Omar's story video transcript

Omar Soomro, Film graduate:

One of the biggest challenges for creatives is finding the right avenue for expression.

[Omar sets up a film camera next to a studio light]

You've got all this vision and things you're trying to say and it's just finding the right way to say it.

[Omar is in a film editing suite with multiple computer screens showing editing software]

During my time at Derby, I was fortunate to find that film was the avenue for me, creatively it was the perfect mix. During my studies I took opportunities and said yes to new things.

[In a film clip, a woman falls to the floor in a living room. A scary man looks through hole in a wall]

Things I would never have got to do outside of University, like shooting promos in Malta or the Portugal and Cannes film festivals.

[A bay lined with palm trees and apartment buildings. Boats bob in the blue water]

And then winning The Best in Brief at the NAHEMI Kodak Student Commercial Awards - that was one of the best experiences I had at University.

[A clip from Omar's award-winning film, Sweet Sensation. It's snowing. A smiling woman in a warm coat opens up a box and is flung through a snow drift. She finds herself in beach wear on a tropical beach. She is delighted]

As a graduate, I landed a role as a camera trainee on the Netflix show Sex Education and, since then, I got to work on The Crown and other high-end BBC and Netflix shows. I'm proud of who I've become, what I've achieved and my future in the film industry.

[Omar looks through the viewfinder of his camera]

Now it's your turn.

Omar's story video

Back to Omar