The red carpet was well and truly rolled out at the Devonport Market Hall on Thursday 26th June, as students from across the Ted Wragg Trust took centre stage for their first ever ‘School Oscars’, the Ted Wragg Moving Image Competition Awards. 

Held in the state-of-the-art ‘Real Immersive’ space, the evening celebrated the outstanding creativity, technical skill and storytelling power of young filmmakers from schools across the Ted Wragg Trust including Sidmouth College, Cranbrook Education Campus and Lipson Co-Operative Academy.

With 26 short films entered, the event saw a range of genres and themes, from gripping horror thrillers and slick adverts to powerful informational films exploring mental health and caring. 

Categories included Best Animation, Best Script, Best Cinematography, Best Short Film (Junior and Senior) and Most Original Concept, with industry professionals Gerard Williams, a BAFTA-nominated producer; Sam Hatton Brown, creative director at her own media business; and Jay Stone, a filmmaker, judging the entries.

Each category featured a showreel of nominees, culminating in the winning film being screened in full to a packed audience of proud families, staff and supporters.

The full list of winners is below:

• BEST ANIMATION - Una Cox - ‘Tongues and Teeth’ (Sidmouth College)
• BEST ADVERT - Scarlett-Leigh Winter - ‘SWS Dance Studio’ (Lipson Academy)
• BEST MUSIC VIDEO - Ed Roles - ‘Funny Thing’ (Sidmouth College)
• BEST INFORMATIONAL VIDEO - Matty Hancock - ‘The Unspoken Stories’ (Lipson Academy)
• BEST PERFORMANCE -  Ellie May Sargeant - ‘ Intruder’ (Lipson Academy)
• MOST ORIGINAL CONCEPT - Max Tong - ‘The Last Shift’ (Cranbrook School)
• BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN - Madison Badock - ‘The Echo’ (Lipson Academy)
• BEST POST PRODUCTION - Dylan Woods - ‘Lurking’ (Lipson Academy)
• BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY - Milena Leisinschi - ‘The Guessing Game’ (Lipson Academy
• BEST SCRIPT - Consuela Catilou - ‘Who is it?’ (Lipson Academy)
• BEST SHORT FILM JUNIOR - Bethany, Riley & Jonathan - ‘Alexa’s Dimension’ (Cranbrook Primary)
• BEST SHORT FILM SENIOR - Violet Jackson - ‘Martyr’ (Lipson Academy)

The Moving Image Competition was created to give young people a professional platform to explore the power of film, celebrating collaboration, self-expression and creative risk-taking. Inspired by the legacy of Young Motion Plymouth (2008–2013), the Ted Wragg Trust hopes this new annual event will become a cornerstone of its creative arts offer, and organisers are already looking ahead to next year’s event, with plans to grow and secure sponsorship.

Siobhan Meredith, Executive Director of Education at the Ted Wragg Trust said:

“This has been such a joyful celebration of our students – their creativity, their voices, and their brilliant ideas. The films they’ve produced are full of passion and imagination and it’s been a real privilege to see their hard work brought to life on the big screen. Events like this are what the Ted Wragg Trust is all about: giving young people opportunities to shine, to be heard and to take centre stage. We’re so proud of what they’ve achieved and we can’t wait to build on this next year.”

Rhys Phillips, Head of Media Studies & Event Organiser, Lipson Academy, Plymouth said:

“The standard of all the entries has been staggering with such high-quality creativity in every production from Primary through to Secondary. The depth of planning and imagination that filmmakers and producers put into the final films and videos takes real dedication. All the filmmakers can take a bow because they have truly impressed the audience and judges. It was a very proud moment seeing our students receiving their awards and celebrating all of their achievements in such an iconic venue and I'm already looking forward to next year.”