Backstage Reading Festival experience for creative film student
21 August 2019
A Film, Theatre and Television graduate from the University of Reading will get a behind-the-scenes look at this year’s Reading Festival after being selected to be part of a unique initiative.
Chimma Ezekiel will get a backstage pass as they take on an internship producing video content with organisers Festival Republic, thanks to a partnership with the university.
She will also be tasked with producing an artistic or creative response to the festival using skills from their degree. The chosen students will tell their experience any way they want to, from artwork to a piece of creative writing. Chimma plans to produce a montage film on her experience of the festival, featuring both the crowds and performers.
Their projects, produced using the skills they have learnt on their course, will be submitted after the festival and exhibited a future date at the University of Reading.
"My festival story will be the contrast from third year coming and going in a flash, to everything being slowed down at Reading Festival as representation of living in the moment" - Chimma Ezekiel
Chimma, who graduated this year, said: “It’s been an absolute pleasure to be chosen for this opportunity. It took some convincing from the people around me to go for the role and I’m so glad I listened to them and went for it. My festival story will be the contrast from third year coming and going in a flash, to everything being slowed down at Reading Festival as representation of living in the moment.”
Reading Festival hosts huge music and comedy acts from 23-25 August. The internship will allow Chimma to get up close to the stages to record the headline acts alongside professional photographers, as well as access to the exclusive backstage area where she can mingle with the bands and VIP guests.
The University of Reading has taken a team of students to Reading Festival every year for the last five years. In 2015 the University partnered with Kerrang magazine to allow students the chance to interview bands and write reviews, following this up with a similar initiative with NME magazine the following year.
Since 2017, a partnership with Festival Republic has allowed a team of students to work backstage and produce their own original content on all aspects of festival life, from festival fashion trends to food stall reviews.
Professor Roberta Gilchrist, Research Dean for Heritage & Creativity at the University of Reading, said: “Reading Festival is a major part of Reading’s cultural identity, so it’s a major coup to be able to offer our students a unique experience of this iconic event. Arts & Humanities degrees teach students to think critically and to articulate and communicate their thoughts creatively. This is a valuable opportunity for our students to demonstrate skills that will equip them for the rapidly changing workplace.
“We have been impressed with the range of creative ideas submitted in applications by our students, and it will be exciting to see how they apply what they have learned on their courses to their internships and projects.”