YSJ London Network
Last week the Alumni and Fundraising team hosted the second YSJ London Network event. After a successful inaugural event last year at our London campus, we were excited to bring our London-based alumni back together and share alumni stories!
This year we moved the event to central London and placed a spotlight on our creative industries alumni. Hosting the event at The Green Man, Marylebone, alumni were invited to an evening of food, catching up with alumni, and a creative industries alumni panel.
3 generations of alumni
For the main event of the evening, Professor Robert Edgar welcomed back alumni Alasdair Beckett-King (Film and TV, Class of 2005), Ozzie Pullin (Film and TV, Class of 2011), and Tia Welsh (Creative Writing, Class of 2019). All three alumni have been taught by Rob over the years and shared their experience of studying at York St John.
Since leaving York St John, our three alumni panellists have crafted their creative careers in different ways. Alasdair studied at the London Film School where he won a Student Royal Television Award. Alasdair has appeared on BBC Mock the Week and has performed stand-up comedy at Glastonbury and Edinburgh Fringe.
In 2023, Alasdair published his first children’s book, Montgomery Bonbon: Murder at the Museum. The fourth book in the series, Sabotage at Sea, is due to be released in June 2025 and Alasdair is currently writing the fifth instalment in the series.
Ozzie graduated from York St John in 2011 and worked as a runner as well as directing music videos for artists such as Lewis Capaldi and Wolf Alice. Ozzie is also a commercial director and has directed commercials for English Heritage and, most recently, Barbour.
Graduating in 2019, Tia is a script reader, scripted development assistant and writer. During the panel, Tia discussed what it was like starting her career during the first UK lockdown in 2020. In the last 5 years, Tia has worked on shows such as The Gentleman, Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, and Eastenders. Tia also runs a script club called First Ten which is aimed towards nurturing blossoming writers and junior script writers.
To find out more about our panellists, visit the Alumination blog.
Creative connections
All panellists emphasised the need to take opportunities when they come and to actively seek them. Attending events, such as the YSJ London Network, is a great way to meet people in the industry and gain industry connections. A key message from the night was to be kind to others throughout your career and supporting others.
At the end of the evening, alumni enjoyed a buffet and connecting with alumni from the last 30 years. Alumni left with new friends as well as a few future creative collaborations.
We would like to thank everyone who booked and attended the YSJ London Network event. Whether you attended or not, we would love to hear your feedback on future networking events. Please take a couple of minutes to tell us what you would like to see at a future alumni event by completing our feedback form.
