Express & Star

Wolverhampton student celebrates £12,000 BAFTA Scholarship Programme

An aspiring digital effects artist has received a £12,300 scholarship from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts for him to study at The National Film and Television School.

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Robert Gittings, who came out of school with no GCSEs, is now in his second year of the MA in Digital Effects course.

For the first year, the 29-year-old from Wednesfield received a scholarship from the school.

He said: "I'd have had no chance paying for the course myself without the scholarship.

"It's a dream to be one of only six people who have got the scholarship for the second year. I'm so grateful for the opportunity."

Ambition

Mr Gittings grew up in Wednesfield, attending Wednesfield High School.

But he left with no high level qualifications and worked briefly at Studbolt in Wolverhampton.

He then went to the City of Wolverhampton College to retake his GCSEs before studying IT at Walsall College.

Next he studied Digital Film and Post Production at Staffordshire University, completing the course two years ago. He said: "I had a bad start in education but, since being given the opportunity, I have found a career path I would like to take."

Mr Gittings now wants to work on digital effects in television or film.

The BAFTA Scholarship Programme is overseen in the UK by BAFTA's Learning and New Talent Committee, chaired by Sara Putt, and made possible by the generous support of a number of individuals, foundations and partnerships.

Josh Berger CBE, president and managing director at Warner Bros. UK, Ireland and Spain, said: "Finding, funding and nurturing the next generation of talent for our creative industries has never been more important.

"We are delighted to continue to play a key role in this endeavour."

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