Superindie Tinopolis is funding a BAFTA scholarship, supporting three scholars for one year each until 2021, in conjunction with BAFTA’s wider UK scholarship programme.
The BAFTA scheme supports people at all stages of their career – working across television, film and games – and successful candidates receive financial assistance as well as mentoring throughout their postgraduate studies. The eleven new scholarship recipients, including the BAFTA Tinopolis scholar, will be welcomed at a reception at BAFTA’s headquarters on Monday 17 September, attended by industry supporters.
The BAFTA Tinopolis Scholarship sits alongside the existing BAFTA scholarships with a particular focus on television, and for the first year of the scholarship, Tinopolis will support Jon Hague throughout the 2018/2019 academic year.
Jon, aged 50, is from Malborough in South Devon and has been is awarded £10,000 to study the MA Screenwriting a London College of Communication. Jon trained as a nurse and went on to serve as a military nurse in Afghanistan, Iraq and Northern Ireland, before leaving to pursue his career as a writer.
As well as supporting Jon’s studies financially, Tinopolis’ drama producers Daybreak (The Politician’s Husband, A Very Social Secretary) and Fiction Factory (Hinterland) will be on hand to offer additional support and practical screenwriting advice, as well as mentoring Jon throughout the scholarship.
Tinopolis Chief Executive, Arwel Rees, said: “We are incredibly proud to team up with BAFTA to nurture a diverse range of talent and people who may otherwise not be able to succeed in this competitive industry, where the financial and mentoring support offered by this scheme can make all the difference. We’re delighted to welcome Jon as our first BAFTA Tinopolis Scholar.”
Amanda Berry OBE, Chief Executive of BAFTA, said: “Over the years we have seen the BAFTA Scholarships programme evolve into a truly global initiative. Becoming a BAFTA scholar offers incredible opportunities for cross-cultural collaboration as well as giving this talented group of people every possible chance to succeed in the film, games and television industries.”
Jon Hague said: “Self-belief and the support of valued friends and peers has brought me this far, but having BAFTA and Tinopolis behind me for my ongoing development as a writer is the difference between rowing across an ocean and sailing it in a small dinghy, with BAFTA giving the power to my sail. In times of inevitable self-doubt, I will always be able to draw on the endorsement my scholarship represents. It will hold as a persistent reminder that without heed to background and past constraints, my creative potential is real, and that I am not alone during my journey to thrive as the best writer that I can be.”
Staff Reporter
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