Support to complete a film degree
The Kieran Ricketts Scholarship in Film and Screen Media supports an undergraduate student experiencing financial disadvantage to complete a Bachelor of Film and Screen Media Production degree at Griffith Film School.
Key points
Targeted to
Bachelor of Film and Screen Media Production students
Value
$27,000 and the opportunity for an internship with the ABC
Level of study
Undergraduate
Apply by
4pm Monday 10 March 2025
Scholarship details
To be eligible, you must:
- be an Australian citizen
- be applying for admission to the Bachelor of Film and Screen Media Production (1284) at the Griffith Film School
- commence study in 2025
- not have commenced any university study previously
- demonstrate financial disadvantage by either:
- being in receipt of a means-tested Commonwealth income support payment
- a comprehensive assessment by the University
You can apply for this scholarship via our application process.
Application information
We use the following sections of the application to consider you for this scholarship:
Study details
- Secondary education history.
- Program preferences: Show you have chosen Bachelor of Film and Screen Media Production.
Personal background
- Income and expenditure.
- Scholarships (Note: priority will be given to students who are not in receipt of any other scholarship funding).
- Circumstances.
This information is relevant to the selection process.
Personal statements
- Career goals and aims: Please provide a statement about yourself and your ambitions.
- Challenge(s) experienced: Provide a statement detailing your personal and financial circumstances that have the potential to impact your studies at Griffith University.
Supporting documentation
You must upload the following in the supporting documentation section:
- Centrelink statements or other documents demonstrating financial hardship.
Please upload the following formats only: PDF, Word, JPEG or Excel. We cannot guarantee other formats will be accepted
Eligible applicants will be contacted to provide an additional statement addressing the following:
- Please discuss your response to Kieran's story and the background to the scholarship.
- How would you use the money? Elaborate on your financial situation.
- What would you like to be doing when you graduate?
- What stories do you want to tell? Why do you want to tell these stories?
- Tell us more about your film and video making/storytelling experience before coming to GFS.
Shortlisted applicants may be requested to attend an interview.
Value
The maximum value of the scholarship is $27,000, paid in instalments of $4,500 are made in Trimesters 1 and 2, provided conditions are met, up to the maximum value of the scholarship or minimum duration of the degree, whichever is the lesser.
An additional benefit is the opportunity of an internship with the ABC. The internship is offered with no expectation of employment, however what you do with this opportunity and what it may evolve into, is up to you.
Payment
Payments are made up to six weeks after the census date, subject to meeting the ongoing terms and conditions.
To remain eligible for the scholarship, recipients will be required to:
- be enrolled full time each trimester in the Bachelor of Film and Screen Media Production at the Griffith Film School
- maintain a GPA 5 or above
- continue to meet the financial hardship criteria (documents may be required).
The above conditions are verified each trimester at census date. If a scholarship recipient fails to successfully meet these conditions, scholarship payments may be withheld, or the scholarship may be terminated.
The recipient must be willing to have his/her name and photo published in promotions for this scholarship and the Griffith Film School.
The recipient must also be willing to attend an event to meet the donor.
The scholarship cannot be deferred. The recipient must commence studies in the year the scholarship is awarded.
Applications, including any supporting documentation, must be completed and submitted by the closing date.
Applicants may be shortlisted and be required to provide additional information and requested to attend an interview.
Offers are made via email.
Griffith University reserves the right to withdraw an advertised scholarship at any time.
About Kieran
This scholarship honours Mr Kieran Ricketts (1982–2019), who was a highly regarded and accomplished alumnus of Griffith Film School.
The scholarship ensures the talent, passion and creativity for storytelling that Kieran Ricketts possessed is fostered and valued in other gifted students.
Kieran’s tragic death in 2019 has reverberated through and changed his family’s, friends’ and colleagues’ lives. All have been touched with his humility, empathy and humour, as well as his enthusiasm and passion for life.
He generously shared his talents with other like-minded people and patiently mentored anyone who asked for help. He inspired others and enthusiastically embraced new technologies and all they had to offer.
Kieran’s bar was set way beyond any ordinary person and this brought many difficulties to his mental health. This remained a constant throughout his high school, university and career life. Kieran’s family hope this scholarship will help likeminded students to alleviate some of the financial and psychological pressures Kieran struggled with.
Kieran was born in Lismore NSW and was educated and lived in Tweed Heads NSW for his formative years. After leaving school, he worked for two years to raise funds to attend university. In 2003 he commenced a Bachelor of Film and TV Production degree at Griffith University. After completing one semester, he found the financial and psychological stresses that university life brought overwhelming and worked full time while attempting a part-time load, even though he was oozing with talent and enthusiasm.
In 2004 he reluctantly returned to Tweed Heads and worked in retail to support himself. For a creative and talented person, this was soul destroying. Then in 2006 as a mature student, Kieran took a big step financially and emotionally to return to Griffith. He enrolled in a Bachelor of Communication degree majoring in Film and Media Studies and Screen Production. With maturity and determination, he maintained a high GPA throughout his degree. He immersed himself in many of the opportunities that the University provided and was awarded a Griffith Award for Academic Excellence in 2008–2009.
In the final semester of his degree, Kieran secured his first job in the industry on a ground-breaking new show called Hungry Beast and was selected from more than one thousand applicants. The creator of the show stated Kieran stood out for two reasons: his show reel was polished and imaginative, and he clearly wanted to be the best in his craft. He worked on Hungry Beast for two seasons and then a career in the new TV channel NEWS 24 in its debut year continued on from this.
He worked his way through the ABC gaining experience and eventually took on the massive role of Digital Executive Producer of all of the ABC’s current affairs programs. At the end of 2016, he left the ABC to pursue a more creative life. He immersed himself in writing and performing music, screenplays and creating online news commentaries. At the time of his death, he had returned to the ABC to develop and produce a new program that told stories about Australia in an innovative way.
Gaven Morris, Director of News for the ABC said in Kieran’s eulogy:
“He had a determination for justice… for the voiceless. He was a passionate storyteller of stories that needed to be told. Kieran somehow knew how to tell them in a way that connected with today’s audiences. Every fibre of his being wanted to make the ABC better, to move us along and to do it now. Simply, he saw things differently to the way the rest of us see things. His passion, vision, energy and enthusiasm for all that he did, and all those he loved bursts from him.”
In his last year of high school he was asked, how do you want to change the world? Kieran replied, “I don’t want to. I want to add to it.”
Noticing details that others didn’t, telling real people’s stories, adding to the world, making it richer—this was what he wanted to achieve out of life.
His family hope the recipient of this scholarship will be able to continue his legacy with a little help from Kieran’s scholarship.
If you are having thoughts of suicide or know someone who is, it is important to support and assist them in contacting help.
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