London’s Southbank has long been a hub for British television, with stars like Ant & Dec, Graham Norton, and Jonathan Ross once broadcasting to millions from the iconic London Studios. But in 2014, it was student television that stole the show.
Hollie Abbott, then Station Manager of Fresh TV (University of Roehampton), was the driving force behind a standout production, Happy.
Reflecting on the production, Hollie recalls, As a Dance student, many of my friends were dancers, so when I took up the position running Fresh TV, they would come to me with ideas for music videos and performances. It was fab to blend my degree with my new career aspiration and have an end result that was loved by so many people. It solidified in my mind that I really wanted to make entertaining programmes and content that put a smile on people’s faces.
We filmed a fair bit of dance and music related content, but I think Happy took off because the choreographer (& VP Welfare at the time), Rachael Blaney’s choreography was so brilliant and fun. Plus, the song was a summery banger, so I think people just enjoyed watching and listening. The style was sort of Guerrilla filming, due to the location and people walking in the background and wondering what was going on. It was almost TikTok dancing before that was a thing, so appealed to a student audience.
Fortunately it was sunny – always a risk in the UK! It actually went pretty smoothly thanks to incredibly talented and well-rehearsed dancers. I’m fairly sure we got in a bit of trouble for not having a filming permit and putting a tripod down! But I think we got away with it as ‘film students’. Sadly, there are no production managers on a student media budget!
Fresh TV was a fledgling station, but in one short year, Hollie's team scooped the Tim Marshall award in 2014, a testament to their hard work and creativity.
I actually didn’t get involved in student television until I finished Uni. Fresh TV was very new at Roehampton and they’d decided to create an internship role for the running of the station, to try and supersize it and integrate it better into student life. I hadn’t done any TV or film at this point, except for one module in my Dance degree called ‘Screen Dance’ where we did some filming and editing, but I went for the job as TV was something I’ve always enjoyed and had ideas for.
Luckily, I landed the gig and spent the year leading the output and activity of Fresh TV alongside, Fresh Radio and Fresh Magazine.
When I started, Fresh TV was mostly producing Summer Ball & Freshers Fair compilation videos, and messages/campaigns from the SU to students. As well as the new role, we were also given funding to buy cameras, tripods, sound equipment and Macs for editing. I can’t remember the exact camera spec, but I think it was a combo of Canon DSLR’s and Canon XA60 handheld cameras. Many of the film students that got involved also used kit from the film department.
All of this allowed us to grow to 20+ members, creating a range of returning series including a wildlife series (Lawn Life), cookery format (Fresh Nosh), street magic show (Crypt), news updates (Roehampton Round Up), comedy stop motion animation (Mini Heroes), interviews with celebs (Fresh Meets) as well as sports and event coverage, SU info videos and music videos.
I just loved the get up and go of it all. Suddenly I had all these creative tools and like-minded people around me and we just made stuff happen. We constantly had new ideas and could follow our own interests which meant I was constantly learning and honing my knowledge. I guess looking back it was my first taste of TV development, which has become my specialist subject in my career. An absolute highlight was winning the Tim Marshall award in 2014. We were a small, new, but scrappy station and Tim seemed really impressed with what we’d achieved in one, short year.
These experiences with student television led to an eclectic career in the industry for Hollie. Her credits including ITN, STV and Boom Cymru, where she has been part of BAFTA winning development teams.
Student TV was my calling card for getting into the TV industry. I had a whole body of work I had delivered over the year with Fresh, that I used to exemplify my passion for the industry, my work ethic and my creativity. It set those principles pretty solidly in place and allowed me to build on my entry level jobs, right up to my most recent role as Director of Development.
It also taught me that collaboration is everything – if you get enough people behind a creative goal or idea, there really isn’t anything that can stop you (except maybe a lack of filming permits!) The amount of people I have met in the industry who did student media is crazy and it always bonds you immediately. It’s a great calling card that should be shouted from the rooftops to broadcasters and production companies when applying for roles. I’ve been lucky enough to still be friends with some of the most incredible on and off screen talent from my student TV days – it’s been amazing to watch their careers skyrocket. Some of us even get together once a year and hold a mini-NaSTA awards for the banter.
So, I guess on the whole I have student television to thank for both being an incredible foundation to build my career on, and for meeting some of my absolute favourite people in my life.
Founding a start up student station, to a decade of working in television. Hollie can certainly be 'Happy' with that.
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