Ben Allan – Film Production student

A day in the life. Meet Ben Allan, a student at the University of Salford’s MediaCity campus. Ben is heading into his final year as a film production undergraduate. He describes his MediaCity life.

“You can get a film production degree anywhere, but the nice thing here is that you have all these other opportunities. Even with the pandemic, I made a documentary film about an Olympic coach, so I was going into MediaCity, popping to the equipment stores, having a coffee, doing an interview. You have to put the work in, to get the most out of it, but the opportunities are all there.

I’m from Belfast and it took me the first year to fall in love with Manchester and Salford. I started signing up for things and volunteered at Salford Pride, and I’m now its community engagement officer. I organised the Pink Picnic, got a grant for family activities and a dog show, someone from the BBC came down, and I did the videography. I was running around with a camera and it was great fun, but it also meant I got something for the showreel.

I just like being here. When the weather’s nice, just walking around, or going for a drink at the Dockyard after lectures. Every time I’m here I see someone I know, or I’ll see a BBC producer in Seven Brothers. It does feel like a community; like I’m part of this media scene. As for the future: I’d love to get a job, but I want to carry on making documentary films on the side, using the contacts I’ve made. It’d be the best of both worlds.”