Ex-Bethlehem College student Flynn Harris takes $72,000 scholarship for US

Ex-Bethlehem college student Flynn Harris will head to Los Angeles next month. Photo / George Novak

Ex-Bethlehem College student Flynn Harris wrote and put on his first play at the age of 5.

The performance was based on two Tyrannosaurus rex and their bid to save their dinosaur friends - an early sign that Harris's future in the arts would be bright.

Thirteen years on, Harris has scored himself a scholarship worth more than $70,000 for the New York Film Academy in Los Angeles.

Not only that, he said he was the only international student to have received the talent-based scholarship.

Harris will start at the school next month studying a Bachelor of Fine Arts, majoring in filmmaking and screenwriting.

Coincidently, his first day of class lands on his 19th birthday.

He said he had "lived and breathed" the performing arts from a young age and had always been drawn to it.

If his school was not putting on a production, Harris would simply write his own, cast for it, make the costumes and props and put it on himself.

This keen attitude was picked up quickly and Harris was awarded a scholarship to a performing arts school in Australia at the age of 13. He spent a year there before coming back to Tauranga.

In his final year of school, Harris began teaching film classes and taking holiday workshops for intermediate-aged students.

His drama teacher at Bethlehem College, Linda Anderson, said she couldn't think of anyone more deserving of the opportunity.

When asked his reaction when finding out he had been awarded the huge scholarship, Harris said with a laugh: "I didn't even know I'd applied for it."

Harris had sent his application in with 20 minutes of performance footage without realising his support co-ordinator had also put him forward.

He said when he received the email confirming the scholarship win, he was left "confused" and thought it had been a "misclick".

He then waited a gruelling two hours before he got the news that it was in fact his and the confusion quickly turned to excitement.

Out of 20,000 applicants for the prestigious school, only 100 per course get in. Big names such as Chris Hemsworth have attended the academy.

There are two other New York Film Academies, in Brisbane and Italy. None of the academies are actually based in New York.

Harris said he was excited to get to study in a budding filmmaker's ideal city.

The school worked in collaboration with Los Angeles' Universal Studios and students were able to make films on the studio's backlots, he said.

He said this would include using the sets of shows and films like Desperate Housewives and Back To The Future.

The scholarship would cover the most part of Harris's studies costs for the three-year duration of the course.

He leaves for the United States next month.