UoG graduates and students win Royal Television Society West of England awards

Two University of Gloucestershire Film and TV Production student films were among the winners at the Royal Television Society (RTS) West of England Awards 2026.  

Recent Film and TV Production graduates, students and staff attended the highly prestigious awards ceremony in Bristol, with 23 nominations across a wide range of categories including Comedy, Journalism, Drama, and Factual Short Form.

Current students Jack Fellows, Ben Cox, Connor Broadley, Markus Nilsson and Ethan Hughes were winners in the Entertainment and Comedy Drama category for Of Chavs and Men, while graduates Phoebe Brooks, Connor Cross, Lauren Howe, Spandan Pokhrel and Jemma McCoubrey were winners of the nationally judged Journalism category for Clare’s Law.

Craft Awards, which reward exceptional promise, were won by Jack Fellows, Ethan Hughes (both Writing), Ben Cox (Producing), Of Chavs and Men; Jemma McCoubrey (Editing), Clare’s Law; Maya Barker (Camerawork), Nohlan Inseque (Production Design), Jessica Aoife Cain (Writing), Kaitlyn Cooper (Sound), Sam Biddlecombe (Editing), Helen; Oliver Gunnell (Editing) and Ellie Potts (VFX and Production Design), Transient; Freddie Nash (Performance), Alfie; Liam Groom (Cinematography), Kit Brown (Grading), Crosswinds; Farrel Ewanena (Writing), Say It; Cerys Roberts (Editing), Siblings.

All University of Gloucestershire’s nominated and winning films were created by students and graduates of the BA (Hons) Film and TV Production programme, part of the School of Arts, Culture and Environment, which gives students access to a wide range of industry standard, high-tech creative and production facilities at the University’s Creative Campus, based at Park Campus, in Cheltenham.  

This year’s regional winners will now go forward to the RTS National Student Awards where they will hope to join an extensive list of previous winning University of Gloucestershire films, including Delicious Love winner of Best Comedy in 2019, Paper Round Boy winner of Best Drama in 2021, and I’ll Just Have Cats winner of Best Factual in 2024.

TV and Film Production student, Jack Fellows, said: “As a student, I went into it not really expecting to win and was just grateful to be there.

“Watching the clip of our mockumentary, Of Chavs and Men, and hearing people laugh before the winner was announced was surreal and has given me real confidence that I might have a place in the industry, and that’s rather comforting.”

Senior Lecturer in Film Production, School of Arts, Culture and Environment, Adam Batchelor, said: “We’re delighted for them. It’s incredibly rewarding to see their hard work recognised by industry professionals.

“The fact some of the winners are still current students says a lot about the standard of work they’re producing. It’s a real credit to their talent and commitment, and to the collaborative culture we’ve built on the course.”

Main image: The team behind Clare’s Law: left to right, Spandan Pokhrel, Phoebe Brooks and Jemma McCoubrey