MetFilm School holds Opening Celebration for Leeds campus

MetFilm School Leeds has welcomed its first cohort of BA and MA students to the new Prime Studios campus, and to mark the occasion, some 200 guests joined us at the School for an Opening Celebration.

Including canapés and drinks, tours of our new facilities, and some brilliant speeches from members of the MetFilm community, our Opening Celebration was held in Prime Studios’ Archive Café, an on-site coffee house, bar, and event space which we know our students will be making good use of over the months and years to come.

The event…

Jonny Persey, MetFilm Director, summed up the entire Opening Celebration:

It wasn’t a birthday party, but it almost was. Going into our 20th year, and 10 years to the day since we opened in Berlin, celebrating the birth of our new campus in Leeds, with some 200 guests, was something special. And that we could do so in an event which brought our students together with industry, on a week where we also celebrated the launch of MetFilm Distribution, made it all the more poignant.

We were delighted to welcome our friends from Arts Alliance, University of West London, Prime Studios, Procam Take 2, BFI, ScreenSkills, Screen Yorkshire, Leeds City Council, and ITV, amongst others – all of whom have been instrumental in making this possible. Thankyou!

Jonny PerseyDirector, MetFilm

Alongside the industry-leading companies mentioned by Jonny, we were also thrilled to welcome members of the MetFilm Board to our Opening Celebration. In attendance was MetFilm School Co-Founder Thomas Høegh, and Non-Executive Director Sally Joynson, who was previously the CEO of Screen Yorkshire, and who joined the MetFilm Board alongside Alice Hynes back in August.

Against a revolving backdrop of film and television posters our graduates have worked on, guests heard inspiring speeches from both Thomas and Sally, as well as Jonny Persey, Katharina Koall (MetFilm School Dean), and Paul Gormley (MetFilm School Leeds Principal). Finally, MetFilm CEO David Howell took the chance to interview some of our new students, asking them about their future career aspirations, and how their passion for the creative industry led them to join MetFilm School Leeds.

The students…

Of the nearly 200 guests, almost half of our attendees were our new students, having just finished their induction weeks. Throughout the Opening Celebration, students were able to network and meet likeminded creatives, from new friends across their cohort, to industry professionals from Screen Yorkshire and Procam Take 2.

The opportunity to meet so many of our industry friends and MetFilm School partners gives our students that extra boost towards finding their passions in the industry, enabling them to chat with people across different disciplines and roles, and to explore what they might want to aim for after their degree.

Many of our Leeds students have already used their first weeks in the city to flex their creative skills, as is the case with members of our MA Cinematography cohort in this Instagram Reel…

The School…

Throughout the celebration, we offered tours around our new facilities, from the studio spaces to workshop and teaching rooms. Guests also got to peek inside our Kit Room, equipped by Procam Take 2 – which also marks the expansion of the facilities giant to Yorkshire, providing the surrounding industry and community with a new local cinematography equipment supplier. Our Kit Room includes the likes of Sony Z90 and FS7 cameras, industry-standard lighting choices, and more. Learn about the facilities offered at MetFilm School Leeds here.

With MetFilm School Leeds officially up and running, here’s a reminder of the courses we offer at our Prime Studios campus:

• BA Acting for Screen
• BA Content, Media & Film Production
• MA Cinematography
• MA Directing
• MA Screenwriting

And finally, it only feels right to end our Opening Celebration recap with a quote from Paul Gormley, Principal of MetFilm School Leeds:

It is a wonderful privilege to be here as the first ever Principal for MetFilm Leeds, and to see the energy and creativity that the students are already bringing to the new campus. The team here is dedicated to welcoming, nurturing and supporting the talent that we have already seen during an exciting welcome week.

It is also great to be finally open in Leeds, which is a wonderful city with an established and fast-growing Creative Industries infrastructure who have warmly welcomed us to West Yorkshire and the North. It is also a great city to be a student in (as I know from personal experience), and we at MetFilm School Leeds look forward to being an active contributor to those cultures.

Paul GormleyPrincipal, MetFilm School Leeds

• A big thank you to everyone who attended the Opening Celebration of MetFilm School Leeds – we hope you had as good a time as we did!
• Our Opening Celebration was held at Archive Café, an events space which hosts jazz nights, vintage clothing sales, and weekly film showings. Find out more here. 
• Book now to visit our Prime Studios campus at our next Open Day, happening on Saturday 19 November, 10am and 2pm GMT.