Film Festival in 2011.

Lucy King, Head of Marketing and Communications at NULC said: “The College is committed to helping our students gain the experience they need to succeed in the workplace.

“We’re recognised nationally for the quality of our art and creative courses, so it seemed the obvious answer to employ former students when we were looking for someone to capture the day in film.”

During his tour of the College on Thursday 8 March, HRH the Duke of York visited the visual media studio in the College’s bespoke University Centre, where he chatted to a number of students currently studying Fd’s in Graphics and Digital Design and Digital Media Production.

The College offers a range of university-level courses in partnership with Staffordshire University. To find out more, email info@nulc.ac.uk, call 01782 254254 or visit www.nulc.ac.uk/he

To view the film documenting HRH the Duke of York’s visit to NULC visit the College’s YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/NewcastleULymeCol