Jon I went straight to post grad without doing an undergrad degree. Though it was film school at Leeds Met' and I did have way more professional experience and credits than the lecturers outside of the sound lecturer, thoungh in his case I had hired him twice as a freelancer. Having arrived at the place and taken stock, I persuaded the head of production to stand the cost of petrol for the schools' transit van to bounce off London and drafted a couple of the camera monkeys to assist. We came back with 3 Steenbeck editing tables, two pic syncs, three 16mm splicers and enough bulk erased magnetic film stock to keep the school going for a couple of years. Whilst there we stopped of at BBC Ealing who gave me 45 re-canned rolls of 16mm neg, which went into my personal stash for use or resale. I subsequently arranged for the leading steenbeck engineer in the country to sort out the tables I'd brought back as well as the schools existing tables at very generous mate's rates. I would later deliver two award-winning shorts, which were extra to my course requirements and leaves me as still as the best performing member of the Producer's course they have ever had, late 80's until present. I did all this off the back of being reserve listed and only getting in after people dropped out. This despite having a glowing reference from Anthony Minghella, amongst others. I fully expected to find my fellow students shitting 35mm as they walked when I arrived at school, and was somewhat nonplussed to find most had no professional experience at all and many had come straight from undergrad courses.
