We take great pride in prioritising industry experience over teaching backgrounds. This means our staff bring relevant stories from the world of work as well as valuable insights and connections into the classroom to maximise the career-boosting qualities of our courses. Afterall, we’re all about shaping careers and not just courses!
However, this ethos is not just exclusive to our teaching staff… Our talented team of creative technicians at Loxton Campus play essential roles, providing specific expertise to support learners to develop their techniques.
A recent edition to the Film and TV Production team is technician Kate Heaney. Joining the Digital Design department in 2021, Kate brings an invaluable wealth of knowledge gained from her impressive resume thanks to her diverse experience in the media industry.
Having studied Film & Television Production at the University of Westminster, Kate started working mostly as a Clapper/Loader or camera assistant on short films in London before ceasing the opportunity to move to Dubai for work after visiting on holiday!
She commented: “I loved working in Dubai! I started out working for a photography and videography studio who were in desperate need of a female video editor as they started to shoot ladies only events and weddings. I had so many amazing opportunities whilst I was out there, as I also worked on all sorts of projects from weddings to corporate and fashion/events.”
After being promoted to Senior Videographer, Kate won a prestigious contract with Ritz-Carlton, shooting architectural videos for their hotels in Moscow, Bahrain, Muscat, and Abu Dhabi.
To get a better idea of some of the things she worked on, take a look at Kate’s stunning showreel:
Kate continued: “I then decided to go freelance and managed to get on the royal wedding circuit and shot as part of a team for the royal family in Saudi Arabia, UAE and Kuwait. I did this for about 3 years before returning to the UK (Spending around 6 years working in the Middle East overall).
“Working for the Royal family, and winning the contract for the Ritz-Carlton hotel group were definitely highlights for me.”
After retuning to the UK and working in school photography, Kate decided to come and work for Weston College to accept a new challenge and work within a team again.
Kate said “It’s great how every day is different as a technician. Seeing the projects students are working on is so interesting as it is a completely different experience in comparison to the courses I studied when I was younger. Technology is always changing and its refreshing to see the courses here keeping up it in more ways than one.
“I’m so impressed by the equipment that the department has. Everything is industry standard which is amazing for the students to have access to in order to properly prepare them for the world of work.
“My advice to learners is to explore all avenues within the industry. Some are vastly different and if one is not for you there are so many other types of photography/videography/filmmaking you can get into!”
What amazing accolades. Thank-you to Kate for sharing your story and continuing to help our learners reach their full potential.
Click here to discover our degree courses in Photography, Lens based media and Film and TV.
