A FORMER Oldham College student is taking a gap year from her degree to be a costume trainee on the set of Netfilx global hit The Crown.
Angel Marilia, 21, from Oldham, had completed the first year of her BA (Hons) Content, Media and Film Production at MetFilm School’s ScreenSpace when she got the opportunity to take on the position at Elstree Studios.
She said: “A friend saw the opportunity on the Arts Emergency website and thought I should apply, so I did.
“It was quite a long process, there was a long gap between stages, so long in fact that I had forgotten that I’d applied when the email came through telling me that I’d been shortlisted!
“There were 400 applicants, then narrowed down to 23 who were shortlisted, then narrowed down further to just three of us.
“The morning I actually received the email telling me I had been successful, I literally jumped out of bed and my first thought was to ring by best friend and share my good news.
“The news came the same week as my 21st birthday so it was a double celebration.”
The tutors at ScreenSpace were delighted with Angel’s opportunity and worked to enable her to take a year’s break to work on The Crown.
Dr Lisette Johnston, former BBC World News editor and now head of school at ScreenSpace, said: “We encourage our students to seek out work in industry, and while some students like Angel will pause their studies for a time, others benefit from working in production alongside their learning.
“In the past year we have had students who have travelled to Spain, Lithuania, Mexicoand the US to undertake paid work alongside their university studies.
“We want to be flexible and adaptable and allow those students to bring back what they have learned on set into the classroom and vice versa.”
Angel added: “I was at Oldham College, close to completing my course in Theatre Production, and I was impressed with ScreenSpace’s marketing, the quality of their videos on Instagram and their website. I just felt it was the place for me.
“I am really looking forward to returning to complete my studies next year.”
Long-term, Angel wants to make her own films, but she knows that costume will always play an important part of any project.
She said: “Costumes play a big part in any production, when you think about a film you’ve seen, you always remember a specific dress.
“That’s what’s been so good about ScreenSpace – it combines media, film and production and I’ve learnt the importance of storytelling.”
Angel will return to complete her degree in September 2022.