On the back of its 25th anniversary, 2025 marked a further year of achievement for the Film Skills Fund. Since January, the Fund has received £1,910,538.46 in contributions from 67 productions, a record total for a calendar year.
The year also saw changes in the Fund’s personnel. Head of UK Physical Production at Warner Bros, Sarah-Jane Wright, took over as Chair of the Film Skills Fund Council, having been a long-time council member. She was joined by Tori Parry, Head of Production at Film4, as Deputy Chair.
Wright took the reins as Chair following the departure of Anita Overland, who helmed the Council for four years.
Festivals and awards
Among the contributing productions were a range of titles that received their premieres at international film festivals. In May, Urchin, Pillion and My Father’s Shadow each played at Cannes, with members of the ScreenSkills film team in attendance forming new industry connections and cementing existing relationships.
A further 15 Fund contributing productions were selected to play at October’s London Film Festival, with Hamnet, Bugonia and closing night gala 100 Nights of Hero, among them.
The year was bookmarked by award ceremonies, with Fund contributors receiving awards at both February’s BAFTAs and the BIFAs in November. Conclave and Kneecap were both awarded with BAFTAs, with a further 10 contributing productions receiving nominations. Pillion was the night’s big winner at the BIFAs, picking up four awards at a ceremony that also saw wins for fellow contributors My Father’s Shadow, Lollipop, Ish, Harvest and A Want in Her.
Providing Placements
In addition to paying in to the Fund, a number of these productions offered placements to those on Fund supported training programmes, offering vital on-the-job learning opportunities for every stage of a career in film.
A total of 23 productions welcomed new entrants onto set in 2025 through the Trainee Finder programme, offering 54 placements to those taking their first steps in the industry. Mid-level professionals looking to step up were supported through the Make a Move initiative, which in 2025, enabled 36 candidates to work at a more senior level on 29 productions.
Further skills transfer programmes helped architects move into the art department and account professionals transfer into a new environment through tailored training and workplace placements on Urchin and On Falling.
A job share initiative in partnership with the HETV Skills Fund, offered improved flexibility to the workforce, enabling those with caring responsibilities, outside commitments or returning to work navigate working life by sharing a role with another, equally experienced professional.
- Trainee Finder: 23 productions, 54 placements across 516.6 weeks, funding totalling £253,833.08
- Make A Move: 29 productions, 36 placements across 546 weeks, funding totalling £307,800.87
- Job Share: 2 productions, 3 job shares, 54.8 weeks, funding totalling £22,522.00
Training and opportunities
At the heart of Fund activity was the training opportunities developed to support those at every stage of their careers.
2025 saw an evolution of the Film Forward inclusion programme, developed in partnership with The Adobe Foundation and designed specifically to support deaf, disabled and neurodivergent mid-level film professionals working in post-production departments. The programme matched five candidates with paid placements at one of four supporting companies; Final Pixel, Bild Studios, Molinare and Framestore and provided tailored career coaching to support them to step-up to a more senior role.
Daniel Templeton received a four-week placement with post-production company Molinare through the programme. He said: “Programmes like Film Forward are important and fantastic springboards for the workforce because its gives people hope and confidence that their neurodiverse traits and styles of thinking can become invaluable skills and assets to a team and allows them to grow and develop their talents as well as develop the company and to feel they have a purpose and be part of something meaningful.”
The BIFA Springboard programme, delivered in partnership with Prime, provided candidates with guided training, networking opportunities and one-to-one mentorship to help build the skillset to advance their producing careers.
Blaise Singh was one of those to take part in the programme. He said: “Being part of BIFA Springboard has been a game-changer for me as a producer. The mentorship, finance insights, and career development sessions have given me the clarity and confidence to take my work to the next level. The programme helped me refine my approach as well as connected me with invaluable industry relationships. Highly recommended for any producer looking to build a sustainable career.”
A first time feature producer programme, delivered by training provider Mission Accomplished, provided practical advice across the production process from development through to sales and distribution.
Prospective producers were further offered insight through a webinar with Oscar-winning producer David Parfitt. He spoke to executive producer Lincia Daniel about his five-decades long career and passed on advice to those looking to develop their own careers in the role.
A range of programmes and courses co-funded with the HETV Skills Fund opened doors to learning for those working across the screen sector. The introduction to VP supervisor and VP taster days for trainees invited participants to discover the advancing technologies at the centre of so many working productions.
These were supported by AI training for production roles in scripted content, ensuring the workforce has access to the foundational learning in this technology and to develop the tools to use it across various departments.
Further insight was provided by filmmaker Simon Ball, whose demystifying AI webinar saw him share his experience of using AI in filmmaking and how AI can be applied practically to the filmmaking process. The webinar gave a brief history of AI image generation, its potential to contribute to filmmaking and how AI can work hand-in-hand with creative thinking in filmmaking.
Elsewhere, Inside Pictures 2025 was an international film and television business development programme, delivered by the National Film and Television School. A course for the guiding principles of departmental budgeting gave candidates a functional overview of the budgeting essentials while new entrants were offered early career support through a tailored CV building programme.