ScreenSkills invites training providers or industry professionals to tender for new training designed to address skills shortages and gaps and to help build a more inclusive workforce in High-end TV and Film.
Training for the UK high-end TV industry is supported by the ScreenSkills High-end TV Skills Fund (with contributions from productions companies, broadcasters and SVoDs in the UK). Continuing professional development for the UK film industry is supported by the ScreenSkills Film Skills Fund (FSF) with contributions from film productions in the UK.
The High-end TV Skills Fund & Film Skills Fund are looking for an organisation or individual/s who can design and run a training programme for virtual production Introduction to becoming a VP supervisor.
At the end of the training, ScreenSkills will endeavour to source funded short shadowing placements for one week for some members of the cohort.
Who can apply?
ScreenSkills welcomes applications from individuals, partnerships or organisations that have a proven track record of delivering successful industry-standard training projects.
We particularly welcome applications from providers based in the UK nations and regions, including partnerships between organisations and/or in partnership with freelancers who have worked in VFX, games and production roles in HETV & Film.
The successful applicant will need to demonstrate their understanding of HETV and Film training requirements, including the diversity challenges facing the industry and must clearly demonstrate that they have the resources to track the career progression of participants beyond the life of the programme.
If applicants are already delivering similar training and can expand their offer to include the scope outlined below, they are also welcomed to apply.
Applicants must:
- demonstrate evidence of appropriate, recent engagement with the industry in the design and delivery of the programme
- meet critical diversity aims as outlined in this tender, including:
- making reasonable adjustments to the training (whether face-to-face, content or online and including during the application process) to make it accessible to a diverse audience – we will ask for evidence of your approach and implementation.
- having an equality policy in place as an employer
- having a monitoring system in place to track the diversity of the delegates, see this guide
- providing diversity and inclusivity training to facilitators – (see free ACAS online training)
- gather long-term destination data from the delegates to prove impact of training utilising the ScreenSkills monitoring questionnaire
- develop a clear structure for the training, ensuring that it is outcome focused
- discuss and agree with those taking part in the programme that they will provide feedback on the training if requested which could include providing ScreenSkills with a quote on their experience of the training.
Key requirements
The applicant must design, manage, market, recruit, and deliver training for 12 participants.
The HETV and Film Skills Funds are interested in hearing interpretations of how this programme can be best delivered to reach this audience and how the training will be effective in giving them a better understanding of how virtual production technologies work within this role.
This is a programme for a cohort of 8 HETV professionals and 4 film professionals.
The emphasis of the sessions should be professionals wanting to become VP supervisors in virtual production and how different departments work and operate in HETV & film for virtual production. The group will consist of freelancers working in mid to senior roles in VFX, postproduction background and/or those from a physical production background in HETV or film.
There would be two main parts to the training which each group will get taught separately. The content will be adapted for the group attending.
Part 1 – an online session looking at the role of a VP supervisor with relevant case studies on a HETV & film production:
- working as a VP supervisor and crewing a VP team
- budgeting and workflows as a VP supervisor for a HETV and film production
Part 2 – followed by 1x or 2x day in-person session at a virtual production studio
- introduction to virtual production in studio as a VP supervisor
- working with tech teams, stage operators, Unreal Engine team in studio.
Please note that we are exploring a pilot for a placement element for some members of the cohort. The training provider will be expected to create a ‘cohort booklet’ during the programme.
The HETV and Film Skills Funds are interested in hearing interpretations of how this programme can be delivered and encourage applicants to recommend further topic areas to enhance this training. The ScreenSkills’ Skills Checklists may be helpful.
The training provider will also be required to refer to and educate on the Screenskills research for the virtual production competencies on the website for the training course materials.
We expect that this training should be delivered by no later than 31/03/2026.
Participant aims
The training should be for a minimum of 12 participants based across the UK and should target:
- 8 HETV freelancers 4 film freelancers
The following are the minimum diversity aims for this programme:
- At least 50 – 60% of beneficiaries based outside London (nations and regions aim)
- 10 - 30% minority ethnic (ethnicity aim)
- 45 - 55% women (gender aim)
- 12 - 20% disabled (disability aim)
- 25 – 40% lower social economic background (social inclusion aim)
ScreenSkills aims to go beyond legal diversity requirements and considers additional measures of inclusivity, including:
- Caring responsibilities
- Whether a person is returning to work following leave
- Sexual orientation and gender identity: lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans
- Age & religion
Providing access to diverse crew and talent is key to our delivery objectives. All trainers and companies delivering programmes that are funded by the Skills Funds must meet the identified diversity requirements. If they fail to do so, they must show robust evidence of why a target has not been met. If diversity targets are not met, the project could be at risk of losing funding.
We require all Skills Fund-funded programme participants to set up a ScreenSkills profile via our website which allows us to gather data and track beneficiaries.
Participants must complete their profile and diversity data before the training begins.
How to apply
At this stage we are requesting an expression of interest. Please complete this brief document outlining the key aspects of the proposed programme, how the key requirements of the training sessions will be met, information about the company and the provider’s capacity to deliver training.
If you have access requirements and would like an alternative way to submit your application, or would like any support in completing the expression of interest form, please email emily.gunn @screenskills.com who will be happy to help.
How much can you apply for?
We are looking for bids of up to £60,000. Additional placement opportunities will be funded on top. All our funds are treated as grants and therefore are not applicable for VAT.
Deadlines
All expressions of interest should be sent directly to emily.gunn@screenskills.com via the 'register interest' button below by Friday 11 July 2025.
Please save your completed form with this naming convention: ‘EOI – HETV & Film Introduction to becoming a VP Supervisor’
If you are successful in being shortlisted, you will be required to submit an online application form and a budget. The deadline for full applications is Friday 1 August 2025 and applicants will be notified of a decision by Friday 15 August 2025.
Other useful information
If you progress to full application, we will expect you to detail your plans for ensuring the programme and application process are accessible including, but not limited to, alternative application formats, marketing and the delivery of training.
As part of accessibility, we expect your budget to include a reasonable bursary allocation for delegates who risk being excluded due to costs including, but not limited to, travel and caring responsibilities.
Please ensure that, where applicable, costs are shown in your budget inclusive of VAT.
If you would like to discuss any aspect of this tender, or your proposal, before submitting your Expression of Interest, please contact emily.gunn@screenskills.com.