Department of Theatre, Film and Television takes centre-stage
Posted on 5 July 2011
The York graduate, who was co-founder and formerly Joint Managing Director of Hat Trick Productions, will open the £30 million building at a special event on Thursday, 7 July at 5pm. The opening event will showcase work by some of the Department’s students, followed by tours of the world-class facilities.
These superb new facilities provide a creative and inspiring location where students from across Britain and the world have access to innovative teaching, research and technology
Professor Brian Cantor, Vice-Chancellor
The new TFTV headquarters is one of four major academic buildings in the first phase of the University’s £750 million campus extension at Heslington East, one of the biggest capital developments in UK higher education in recent years.
It was designed following extensive consultation with academics, industry professionals and students and is purpose-built to support and foster interactions between the University, researchers and business.
The Department offers some of the best professional production facilities of any UK university, boasting a media complex of two theatres, two television studios, a large sound stage, production labs, extensive post-production facilities and a digital cinema, as well as rehearsal and changing rooms.
University of York Vice-Chancellor Professor Brian Cantor said: “These superb new facilities provide a creative and inspiring location where students from across Britain and the world have access to innovative teaching, research and technology, providing them with a world-class academic experience.
“The Theatre, Film and Television building was completed to the latest industry standard specification in order to provide opportunities for commercial partnerships with production companies. This in turn enriches the experience of our students and provides them with a competitive advantage in pursuing their careers.”
Development of the new building, which forms part of the completed £200m first phase of the University’s new Heslington East development, has been supported by investment from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) in Yorkshire and the Humber, part of a major infrastructure project led by Science City York to extend the assets and strategic potential of York as a leading centre for science and innovation.
Professor Andrew Higson, Head of the Department of Theatre, Film and Television, said: “This is an incredibly exciting and inspirational building in which to work. The extensive media facilities are central to our teaching, which provides students with professional as well as critical and contextual skills. The Department has established strong connections with the media industry and creative practitioners both locally and nationally, and has an excellent network of industry professionals, who regularly visit the department to provide masterclasses and workshops.”
Denise O’Donoghue was awarded an OBE for services to television in the New Year Honours list of 1999, and production credits include Have I Got News For You and Drop the Dead Donkey. She was awarded an Honorary Degree by the University of York in 2006.
Notes to editors:
- More on the Department of Theatre, Film and Television at www.york.ac.uk/tftv
- More on the University of York’s campus development at www.york.ac.uk/campus-development/
- Yorkshire and The Humber ERDF
Programme 2007-2013
The regional ERDF Programme, approved in December 2007 was launched in February 2008.
The programme is managed by Yorkshire Forward on behalf of a regional partnership including the National Government, European Commission and Regional bodies.
The programme provides €583 million from the European Regional Development Fund to invest in the region’s economic development by 2013 with €271m for South Yorkshire and €312m for the rest of the region. South Yorkshire has extra resources to help with its transition from its earlier Objective 1 status.
Further information about the ERDF Programme in Yorkshire and The Humber is available at www.yorkshire-forward.com/erdf - European Regional Development
Fund
The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) was set up in 1975 to stimulate economic development in less prosperous regions of the European Union (EU) and to act as a significant instrument with which the EU can support its Cohesion Policy.
As EU membership has grown, ERDF has developed into a major instrument for helping to redress regional imbalances. The Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) manages ERDF in England.
Between 2007 and 2013, England benefits from an investment of €3.2 billion (approx £2.5 bn) of ERDF. It is delivered by regional programmes in each English region, managed by the Regional Development Agency. England also receives €177 million ERDF for two national cross-border co-operation programmes with France, Flanders and the Netherlands and another €193.8 million is available to the United Kingdom for participating in three trans-national co-operation programmes across the North West Europe, North Sea and Atlantic areas.
ERDF is directed at projects offering substantial benefits which meet the needs of an area and would not take place without a grant. It is used to provide help towards the project costs with grants set at a minimum level required to allow the project to go ahead. As a general rule, however, the EU contributes no more than 50% of the eligible cost with the rest of the funding, known as ‘match funding’ coming from other public sources.
Information about the European Union’s support for regional policy, including ERDF is available at www.ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/index_en.htm
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