2022: Improving industry

ScreenSkills continues to launch a range of e-learning courses to support people looking for a career in the screen industries as well as supporting every subsequent career stage. Getting into the Screen Industries offers a practical guide on how to take those crucial first steps, High-end TV Skills Fund’s From Script To Screen provides an overview on the development process and how TV gets made, while Work Well is specifically designed to support work-based health and well-being, adding further modules to the existing tackling bullying and harassment training.

Responding to direct needs of the industry, the High-end TV Skills Fund pilots training for access coordinators to support disabled talent and production crew and enable greater representation and opportunity for all. A second iteration of the programme, with training led by specialist providers TripleC, will start in October 2023 with its 12 participants receiving comprehensive training in addition to a paid placement on an high-end TV (HETV) production.

The Children’s TV Skills Fund launches Dream Big! with thinkBIGGER!. Aimed at new entrants from diverse backgrounds, the placement programme provides participants with job specific training as production coordinators or researchers, industry masterclasses, mentoring and personal development skills as well as a production placement.

Hand on heart, I can say my experience of the Dream Big! programme has been a fantastic one. From the initial boot camp with my cohort to working in studio on The World According to Grandpa with Grandpa Productions, it has been invaluable in not only kick starting my career within television, but also allowing me to build a career with valuable skills and experience that I simply didn’t have before.”

Read more: Production coordinator Elliot Booth on being part of the DreamBIG! programme

The convergence of cutting-edge technologies has made making feature films and high-end TV on virtual production stages a reality. The rapidly evolving field has seen new career paths open up and ScreenSkills respond by improving awareness, knowledge and opening up new possibilities.

The Film and HETV Skills Funds invest in developing standards and training programmes to support freelancers in this fast-growing sector, partnering with pioneers in virtual production (VP) to explore the emerging roles. A three part webinar series is produced with leading experts, open day visits to studios allow people to view the latest technology and a host of online resources help demystify the world of VP. The Funds committed to invest £200,000 in training for more than 300 industry professionals.