You may not actually be aware that UBTV, our university television station, was only started in 2012. This is because it has been so successful, quickly becoming a massive presence on campus and even launching the career of Lindsey Russell, who was selected last year to become Blue Peter’s newest presenter. Our first campus celebrities are the lovely ladies behind it, Kirsty Morrissey and Bianca Athanasiou.
Filming at the BURST Studios
During their time at Bristol, the girls identified a need for a student-run TV station, successfully applied for and set up grants and sponsorship deals, recruited, trained and managed a committee, and oversaw the production of almost 200 videos. Separately, they have been involved in projects such as organising a community festival with 3,500 attendees, and being assistant director on a student-produced, modern adaptation of Tess of the d’Urbervilles. All seriously impressive stuff!
We think that they are a perfect example of students who have made the most of their time at Bristol. They have created a legacy that will vastly outlive the time they spent here, and we hope you enjoy their interview!
You started UBTV together back in 2012. What motivated you to take on this project in the first place?
Kirsty: Purely selfish reasons! I’d been involved with Burst and Epigram but knew I was more interested in TV and was frustrated that Bristol didn’t have a functioning TV station so thought why not start one up? Bianca and I didn’t know each other before but heard through a mutual friend that the other was interested in starting a student TV station, so we met for coffee, got on really well, and it started from there.
Bianca: Primarily, we were both interested in getting into the television industry! The previous television station was defunct and somewhat disappointing. We thought that this was a shame, especially since many university television stations are well-respected alongside the other media products, such as newspapers and radio stations. We knew lots of people would be interested in getting involved in producing, editing, directing or presenting videos, and so went ahead with it!
What kind of challenges did you encounter?
Bianca: When we first started, the failure of the previous television station was somewhat hanging over our heads! We really had to prove to the Student’s Union that we were going to be more successful in order to get them to back us. A particularly difficult challenge occurred during the summer before the launch, where a grant of £1000 we had been told was left to us from the previous station had actually already been spent. Unfortunately, we had already started spending said money on new equipment! Starting off our year in debt was a worrying place to be. However, we quickly managed to secure some funding and advertising revenue, which allowed us to make the money back.
Kirsty: Neither of us had done much filming before; looking back now, it seems crazy that we convinced everyone to join us on this project and trained them up with so little knowledge ourselves. But you can teach yourself most things with the right Google search, and we soon became big fans of techy forums. I was so nervous before our first committee meeting. Previously, it had just been a few mates, and now we had this massive team of 18 to lead. We’d dragged everyone back from the summer holidays early for training, and I was about to tell them that our camera had broken and our surprise grant had turned out to be an admin error so we were in fact starting the year in debt. I wouldn’t have blamed any of them for quitting, but instead, everyone put twice as much effort and enthusiasm in to pull things back. We were so lucky to have such a fantastic team. Our committee was unusual for student media, in being very female dominated and with no one having been involved before, so people were leading departments without ever having made a video before. But I think that’s the exciting thing about a startup: everyone is learning (or bluffing!) together, and they can all make their mark on project.
Were you involved in any other activities and societies at Bristol?
Bianca: Apart from attending some talks run by the Philosophy Society (which was my degree subject), I mainly focused all my energy on UBTV! Being in final year whilst getting it up and running was not ideal due to time constraints, but abstaining from other activities allowed me to give UBTV the attention it needed, especially as we were starting up.
Kirsty: I’m a bit of a hobby junkie and need a lot of entertaining, so loved societies. In my first two years, I did some producing and directing with the theatre societies and was involved with some of the activism groups, like the brilliant Bristol Hub. My friend and I also had a radio show on Burst for three years, and I was on their committee for my final two.
What have you been up to since graduating?
Bianca: I was recently first assistant director on a short film called The Maiden, which was a modern adaptation of Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles. I’m also currently undertaking a master’s degree in Philosophy at UCL.
Kirsty: I’m currently at the Community Channel, producing short TV packages for their magazine news show London360. I’ve also been writing, including for the Huffington Post and Evening Standard.
What would ultimately be your dream job?
Bianca: I would love to teach or lecture in the future. However, I don’t want to leave television behind forever — I definitely want to continue helping out on student and short films in my spare time.
Kirsty: I would love to be a TV producer, and UBTV has definitely made that a lot more possible.
Some of the original UBTV team, including presenter Lindsey Russell
Do you have any female role models?
Bianca: Having experience in television, and studying philosophy, I’m used to being in a very male-dominated environment. Especially at conferences, it is unusual to have more than one female speaker, if any at all. Therefore, successful female philosophers (such as Tamar Gendler, who is a particular favourite of mine) are role models for me in that they have become well-respected despite consistently being in the minority.
Kirsty: Oh, I could go on about this topic for days. I often turn to books, and if you’re looking for inspiration, then between Angela Carter, Sheryl Sandberg and Caitlin Moran, you’ve got the main areas of a liberated life covered. But feminist activism is also really important, and there some inspiring women running brilliant campaigns at the moment to tackle patriarchy and make the world fairer, such as The Everyday Sexism Project, No More Page 3 and Pinkstinks. I love what they’re all doing.
What is your best memory from your time at Bristol?
Bianca: When I found out that we had won Best Media Product at the UoB Union Awards. I felt that all of our hard work over the past year had really paid off, and that we’d really made an impact on the student body!
Kirsty: For me, it was overhearing some guys talking about a UBTV video in the ASS library café for the first time. Then I started noticing people watching them in library, and it was nice to know that the videos which had distracted me from my essays during their production was now distracting someone else from theirs!
Finally, are there any tips or advice you’d like to share with current Bristol students?
Bianca: Get involved in activities away from your course! Student satisfaction rates can be low because people don’t make the most of their time at university. Once you leave, you might not get the chance to easily do things like make a short film, run a radio show or write for a newspaper. It’s a great way of meeting new people, so even if there is just one thing that you think you might be interested in, give it a go!
Kirsty: I agree with Bianca: get involved with something which is nothing to do with your course or intended career plans. Once you leave uni, you’ll miss having all those opportunities at your fingertips. I’ll always regret never trying out bell ringing! Also, the student bubble is a lot of fun, but you can go three years only talking to people of the same age and social background as you. Get a job, get an allotment, join a book club – do something to diversify your world, and you’ll enjoy student life all the more for it. Working at St Werburghs City Farm was one of the best things I did while at university, and I wish got involved in more things in the city.