The Rookie Awards was the springboard for my career in Visual Effects

The Rookie Awards was the springboard for my career in Visual Effects

Hi there, my name is Elliot Stammers, and I entered the Rookie Awards in its very first year in 2010 under the rigging TD category.

I was a runner up, I wasn’t first place, and that was enough to get me a two-month internship rigging at Double Negative Visual Effects in London, between my second and third year of study at Bournemouth University.

The impact of the awards for me was really significant. For starters, my reel was pretty much a generalist reel actually, and because I had won under the rigging TD category that really set the direction for where I was going. I realised that was probably the discipline that I was best at and the two-month internship at Double Negative taught me that I really enjoyed it as well.

Related Link: High School Student to Rookies Young Gun

By the end of those two months, Double Negative asked me if I wanted to stay on for a year and there was no way I was going to turn that down, so really The Rookies was the springboard for my career in visual effects.

If you’re thinking about entering The Rookies I would encourage you to absolutely do it, for me it was the start of my career and you never know what you might get, you may get an internship, you may get some prizes, it’s well worth trying even if it’s just for the feedback, just to find out how you’re doing.

I would really encourage you and to put a showreel together and get it up there.