Three out of the four nominations for the RTS North West Student Award for ‘Best Animation’ have been awarded to SODA Animation graduates.

The Royal Television Society is an educational charity promoting the art and science of television and runs a prestigious annual awards night showcasing the very best regional creative talent. This year, SODA Animation graduates Olivia Timms, Pam Simoes Gomez, Patrik Kancsar, Nyah Boorman and Niamh Boorman have all been nominated for their final-year films with the winners being announced on March 26th at the official ceremony. 

Olivia Timms and Pam Simoes Gomez were recognised for their film ‘ESC’. Their stop-motion film follows an office-worker rabbit who is confined to an endless daily cycle of paperwork and meetings, until one day, an encounter with a wild rabbit leads him on a surreal journey down the rabbit hole, changing his reality forever. Talking on the award nomination, Olivia said: “Being nominated for best animation is a massive honour and a huge celebration for our film. I’m so grateful for the opportunity to be considered for best animation and attend the awards ceremony, it’s amazing to have your work recognised to that level and I couldn’t be more proud of what we achieved!”

Twin sisters Niamh and Nyah Boorman, who have been nominated thanks to their film ‘Clouded’, said: “We are absolutely overjoyed with the recognition of our short film ‘Clouded’ in this year’s awards! Clouded is our third-year film centred around the idea of growing up through the perspective of both child and parent. As twins from a close-knit family, we wanted to explore the colourful range of emotions that can come with being ready to fly the nest. Although we wanted to communicate how exciting and inspiring this can be, we also wanted to incorporate the difficult emotions and reluctance to accept change. We have both learnt so much through the making of this film and can’t wait to collaborate on further projects in the future!”

Patrik Kancsar’s ‘Terrestrially Challenged’ was also recognised. Speaking on the nomination, he said: “ ‘I was shocked but honoured at the same time to see one of my films get nominated for ‘Best Animation’ at RTS once more. The team and I worked extremely hard to make this short, and we are very grateful to have it shown at RTS”.

Olivia Timms and Niamh Boorman have also received three North West RTS Student award nominations, one for each year of their degree here at SODA. 

Kristin Marshall, Co-Programme Leader of BA Animation at SODA, said: “We’d like to say a massive congratulations to all three graduates. We are enormously proud of them all and wish them best of luck in the award ceremony on 26th. They have so much talent and it was a joy to have taught them from the whole Animation team”.

Find out more about the RTS North West Student Awards.