The National Film and Television School (NFTS) was established in 1971 and is based at Beaconsfield Studios in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, and it is located close to Pinewood Studios.

History[link]

The National Film School (the original name) opened in 1971, the work of four years of planning to create an institution to train personnel for the British film industry. Department of Education and Science had in 1967 recommended the creation of a national film school for the UK, and in 1969 an inquiry led by Lord Lloyd of Hampstead began to develop plans.

In 1970, a Scot named Colin Young (then chairing the University of California's Department of Theater Arts), was appointed as the School's first director. The NFS bought the old Beaconsfield Film Studios in Buckinghamshire and set about refitting it to professional industry standards. Young established four permanent departments - production, camera, editing and sound - and in 1971 the first intake of 25 students passed through the studio gates.

The curriculum in the early days was loosely structured; sporadic seminars and workshops were secondary to production, with students spending most of their time doing exactly what they had come to the School to do - making films. But by the early 1980s, Young felt this system no longer served the students' best interests and a more structured curriculum was introduced. Links with the Industry were strengthened, allowing students' idealism and creative talent to be matched with collaborative, financial and production expertise.

In 1982, the School changed its name to The National Film and Television School, as many of its graduates went on to make their careers in TV. That same year it launched a pilot project for re-training freelance industry professionals. This led to the establishment of the National Short Course Training Programme (now ShortCourses@NFTS), which has been running courses ever since on all areas of film and television production. By the early 1990s, the school had modified its original stance on course structure, deciding to provide specialisation at the time of entry. The first year still offered a general course, followed in the next two years by focused training in one of the ten specialist areas (direction, writing, editing, camera, sound, animation, design, producing, documentary and composing).

Colin Young retired in 1992 and was succeeded by Henning Camre, formerly Head of the National Film School of Denmark. Camre aimed for more balanced numbers in each of the ten specialist areas, creating separate departments with their own head tutors and curricula. He was also successful in securing a Lottery grant to install state of the art new equipment, positioning the School to take full advantage of new production methods offered by innovations in technology and ensuring that graduating students could compete with the best as they embarked on their careers.

Camre was succeeded in 1998 by Stephen Bayly, an NFTS graduate and film producer (Richard III, Mrs Dalloway). His first move was to reorganise the curriculum to run over two years, instead of three. Recognising a growing trend towards a requirement for academic qualifications, he sought to achieve this. Eventually, The Royal College of Art agreed to validate the School's courses and 2000 saw the first intake of students who would graduate with an MA. In 2002, Bayly introduced the first of the shorter Diploma courses, established to meet an urgent Industry need for properly trained sound recordists.

September 2003 saw Nik Powell, one of the UK's leading producers, to take over from Bayly. Powell has rapidly expanded the programme of new courses, introducing Diplomas in Producing & Directing Television Entertainment (now an MA), Digital Post-Production, SFX/VFX, Directing Fiction, and Script Development (a partnership venture with The Script Factory). Powell has reinvigorated the programme of visiting filmmakers, and set up a programme of masterclasses run at London cinemas for NFTS students and the public. He has also introduced a range of development deals with broadcasters and independent production companies to help new NFTS graduates get started and, in 2005, joined forces with NESTA (The National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts) to launch NFTS Inc, a Creative Pioneer programme supporting graduates of any UK film school develop start-up businesses in the motion picture industry.

Today, the NFTS has around 160 full-time students, with a further two dozen part-timers on the Script Development course and about a thousand a year on its short courses. It is the only film school in the UK which boasts its own film and television studios, and post-production facilities rivalling those of professional companies. Its talented community of students makes around a hundred films a year on courses that are still over 90% practical and unlike anything offered at any other UK film school.

The NFTS also holds yearly graduation shows at the BFI Southbank (formerly known as the National Film Theatre). These are highly selective and invite-only events which showcase the student's projects to scounts and industry professionals, ensuring that the students receive maximum exposure.^[1]

The NFTS is a Skillset Film and Media Academy

Distinction[link]

The BBC stated that the NFTS was the "leading centre of excellence for education in film and television programme making", and noted that it was "relevant to the industry's present and future needs."^[2] British Film Magazine once described the NFTS as being one of the few schools to come "very, very close" to guaranteeing a job in the film industry, and named its leader (Powell) a "maverick";^[3] Filmmaking.net named it one of two films schools outside the US which had such a high international reputation.^[4]

Funding[link]

Until its repeal in 1986, the school was funded partly through a tax on cinema ticket sales known as the Eady Levy, named after then UK Treasury official Sir Wilfred Eady. The NFTS has since been funded by the UK Government, via (today) the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, and the television and film industries.

Key Partner Sponsors include main UK terrestrial and satellite broadcasting companies BBC, Channel 4, BSkyB, S4C and the Film Distributors' Association. In addition, a large number of public and private donors fund scholarships to assist (chiefly British and EU) students.

Courses of studies[link]

Members[link]

The school has around 100 full-time staff as well as many top tutors from within the industry.

Awards and nominations[link]

The students regularly get nominated (and sometimes win) international awards, even Oscars.^[5]

Facilities[link]

The school's facilities were expanded in 2008 with the addition of new teaching spaces, public spaces and a new cinema, designed by Glenn Howells Architects and Buro Happold. Upon its completion in 2008, the strikingly modern two storey building (see photo above) won a coveted RIBA prize^[6]. In June 2009 it was formally named The Oswald Morris Building in honour of veteran cinematographer Ossie Morris.

Notable alumni (selection)[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• NFTS page on myspace
• Official Animation Department website
• Department for Culture, Media and Sport
• Quotas and Levies - explanation of various national film levies, including the Eady Levy
• Watch a masterclass about editing sound for animation with Annabelle Pangborn - BBC Blast

v t e Cinema of the United Kingdom Culture of the United Kingdom World cinema Films by year (Films A–Z) Pre 1920 1920s 1930s 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Production companies and studios Active Aardman Animations BBC Films British Lion Films Ealing Studios Elstree Studios Eon Productions Film4 Productions Goldcrest Films Hammer Film Productions HandMade Films London Films Palace Pictures The Pinewood Studios Group (Pinewood Studios Shepperton Studios) S4C Films Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden Warp Films Wimbledon Studios Working Title Films Former Amicus Productions Associated British Picture Corporation Bryanston Films Denham Film Studios Gainsborough Pictures Hemdale Film Corporation Ideal Rank Organisation Tigon British Film Productions Warwick Films Organisations BAFTA British Board of Film Classification British Film Institute BFI National Archive BFI Southbank British Society of Cinematographers Children's Film Foundation Cinema Exhibitors' Association National Film and Television School National Media Museum Northern Ireland Screen Scottish Screen UK Film Council People Actors and actresses Cinematographers Directors Editors Producers Production designers Score composers Screenwriters Other British Academy Film Awards British Independent Film Awards British New Wave Carry On Cinematograph Films Act 1927 Documentary Film Movement Eady Levy Ealing Comedies Free Cinema Gainsborough melodramas Harry Potter History of British film certificates Home Video Charts James Bond London Film Festival London in film Telecinema Category Commons

v t e Media in the United Kingdom   Newspapers, magazines and other periodicals Newspapers National Berliner: The Guardian · The Observer · Broadsheet: Financial Times · The Daily Telegraph, The Sunday Telegraph · The Sunday Times · Compact: i · The Independent, The Independent on Sunday · The Times · Middle-market: Daily Express, Sunday Express · Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday · Tabloid: Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror · Morning Star · The People · Daily Star, Daily Star Sunday · The Sun · Sunday Sport Regional and local Local newspapers in England · Regional newspapers in England · Newspapers in Northern Ireland · Newspapers in Scotland · Newspapers in Wales Other resources Defunct newspapers · Editors · Fleet Street · History · Journalists · Specialist newspapers · List by circulation Magazines and other periodicals Arts magazines · Business magazines · Comics · Defunct magazines · Fashion magazines · Literary magazines · Political magazines · Satirical magazines · Science and technology magazines · Women's magazines · List of magazines by circulation   Radio National stations BBC Analogue/digital: Radio 1 · Radio 2 · Radio 3 · Radio 4 · Radio 5 Live · Digital: Radio 1Xtra · Radio 4 Extra · Radio 5 Live Sports Extra · 6 Music · Asian Network · BBC National DAB (multiplex) Commercial Analogue/digital: Absolute Radio · Classic FM · Talksport · Digital: Absolute 80s · Absolute Radio 90s · Absolute Radio Extra · Amazing Radio · BFBS Radio · Digital One (multiplex) · Jazz FM · Planet Rock · Premier Christian Radio · Smooth Radio UK · UCB UK Regional and local stations BBC List of BBC Local Radio stations · List of BBC Regional Radio stations Commercial List of community radio stations · List of local commercial radio stations · List of semi-national analogue and digital stations Other stations List of hospital radio stations · Pirate radio · Restricted Service Licence (List of RSL stations) · List of satellite radio stations · List of student and schools radio Other Broadcasting companies · Broadcasting House · FM broadcasting · MediaCityUK · People · Programmes · Radio Academy · Radio Independents Group · RAJAR · Sony Radio Academy Awards · Most-listened-to programs   Television Principal channels BBC Analogue/digital: BBC One · BBC Two · Digital: BBC Three · BBC Four · BBC News · BBC Parliament · CBBC · CBeebies · BBC Alba · HD: BBC HD BSkyB Digital: Challenge · Pick TV · Sky1 · Sky2 · Sky 3D · Sky Arts · Sky Atlantic · Sky Betting and Gaming · Sky Living · Sky Livingit · Sky Movies · Sky Movies Box Office · Sky News · Sky Sports · Sky Sports F1 · Sky Sports News Channel Four Analogue/digital: Channel 4 · Digital: E4 · Film4 · More4 · 4seven · S4C Channel 5 Analogue/digital: Channel 5 · Digital: 5* · 5USA ITV Network Analogue/digital: ITV · Digital: ITV2 · ITV3 · ITV4 · CITV UKTV Digital: Alibi · Blighty · Dave · Eden · Gold · Good Food · Home · Really · Watch · Yesterday Services and platforms 4oD (Film4oD) · Analogue (Analogue terrestrial) · BBC iPlayer · blinkbox · BT Vision · Cable · Demand 5 · Digital (Digital terrestrial · List of channels) · Freesat (Freesat+ · List of channels) · Freeview (Freeview+) · Freewire (List of channels) · High-definition (List of channels) · ITV (ITV Player · STV Player) · Real Digital · Restricted Service Licence · Satellite (List of channels) · Sky (Freesat from Sky · Sky Anytime · Sky Anytime+ · Sky+ · Sky+ HD · List of channels) · Smallworld Cable (List of channels) · TalkTalk TV (List of channels) · Top Up TV · TVCatchup (List of channels) · Virgin Media (FilmFlex · TiVo · V+ · List of channels) · WightCable · YouView · Zattoo (List of channels) Studios BBC Pacific Quay · BBC Television Centre · Broadcasting House · Broadcasting House (Cardiff) · The Fountain Studios · The Leeds Studios · MediaCityUK · Granada Studios · Roath Lock · Teddington Studios Other Awards · Defunct channels · Edinburgh International Television Festival · History (List of years) · List of channels · Production companies · Programmes · Student television · Viewing statistics (Most-watched broadcasts)   Companies and organisations Companies Major companies Aegis Group · Archant · BBC · Bloomsbury Publishing · British Sky Broadcasting · BT Group · Channel Four · Chrysalis Group · Daily Mail and General Trust · Economist Group · EMAP · EMI Group · Endemol UK · Global Radio · Guardian Media Group · Haymarket Group · Informa · IPC Media · ITN · ITV · Johnston Press · Mecom Group · News International · Newsquest · Northern & Shell · Pearson · Press Holdings · Reed Elsevier · Reuters · STV Group · Syco · TalkTalk Group · Trinity Mirror · UBM · UTV Media · Virgin Media Other resources Broadcasting companies · Defunct media companies · Publishing companies (List of largest UK book publishers) · Record labels Government and regulatory bodies Advertising Standards Authority · BBC Trust · British Board of Film Classification · British Film Institute · Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee · Department for Culture, Media and Sport · Ofcom · Press Complaints Commission · UK Film Council · Welsh Fourth Channel Authority Industry and trades bodies British Academy of Film and Television Arts · British Phonographic Industry · Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematograph and Theatre Union · Clearcast · Digital TV Group · Digital UK · Equity · Federation Against Copyright Theft · National Union of Journalists · The Publishers Association · Royal Television Society · United Kingdom Independent Broadcasting Other BBC Academy · National Film and Television School · National Media Museum   Regional and student media Regional media Media in England (Media in Birmingham · Media in London · Media in Manchester) · Media in Northern Ireland · Media in Scotland (Media in Aberdeen · Media in Dundee · Media in Glasgow) · Media in Wales (Media in Cardiff) Student media Student television Category ·  Commons

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (March 2009)

Nik Powell (born 4 November 1950 in Lilac Cottage, Gt Kingshill, Buckinghamshire, England) is one of the co-founders of the Virgin Group with Richard Branson. After operating a mail-order company, a small record shop, and a recording studio, the partners established Virgin Records in 1972. It became one of the UK's major recording labels until it was sold to EMI in 1992.

Nik was educated firstly at Longacre School, Shamley Green, Guildford, Surrey moving when he was 7 to a small Catholic preparatory school - St Richard's, in Bredenbury, outside Malvern. From there he went to Ampleforth College, North Yorkshire and subsequently spent a year at the University of Sussex.

In 1983, Powell and Stephen Woolley founded Palace Productions, which produced The Company of Wolves (1984), Mona Lisa (1986), and The Crying Game (1992).^[1] After presiding over the 1992 collapse of the company, Powell re-established himself in the film industry with Scala Productions and has since produced Fever Pitch, Twenty Four Seven, Last Orders, B. Monkey, and Ladies in Lavender.^[2]

Powell currently is director of the National Film and Television School^[3] in England while maintaining his position as chairman of Scala Productions. His marriage to Merrill Tomassi, the sister of Richard Branson's first wife, ended in divorce. He then married singer Sandie Shaw and helped relaunch her career. They had two children, Amie and Jack, before divorcing in the early 1990s.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Nik Powell at the Internet Movie Database

This article about a British businessperson born in the 1950s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (December 2010)

Jonathan Drew Groff (born March 26, 1985) is an American singer-songwriter, stage, television and film actor. He originated the role of Melchior Gabor in the stage musical Spring Awakening and appeared as Jesse St. James in the musical television series Glee.

Personal life[link]

Groff was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, to a Methodist mother – Julie, a gym teacher – and Mennonite father – Jim, a harness horse trainer and driver. He has one older brother, David. Of his upbringing, he has said "My mother’s side of the family is Methodist, which is how I was raised. It was conservative in that I had strong values—sitting down and eating with the family every day, listening to authority and going to church every week and having perfect attendance at Sunday school. But at the same time, my parents always encouraged my brother and me to be happy with what we were doing. My parents were athletes in high school; my mom and my dad were the stars of the basketball team, but they never pushed my brother and me to be anything we didn’t want to be."^[1] He graduated from Conestoga Valley High School in 2003 and was going to attend Pennsylvania State University for a BFA in Musical Theatre until he booked his first professional gig in New York city, the musical In My Life.^[2]

Groff told Broadway.com during the National Equality March in Washington, D.C., that he is "gay and proud".^[3][4]

Groff guest starred in the back nine episodes of the first season of Glee along with Spring Awakening co-star Lea Michele. During his role with Lea Michele in Spring Awakening, they became best friends. He introduced Michele to Glee creator Ryan Murphy prior to the show's start.^{[citation needed]}

Career[link]

Groff had a year of waiting tables in New York until he booked his first acting job in 2005 as a swing/dance captain for the musical "In My Life" by Joseph Brooks. The musical was about a boy with Tourette's Syndrome, and Groff understudied the lead part. He never performed in the role. ^[2]

Groff originated the role of Melchior Gabor in the Broadway production of Spring Awakening. He played the role from the musical's Broadway debut on December 10, 2006^[5] through May 18, 2008. He also played the same role in the original Off Broadway production earlier during the summer of 2006.^[6] Groff also was in the National Tour of The Sound of Music as Rolf, and appeared in Fame at the North Shore Music Theater in Beverly, Massachusetts. In April 2007, he was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for his role in Spring Awakening. In May 2007, he was nominated for the Tony Award as Best Leading Actor in a Musical for his performance, with the award eventually going to David Hyde Pierce.^[7]

He played the recurring role of Henry Mackler on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live. His storyline about a school shooting on the long-running soap opera was nixed due to the Virginia Tech shooting in April 2007, and he is no longer on the show.^[8]

Before performing on the Broadway stage, Jonathan was a performer at The Ephrata Performing Arts Center in Ephrata, Pennsylvania. There he portrayed such characters as Edgar in Bat Boy: The Musical and Ugly in Honk!.

Groff played as Claude in the Shakespeare in the Park production of Hair, which ran July 22 through August 31, 2008. He also appeared as Michael Lang in Ang Lee's major motion picture, Taking Woodstock.

Groff has appeared in the Off-Broadway production of Prayer for My Enemy by Craig Lucas (Prelude to a Kiss, Light in the Piazza) about the consequences the Iraq war has had on an American family.^[9]

In August 2009, Groff performed The Bacchae as Dionysus as a part of the Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park.

He was guest starring on Glee as Jesse St. James, the male lead of rival glee club, Vocal Adrenaline for eight of the back nine episodes. He also serves as a love interest for his former Spring Awakening co-star Lea Michele's character, Rachel Berry.^[10] Newsweek critic Ramin Satoodeh stated that Groff was unconvincing in the role of the straight Jesse ("he seems more like your average theater queen, a better romantic match for Kurt than Rachel").^[11] Groff's performance was defended by Glee creator Ryan Murphy and guest star Kristin Chenoweth, both of whom described Satoodeh's essay as homophobic; it was also condemned by GLAAD president Jarrett Barrios.^[12][13]

In August 2010 he made his West End debut in Deathtrap,^[14] at the Noel Coward Theatre in a production directed by Matthew Warchus.

Groff returned to Glee at the end of the second season, where his character tried to ask Rachel for forgiveness. He returned to the show on May 10 to finish out the remainder of the second season.^[15] Despite leaving the show for the first part of its third season, Groff returned to Glee in Saturday Night Glee-ver as the coach of his former Glee club, Vocal Adrenaline.

Credits[link]

Broadway

• Spring Awakening as Melchior Gabor (2006–2008)

West End

• Deathtrap as Clifford Anderson (2010)

Off-Broadway

• The Submission as Danny Larsen (2011)
• The Singing Forest as Gray Korankyi/Walter Rieman (2009)
• Prayer for My Enemy as Billy (2008)
• Hair - Shakespeare in the Park Revival as Claude (2008)
• Spring Awakening as Melchoir Gabor (2006)

Filmography[link]

Discography[link]

Cast recordings[link]

• Spring Awakening (2006)
• Glee: The Music, Volume 3 Showstoppers (2010)
• Glee: The Music, The Power of Madonna (2010)
• Glee: The Music, Volume 6 (2011)

Featured singles[link]

Other appearances[link]

• In February 2011, Jonathan appeared in two promotional videos for his brother Dave's commercial kitchen supply site, WEBstaurantstore.com. The first was one promoting the company's Facebook fanpage and contests for its customers. The second was a special Valentine's Day video in which he made a martini and promoted products sold on the site. The martini he made was a special recipe created especially for Jonathan called the "She Loves Me Martini", for the video by Dee Brun, "The Cocktail Deeva".^[24][25][26]

Awards and nominations[link]

Nominations[link]

• Drama League Awards: Distinguished Performance 2007
• Drama Desk Awards:: Outstanding Actor in a Musical 2007
• Tony Awards: Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical 2007

Awards[link]

• Theatre World Award, 2007
• Obie Award, 2009 (for both "Prayer for the Enemy" and "Singing Forest")
• WhatsOnStage London Newcomer of the Year Award, 2011 (for "Deathtrap")

References[link]

External links[link]

• Jonathan Groff at the Internet Broadway Database
• Jonathan Groff at the Internet Movie Database
• Jonathan Groff at Allmusic