She co-wrote First World War epic 1917 which earned her a string of awards as well as her first Oscar nomination.
Screenwriter Krysty Wilson-Cairns has now swapped genres and is working on a new Star Wars movie with Oscar-winning director Taika Waititi.
Now the Glaswegian is to be honoured where it all began with an honorary doctorate from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland at the online summer graduation.
Around 300 students will graduate across the disciplines of music, drama, dance, production and film at the nation’s conservatoire, named one of the world’s top three destinations to study the performing arts in the QS World University Rankings earlier this year.
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With restrictions on large public gatherings and student and staff safety as the priority, RCS has worked with the RCS Students’ Union to create a special day of celebration.
Ms Wilson-Cairns’s honorary doctorate (Doctor of Film) will recognise her outstanding achievements in film in a career that has taken her from Glasgow’s south side to Hollywood. The degree will be conferred under Covid guidelines as a pre-recorded segment that will be shown during the three livestream ceremonies.
Since graduating from the Digital Film and Television programme at RCS in 2009, now the BA Filmmaking degree. She co-wrote World War One epic and box office smash 1917 with director Sam Mendes that scooped a string of awards including seven BAFTAs, two Golden Globes and three Oscars along with an Oscar nomination in the Original Screenplay category.
Krysty Wilson-Cairns will receive honorary doctorate from the RCS
Professor Jeffrey Sharkey, Principal of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, said: “Krysty Wilson-Cairns is an inspiration to students here at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
“It has been wonderful to watch her career skyrocket, taking her from Glasgow to Hollywood with so many remarkable achievements along the way, including her first Oscar nomination that we’re sure won’t be her last. This honorary doctorate is a tribute to an exceptionally talented and dedicated artist who we are proud to call one of our own.”
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The psychological thriller, Last Night in Soho which she co-wrote with director Edgar Wright, will be in cinemas in October starring Dame Diana Rigg, Matt Smith and Terence Stamp.
Ms Wilson-Cairns credits her studies at RCS for ‘opening her eyes’ to her future career: “RCS didn’t just prepare me for my career, it showed me what my career could be. It gave me my career. I had no idea I wanted to or in fact, even could be a screenwriter before I was set that first writing task for the class. That was the eureka moment.”
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