Enterprising students reap rewards!
Rose Bruford College’s newly minted graduates have taken on the dragons in their den, and won! Students at the Sidcup-based college specialising in vocational higher education and training for the theatre and performance-related industries entered a College competition to pitch ideas for theatrical ventures in front of a ‘Dragon’s Den’ style panel of industry experts, and have walked away with thousands of pounds in prizes. Shubra Rao, a third year student on the BA (Hons) Organising Live Arts course, won the top prize of £750 for a theatre project in conjunction with an Eltham-based women’s group, Mahila Sangha. “I am so shocked”, said the 22-year-old after winning, “this money will help realise Mahila’s Sangha’s dream of delivering Rokeya Hussain’s life and her stories to the stage. Rokeya wrote about the value of educating women in the nineteenth century, and this money makes it possible for my generation of Asian women to know about her.” Four other graduate students/start-ups won seed funding of £500:
· Alice Roskams and Suzannah Bryce, both students on BA (Hons) European Theatre Arts, will take their devised pieces of theatres to rural venues across the east of England
· Aidan Belizaire will be setting up a music video production company once he graduates from the BA (Hons) Music Technology · Grit Eckert will be taking the skills that she learned on the BA (Hons) Scenic Arts into workshops on Victorian theatre skills
· Sheer Lunacy, a graduate company from the BA (Hons) European Theatre Arts create bespoke ‘happenings’ for outdoor events. A A total of sixteen groups of students spent ten minutes each persuading the judges that their post-college business ideas were worth backing - with a potential maximum prize of £1250, and minimum of £500, there was a lot at stake. Chair of the judging panel, Ben Thomas, Governor of Rose Bruford College and theatre practitioner, said: “The standard of pitching and the creativity that the students exhibited was truly magnificent, and we were all really impressed with the ideas”. Thames Innovation Centre’s Chief Executive, Lesley Anne Rubenstein, said: “It was inspiring to spend a day at Rose Bruford College and the level of enthusiasm, creativity and innovation of all of the participants was infectious. All the winners will add value to society with their respective projects and I have no doubt that they will go far with the skills they have acquired. We are proud to offer such worthy individuals free business start-up training, as well as a 6 month free hotdesk to Shubra, worth over £2000. I’m already looking forward to coming back next year!” Rose Bruford College’s Director of Continuing Professional Development, Philip Wigley, commented: “We are delighted that so many of our graduating students elected to take part in this competition. The college is very keen to support students’ entrepreneurial instincts and this event is just one of the ways that we nurture the creative business leaders of tomorrow.” The competition took place during yesterday’s annual Creative Industries Fair held at the College to showcase the work of graduating students from the School of Design, Management and Technical Arts. The panel of judges consisted of:
· Ben Thomas, governor of Rose Bruford College and theatre practitioner (Chair)
· Susannah Buxton, costume designer · Mel Churcher, acting and voice coach
· Simon Dale, Stage Jobs Pro and Casting Call Pro· Stephen Guy, freelance arts project manager
· Peter Higgins, enrichment manager, Punch Drunk
· Jonathan Petherbridge, artistic director, London Bubble Theatre Company
· Lesley Anne Rubenstein, chief executive, Thames Innovation Centre
· Richard Wilson, managing director, White Light