Help Owain Complete NYU Grad Film

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My name is Owain, and I'm a directing candidate at NYU Tisch School of the Arts’ Grad Film programme, where I am a BAFTA scholar. I’m currently going into my final year on the course, and am raising funds to cover the remainder of my tuition fees.

In 2023, I was awarded the BAFTA x Piggott scholarship to attend NYU’s prestigious Grad Film programme, a long-term dream of mine. With my BAFTA scholarship, a Tisch scholarship and savings from years of professional work, I paid my way through the first two years. Going into my final year, I’m trying to raise $40,000 to cover the remaining tuition fees.

Holding a camera with a silly face

My work as a director focuses on community-led, participatory filmmaking. Before NYU, I ran a filmmaking programme in London prisons and led arts and homelessness projects in Bristol, including Bristol Homeless Action Week and Cardboard Camps — a collaboration between Bristol Old Vic Theatre and Cardboard Citizens. I’ve made work for the likes of BBC, BFI and Netflix, and in 2018 I gave a TEDx talk on my own experience of homelessness.

Giving a TEDx talk with a silly haircut

Studying at NYU has been a life-changing privilege. I’ve been mentored by Oscar-winning filmmakers including Spike Lee, Kasi Lemmons and Barbara Schock and have built a community of dedicated, conscientious collaborators. This past year, I directed a short film inspired by my years of working in UK prisons, that won NYU’s Black Family Prize. The film, starring Freya Mavor (Skins, Industry) and a cast with lived experience of incarceration, is expected to premiere January 2026 at Sundance, and the feature version is now in development.

Directing Freya with another silly haircut

Upon graduating, I intend to continue making films in collaboration with marginalised British communities. I’m currently developing a microbudget docudrama with young people experiencing homelessness in Bristol, with support from two UK production companies. I just need one final financial push to make it through my final year at NYU.

Any support whatsoever will make a difference.

As a thank you, I’d be happy to discuss potential Associate Producer or Executive Producer credits on future independent short or feature work.

Thank you for reading.