Radio graduates searching for gold
17 November 2009
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Short-listed nominees from BU hopeful of bringing home trio of national Student Radio Awards. |
Two BU graduates have been shortlisted for this year’s Student Radio Awards (SRAs) supported by the Radio Academy and the Association of Student Radio Alumni.
Marie Horner and Andrea Miller, who both recently completed the Media School’s MA in Radio Production, have received separate nominations for ‘Best Scripted Programming’. Andrea has also been lined up for the ‘Best Female Presenter’ award – a first for BU in this category. With gold, silver and bronze honours available in all categories, its possible for Marie and Andrea to bring home three awards.
The Student Radio Awards are the definitive celebration of student radio. Over the years, student radio has launched the careers of Kevin Greening, Scott Mills, Kevin Hughes, Simon Mayo and Alex Zane to name but a few. The Awards serve to celebrate the diversity of content and talent in student radio and to help launch the next generation of radio talent into the radio industry.
The nominations recognise Marie and Andrea’s distinguished contributions to BIRSt (Bournemouth Internet Radio Station), a course-affiliated station which broadcasts exclusively via the internet. This year marks the fourth successive year that BU students have featured in the ‘Best Scripted Programming’ category.
Marie has been nominated for her three-minute comedy piece ‘Mobile Audio Handbook’, a spoof audio manual for a fictional mobile phone. She said: “I feel honoured to be shortlisted and I’m really looking forward to meeting the other nominees and celebrating innovative radio at the presentation event.
“Being recognised by the SRAs is a tribute to the quality broadcasting demanded by MA Radio Production and BIRSt. I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to develop the skills and experience to enter a highly competitive industry, and to have been given the guidance and encouragement to achieve recognition for my work at the SRAs.”
Andrea was inspired to produce her shortlisted sketch, The Superhero’s Girlfriend, while working as a temp before she started the course. She explains: “I was sat at my desk one day, staring into space. I remember watching Spiderman the day before and just got to thinking ‘I bet it’s exhausting being constantly kidnapped if you’re dating a superhero’. I actually wrote more of the piece right then and there, and had to wait almost a year before I had the skills to produce it.”
Andrea is thrilled with her SRA nomination, especially as she had no prior radio production experience prior to starting her course. “It’s a testament both to the training and creative freedom we were given on the MA and through BIRSt that I’m joining a long line of former BU students who have been nominated for SRAs.”
Of her other nomination, for ‘Best Female Presenter’ she commented: “It’s also a credit to the standard of the course that another person could find my presenting voice in any way appealing – I still can’t stand the sound of it!”
The winners will be announced during a star-studded award ceremony at London’s indigO2 venue, located within London’s O2 complex, on 24 November. Winners of Gold Awards in all categories receive prizes from the sponsors, including work experience on big radio shows, one-off shows on major networks, or even equipment for their stations.
