No Small feat: Sauchie filmmaker wins best student film

Jonathan Payne entered his graduation film Small into the best drama category, with the winners of each category moving into the final.

Small, produced by Jonathan and fellow students, Sophie MacDonald and Laura Wiggett, won best drama at the initial awards, going on to win the best overall student production at the final RTS Awards.

On top of winning best drama, Small was also nominated for and subsequently won best sound for his production.

Jonathan said it was “surreal” to go on and win the award at the RTS ceremony with his final graduation project.

The 21-year-old added: “It was an amazing opportunity for us. We never dreamt that anything like this would happen.

“There were many instances when we thought the film wouldn’t be finished on time – everything went wrong at least once.

“So for us to be at the RTS Awards and hear your name be called out is definitely quite emotional.”

BEST STUDENT: Jonathan Payne's film Small won best drama, best student production and best sound at the RTS Awards. Pictures by Kirsty Anderson and Shonagh Kelly.

Small details the adventure of a boy who finds a mysterious village in the forest, inhabited by tiny villagers.

The boy takes it upon himself to protect the village, made up of houses the sizes of his hands, from an approaching storm.

Filmed in Oban, the film takes inspiration from Scottish children’s folklore stories and only required a small crew to complete.

Jonathan is a former Lornshill Academy pupil and went on to study at the Edinburgh College of Art.

Since graduating, Jonathan has now taken up a position at Screen Education Edinburgh, helping high school students discover a passion for filmmaking and informing them of the opportunities available to them.

“I’m going to be leading the Young Filmmakers Hub,” Jonathan added. “This hub is supported by the Sean Connery Foundation.

“Filmmaking is still a developing education in Scotland – it’s still not too accessible to people so this is a fantastic opportunity for young people.

“I only found out you could study film when I was 17 so this is about getting people involved in the industry from a younger age.

“A long-term goal would be having that same opportunity for people at Lornshill and wider Clackmannanshire. It would be absolutely massive.

“That’s something I’m always going to be striving for.”

BEST STUDENT: Jonathan Payne's film Small won best drama, best student production and best sound at the RTS Awards. Pictures by Kirsty Anderson and Shonagh Kelly.