KATE Herron, a writer and director who studied at the University for the Creative Arts (UCA) has been named as one of Screen International’s ‘Stars of Tomorrow’.

Kate Herron, who graduated in 2009 with a BA (in film production, beat off stiff competition to make the list. Former stars include Oscar-winner Eddie Redmayne and ‘Twilight’ lead Robert Pattinson.

“Since graduating, I’ve made a number of short films, collaborating with film- makers I met while studying for my degree and comedians I knew outside of that,” she said. “These shorts allowed me to get better at my job and build up my reputation as a film-maker – and I played at film festivals such as Palm Springs, Encounters, London Short Film Festival and Flickerfest. These shorts also won me a place on the LOCO London Comedy Film Festival with Sky Comedy mentor scheme, on which I made my short ‘Rest Stop’, which went on to win the Grand Prize for Best Comedy at Flickers Rhode Island Film Festival.

“I am just about to direct a new project for BBC3 and Idris Elba’s Green Door Pictures, which I am really excited about and I’m busy getting my features sorted too. I have one that’s a sci-fi comedy set during an alien invasion at a beauty pageant in Woking and another that’s a feature adaptation of ‘Rest Stop’. I am also in the early stages of writing a film noir set in a nudist camp and have a short film, ‘Fan Girl’, currently on the festival circuit, which has just been nominated for the Grand Prix at Encounters Film Festival.”