Please help fund my NFTS Masters

Hello, I'm Kat. I would like to ask for your kindness and help in funding my National Film and Television Masters course in Directing Animation which will last 2 years beginning in January 2025.

This course will help me have a better future. Gaining connections and getting a job in the industry, where I will be able to work as a Storyteller. Tell stories that connect with people, especially children stories. I want to create art that is understandable visually. Family on my mom's side and the family on my dad's side speak two different languages, and sadly they aren't able to communicate with each other, so I aim to connect them through my art. Therefore I inspire for my work to have no language barrier. Art which people can enjoy universally, which connects people with different cultural or even religious backgrounds. Work which shows those who scream, but aren't heard.

Being the first generation in my family to have the chance of completing a Postgraduate course means a lot. It's an exciting yet scary moment in my life. Getting into the films school is an achievement in itself, and it's not just a film school - it's the NFTS.

I have always been a hard-worker, giving all my best and wanting to make my family proud. I am very grateful for them always supporting me and my dreams, despite how hard it can be. We only live once, and we have to make the most of it. With this I want to show them that they were right in believing in me.

I have always felt the need to be independent since I was 18. Since I got my first job working in a local takeaway during college and university. It wasn't easy, but even few hours were helpful. After graduation, whilst looking for jobs in the industry I took on more shifts at the Chinese Takeaway (serving customers, packing bags, cleaning windows, emptying the bin and mopping the floors). But was not successful at finding any job other than the takeaway. I believe the pandemic was a major reason I wasn't successful in the applications. Having to spend 50% of university on Zoom studying a course which is heavily practical gave me an empty portfolio. From a Film Production and Theatre course, all I mainly ended up with were essays.

However, I did not give up then. I started to reinvent my passion for film. And I played around with animation. It was something I could do alone, from my room with a phone and hand-made mini sets. The last year of university when the pandemic restrictions started to ease out, I began to experiment with animation. I feel in love with it.

Always being an artsy child, I felt like I discovered 'my thing'. I began to create independent work and develop a portfolio, but because I wasn't a recent-graduate anymore I wasn't eligible for many internships. I was stuck, not sure how to start and get my foot in the door.

Volunteering at NFTS was a great escape from the takeaway. I loved spending time helping on the projects. I got to help out in animation, live action, both on set and in preproduction. I have been volunteering since 2021 and am still continuing to do so, even after getting onto the course. I wish it was a paid job, but sadly it isn't. So I work at the Chinese Takeaway, trying to save money whilst financially supporting my parents in paying rent.

Being invited on to the NFTS Directing Animation MA course has been a blessing. I still cannot believe it myself. It has been a dream, but dreams come with a price. And that is when funding comes in. I reach out to you and ask for your kindness and generosity to support me in this time of need.

The funds will go towards the tuition fee for 1st and 2nd year of the NFTS Directing Animation MA course. Any help counts :)

To all of you that donated, I thank you thank you thank you a septillion stars!