Former Neath College student Nathan Davies is flourishing as a filmmaker and photographer as he travels all over the world.
The former A Level Film Studies, Photography, Psychology and English student returned to college last week to speak to some of our Creative, Visual and Performing Arts students about his work. Nathan works as a freelance filmmaker and photographer and works with some of the world’s biggest athletes in sports like UFC.
Nathan has had his work shown all over the world but for him, the most exciting places his work has been shown are Madison Square Garden in New York and the O2 Arena in London.
“I made an ad for TimeX that played to 20,000 people which is a milestone for me. My content being played in the O2 Arena is cool as well. Seeing my work in these kinds of places is amazing, it’s gone from my mum being the only one seeing my work to then a bunch of people across the world seeing – it’s really nice.”
Coming out of school, Nathan was anxious and unsure about his future career, but he feels Neath College was the perfect place for him to open up and start to experiment and explore things. Originally, Nathan didn’t choose Film Studies but, after appearing in one of his friend’s short films he made the decision to study it and has never looked back.
Nathan said: “I really enjoyed it, I found it so fun and in the college, there are so many different things going on which allow you to gain experience and if I didn’t take Film Studies A Level, I wouldn’t be where I am today. Film Studies is where I put the foundations down for my career, working on lots of different projects inside and outside of college and it allowed me the opportunity to learn from my mistakes and improve, trial and error.”
Nathan told us that his Film Studies lecturers helped him so much during his time at college and created a wonderful environment in which he could develop, and he would like to thank them for believing in him.
After leaving college, Nathan was lucky enough to have the opportunity to travel around the world, undertaking videography for a cruise travel agency. The opportunity was given to him by one of his former lecturers at the college, Lisa James. This allowed him to gain a lot of experience.
We spoke to Lisa about her experiences of teaching Nathan:
“It was obvious from the start that Nathan had a talent for filming and editing, but he has worked incredibly hard at developing this skill and has turned his passions into an amazing career. I am extremely proud of all that Nathan has achieved and wish him all the best with his future endeavours. It’s great to see former students succeed in their chosen fields, and it’s an honour to follow Nathan’s progress.”
In 2019, Nathan had the opportunity to go to Florida to work with some UFC athletes like Kamaru Usmanas.
“I went over there, and l had impostor syndrome, as I was a student at university at this stage, but it is incredibly important to get out of your comfort zone and try lots of different things.”
Nathan’s experiences at Neath College have helped shape the person he is today, he had this to say to anyone thinking of joining the college:
“I would recommend students to come and study in Neath College, it’s been an integral part of my life. It helped me come out of my shell, helped me with interpersonal skills and also gave me the environment to be able to explore and find the thing that I really wanted to do. It’s the perfect place to be able to lay those integral foundations to be able to grow and set you up for a successful career.”
If you would like to follow in the footsteps of Nathan, then why not check out our Creative, Visual and Performing Arts courses.
