New Cohort Joins NFTS With Back To Back Sessions By Industry Guests For SpringBoard 2026

The National Film & Television School was excited to welcome another cohort of new students this week, the best way we know how - with an incredible lineup of Q&As with industry guests, sessions with alumni, practical workshops across film, TV and games and social events to start getting to know their future collaborators!

The annual SpringBoard week is melting pot of what life is like at one of the world’s best film schools, kickstarting our new students journey and 2026 has panned out to be one to remember.

Check out some of the sessions…

• Oscar nominated writer/director Alex Garland (Warfare, Ex Machina, 28 Days Later) on Authorship and Collaboration, giving unfiltered advice about his process, how he works with his collaborators and the similarities between writing for film and games - including insights into the making of the highly-anticipated film adaptation of Elden Ring with A24.
   
• BFI CEO Ben Roberts on The UK Screen Industry in 2026, giving students an inspiring insight into the challenges and opportunities ahead.
   
• Oscar-winning producer David Puttnam’s (The Mission, Chariots of Fire, The Killing Fields) last of four seminars, supported by Pinewood. David focussed on Creative Collaborations, a skill at the heart of NFTS training.
   
• Graduate panel on Allyship and Inclusion, hosted by Ed Foster (Dir. Animation, 2017) with Marcus Anthony Thomas (Dir. Fiction, 2021), Holly Hudson (Games Design, 2024) and Lee Ott (Dir. Animation 2024). The grads talked through their experiences from their time at the School and working in the industry and how they are each forging careers and collaborations that are successful and creative, without sacrificing the support and wellbeing of themselves and their teams.
   
• Director of the Berlin International Film Festival and former NFTS Head of Directing Fiction, Tricia Tuttle on Audiences, building an understanding of which will be a key skill for our new students.
   
• NFTS alumni and Cannes-award-winning writer/director/cinematographer Molly Manning Walker (How To Have Sex and the highly anticipated upcoming Channel 4 drama Major Players) on Socially Responsible Filmmaking, giving insights into creating a safe space whilst filming, nurturing key relationships, and navigating sensitive subject matters.
   
• Graduate panel on Craft and Communication, hosted by NFTS Head of Directing Fiction, Lizzie Francke, Arushi Chugh (Cinematography, 2021), Louise Burton (Sound Design, 2018) and Lesley Posso (Editing, 2021) discussed their creative and professional journeys since graduating, and shared key advice on how to communicate effectively within their departments and the wider crew in a professional and collaborative way. Shorts Showcase of three 2025 NFTS graduation films, followed by Q&As with the filmmakers:

  
  Fiction | Red Egg and Ginger | director Olivia Owyeung and writer Tracey Murray

  AFI Grand Jury Price Nominee 2025
  
  Science & Natural History | Death Row Dogs | director/producer/camera Somerset Phaedrus
  Greenscreen Emerging Talent Award Nominee 2025
  
  Animation | Death’s Peak | director Willy Fair and screenwriter Tracey Murray

  BAFTA Film Awards Best Short Animation Longlist 2026
   
• Multi-award-winning filmmaker Asia Kapadia on Creative Resilience, discussing his fight to tell important stories with his own voice and how their time at film school is a safe place for our new students to push themselves beyond their experience and find their communities.
   
• YouTuber and entrepreneur Brandon Baum on Platforms and Digital Culture as Europe’s largest VFX artist on the platform, with more than 16 million subscribers and 15 billion video views. Brandon gave an insight into the exponential growth of YouTube and how filmmakers can work with brands to tap into this unique and creative distribution resource. Between the insightful Q&A sessions, new students joined creative, cross-department workshops exploring storytelling, sound, animation, light, virtual production and more!

The students rounded off the week with a day dedicated to their specific departments to learn more about what’s coming down the track for them in the year ahead. A huge welcome to our new students, we can’t wait to see what you create here. A big thank you also goes to all our guests who helped introduce them to life at the NFTS!

Get involved in SpringBoard 2027!

Visit nfts.co.uk/courses to kickstart your career at the NFTS on one of our many world-class, industry-renowned courses. Applications open now!

Still deciding? Come along to our General Open Day at our Beaconsfield HQ to meet our tutors, talk to current students and experience the state-of-the-art facilities where our students' multi-award-winning work is created. Get your tickets here: https://nfts.co.uk/event/nfts-general-open-day-3