NFTS Welcomes 2025 Cohort With Lineup Of Industry Guests For Springboard Week
At the start of each year, the National Film and Television School hosts Springboard Week, a distillation of what life is like at one of the world’s best film schools packed into five days, to welcome a brand new cohort of students.
SpringBoard 2025 did not disappoint, with a programme studded with Masterclasses led by industry guests giving their top tips on key themes, providing students with invaluable advice on how to make the most of their time at the School. The sessions included…
- Writer/director and winner of the Nora Ephron Prize for Female Filmmakers at the Tribeca Film Festival, Nia DaCosta (Candyman, The Marvels, Little Woods) on the importance of ‘Collaboration’ within filmmaking and working with Danny Boyle and Alex Garland on the highly anticipated 28 Years Later trilogy.
- For the final of his four online seminars, Legendary producer David Puttnam was joined by BAFTA nominated, Cannes winning, writer/director/cinematographer and NFTS graduate, Molly Manning-Walker (How to Have Sex) to discuss 'Creative Identity' and how to harness their unique voices to tell compelling stories.
- Oscar winning director/writer/producer Simon Beaufoy (The Full Monty, Battle of the Sexes, Slumdog Millionaire) joined us to talk about ‘Creative Resilience’, bestowing the students with invaluable advice on how to stay adaptable and maintain their strength of character.
- Chair of BAFTA and MD of the leading UK independent agency representing behind the camera technical and production talent, Sara Putt gave a presentation on ‘Navigating the Industry’, giving crucial advice to the new cohort on how to pursue a career in the exciting but challenging film and TV industry.
- Writer/director/actress Alice Lowe (Timestalker, Prevenge) gave the students insight into her work and her process, focusing on ‘Character and Storytelling’.
- Following an exclusive screening of dystopian docudrama 2073, students were joined by the film’s award-winning writer/director Asif Kapadia, who delivered an in-depth discussion on ‘Form and Genre’.
- Activist and environmental writer Rob Hopkins discussed the importance of 'Envisioning Sustainable Futures'. His inspiring talk placed sustainable filmmaking and wider positive environmental practices at the forefront of our students' minds as they embark on their creative journey with us, and promoted a positive outlook on the future by highlighting the massive strides communities all around the globe are making towards a more sustainable world.
The students also got a glimpse of life after the NFTS with a panel of recent graduates who have gone on to achieve great things in the few years since leaving the School; Student Academy Award winning Directing Animation graduate Lisa Kenney (Mum’s Spaghetti), Directing Fiction graduate and co-creator of The Directors’ Take Podcast, Marcus Anthony Thomas (The Retreat, Space Plug) and Games Design and Development graduate Nick McKenzie (Founder of World Away Games). Lisa, Marcus and Nick discussed the importance of ‘Allyship and Inclusion’ at the NFTS and in the wider industry.
The panel included examples of how they collaborated with their teams at the School and gave our eager new students inspiring and invaluable advice on how to work together to reach their goals, highlighting the importance of collaboration and representation as a cornerstone of the School’s ethos and an essential part of the filmmaking process.
Aside from incredible Masterclasses and seminars, students also enjoyed an array of creative workshops including exploring the soundtrack as a storyteller, looking into the future with our Virtual Production LED wall, filming snails in macro style, creating characters with paper bags and building stories with Lego.
These workshops served not only to create an understanding of everyone’s roles in the industry and how each one interconnects with another, but also to build morale and camaraderie within the new cohort, in preparation for their time together at the NFTS.
The students rounded off a packed week in their respective course departments to learn more about what their next year or two will look like.
The National Film and Television School would like to offer a warm welcome and huge congratulations to all the talented students starting in 2025!
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Eager to take part in Springboard 2026? 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.