Life at the City of Oxford College
Reflecting on his time at , Jack said the relationships he made there are still strong today: "It was great, I really enjoyed it. I'm still very close to the people that were in my class.
Jack Smith completed his at the City of Oxford College and University Centre in 2021.
“The course was fantastic, and the teachers were exceptional, and I still run scripts by my old college script writing tutor,” he added.
He credits the course for providing a unique learning environment that wasn't solely theory-based. Instead, it offered freedom and opportunities for experimentation in a safe space where mistakes were accepted as part of the process.
"College was quite a unique experience. I learned so much more through the experience of making mistakes and learning from them," Jack added.
College highlights
Jack’s most memorable moment from college was the end of year awards his tutor, Gary Force, held for the class.
“I won the ‘Best Director’ award and some of my friends won awards, too. It was a special moment and really nice that Gary did those things to bring us together and recognise our achievements,” he said.
“Another moment was in my second year, when we had a project to make a . I had this crazy idea to do it all in one shot, so we went for it and did a massive shoot in the middle of Oxford.
“I was walking down the street with the music blaring and felt like a bit of an idiot. But we made it happen and I was so happy with the result.”
This is still the project that Jack is most proud of, especially as after showing it to his parents it made them realise he could really make a career out of it.
“I'd told my parents that this is what I want to do, I want to be a filmmaker. I think they didn’t really know what that would look like, as a career.
“When I showed them this music video on the TV, my dad said he’d never really thought anything of this before, but seeing the video made him realise it’s something I can go and do and be successful.”
Life after college
Post-college, Jack decided to pursue a degree in film production at the .
“I decided University was the best place for me to kickstart my career in filmmaking, by moving to a new place, start networking in a place where there’s a lot going on in the creative scene.
“I’m now in my final year at university and working on my graduate film, , which is a big project equivalent to a dissertation.
“After that, I plan on doing a film festival circuit, and then secure a job in the industry.
He emphasized the importance of work experience opportunities during his time at college and university:
"Doing work experience helped open up options for me. One of the work experience coordinators at the college helped me get some great opportunities to work with different companies.”
Proudest achievement
Jack shared some of his proudest moments since attending college. His films have received awards and nominations at film festivals.
“I’ve been to two or three film festivals for a film called , which we shot last summer. It was our first real crack at self-funding an independent film, so I’m really pleased with that.
“I just won two awards at Student World Impact Film Festival for a film that I made during a work experience with the University of Oxford that I got through the college.
“It was an opportunity where we had three weeks to produce a creative for their AI department, so of course I chose to make a short film,” he added.
Advice to college leavers
Jack advocates for networking and emphasizes its critical role in the creative industry. He shared his words of advice for other college leavers, about to embark on their next steps.
He said: “If you’re going to university, make sure it’s the right thing for you and that you’re doing it for the right reasons.
“I decided to go to university to gain some independence, be in a new place with new opportunities, and to network and gain contacts.
“I was speaking to one of my contacts the other day, who is an industry director, and she gave me some great advice that really stuck with me that I’d like to pass on.
“She told me everyone says it's not what you know, it's who you know, but really, it's not who you know, it's who knows you.”