University Of Brighton Celebrates Emmy Success

Graduates from the University of Brighton are celebrating after a successful Primetime Emmy awards.

An Emmy for 'Outstanding Motion Design' was won by a team of former illustration students at the university for their work on television series, 'How We Got To Now with Steven Johnson'.

The illustrators' Peepshow Collective company created the animated graphic sequences for the six-part series How We Got To Now by American science author Steven Johnson. The show, which aired on PBS in the USA and on BBC2, explored the legacy of great ideas.

Everyone at Peepshow, with the exception of Jenny Bowers, graduated from the BA(Hons) Illustration at the University of Brighton. Miles Donovan, Chrissie Macdonald, Pete Mellor, Andrew Rae, Lucy Vigrass and Spencer Wilson were all the same year (1998), with Luke Best the following year (1999).

Miles said: "I think I speak for everyone when I say we had a brilliant experience at Brighton. There was incredible support from our tutors and head of course (at the time) Margaret Huber (who runs the MA Sequential Design/Illustration course now).

"We enjoyed the freedom to experiment and explore different departments at the university – printmaking, animation, photography, and bookbinding. We all learnt how to problem solve visually on those early illustration assignments at Brighton. They are the transferable skills we use every day in our roles as illustrators, animators and art directors."

Over the past 15 years, the UK-based group has worked across illustration, animation, set design, textiles and art direction for clients including The Victoria & Albert Museum, Saatchi, BBC and The New York Times, while also creating their own work for books, exhibitions and events worldwide.

In addition, to the above success, graduate Basia Lalik works on the multi Emmy award-winning series Game of Thrones. Ms Lalik, a Broadcast Media FdA graduate, has worked on some of the best known television programmes including political comedy VEEP (Emmy Winner for Best Comedy), and Games of Thrones, which won a host of Emmy awards including Best Drama.

She said: "I'm absolutely thrilled! VEEP won five Emmys including Outstanding Comedy Series, and Game of Thrones won Outstanding Drama Series and broke the record with 12 Emmys in total. I'm extremely proud to be part of both super-talented and hard-working teams. I believe they are the best shows on TV and the success is fully deserved.

"I have worked as a Post Production Coordinator for VEEP for the last couple of years. The show was created across the two continents and three time zones. Although challenging at times, it was the most valuable experience I could have asked for. I'm grateful for the opportunity and extremely privileged to have met the most amazing people that I'm lucky enough to call my friends.

"I joined the editorial department of Game of Thrones in July and they have all made me feel very welcome. I'm thankful for the opportunity and excited to be working with the top industry professionals.

"The Broadcast Media course helped me gain knowledge and necessary skills for my first running job in Envy Post Production in Soho which I started the day after the end of term. During my time in Hastings I was made aware of numerous roles within the industry which I would not have previously considered. Being taught and supported by industry professionals gave me a great understanding of the media industry and confidence to pursue my goal."

Brighton's Hastings campus has a national reputation as a centre for production focused digital media courses. Taught by industry professionals in specialist facilities, the accredited, practical honours degrees in broadcast media, TV and post production. New degrees in Illustration for Screen Arts and Graphic Design for Digital Media are now being offered at the campus, responding to growing industry needs for graduates with skills and experience across both disciplines.

Image: Basia Lalik

(JP/LM)