A Roxburgh Park teenager who overcame bullying to win a prestigious state government award says he found solace in immersing himself in filmmaking.
Hayden Layton, 19, dropped out of school in year 8, following years of bullying. The teenager said he felt that he had no choice but to leave school as his self-esteem hit an all time low.
But now Layton is a budding film producer and on May 9, he accepted the AustralianSuper Career Kick Start award as part of the Victorian Young Achiever awards.
Layton was nominated by his work peers for the award and was one of five winners across the nation.
He said he was thrilled to win the award.
“When I saw the people I was up against I couldn’t believe I had won,” he said. “There were just so many talented people nominated.”
At 15 years of age, he joined Youthworx Media, an organisation that offers education, training and employment to help disadvantaged young people develop pathways to careers in photography, filmmaking and the media.
It was there that he began learning all he could about filmmaking and where he completed his accredited media training.
By the time he was 16 he was employed by two production companies.
In 2011, he was also presented with an award by Cate Blanchett for a short documentary film he produced as part of an Oasis short film competition hosted by the Salvation Army.
Layton is now working on a TV series called
North, which explores life in the northern suburbs and is set to screen later this year.
Melissa Cunningham
