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The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Media officially relaunched last night at its highly anticipated Annual Reception. The event, which took place at the House of Commons, attracted over 200 key figures from the creative industries, media regulators and members from both Houses of Parliament, who gathered to network and discuss the sector’s prosperity and expansion.
Netflix and Warner Bros. are partnering with the screen industry body ScreenSkills on an innovative pilot programme to enable more people to join the film and TV industries through an apprenticeship.
Twenty people aspiring to work in film and television will be trained as broadcast production assistants and as production accountants in the programme which is being supported by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.
The ScreenSkills Apprenticeship Programme pilot has been devised to help unlock millions of pounds of Apprenticeship Levy funds for the booming screen industries. All businesses with a pay roll of £3 million or more pay the Apprenticeship Levy to support apprenticeships across all industries.
However, this system, introduced in 2017, requires apprentices to be employed by a single employer for a minimum of a year. As film and television productions can rarely offer continuous 12-month employment, the ScreenSkills pilot scheme aims to find a solution to this challenge. Production accountants and broadcast production assistants have been identified as roles in high demand where apprenticeship standards have been developed or adapted for screen.
ScreenSkills will employ the apprentices, organise their training and arrange for them to do industry placements with Netflix and across the WarnerMedia group, including Warner Bros. and HBO, after initial training to prepare them to be “set-ready” for their placements.
Recruitment will start shortly, with apprentices commencing their placements in the summer. Applications will be particularly encouraged by individuals from groups currently under-represented in the screen industries. Additional qualifications beyond GCSEs in maths and English will not be a requirement.
It is expected the apprentices will have the opportunity to work on multiple productions. Warner Bros. productions filming in the UK in 2020 include The Batman, Fantastic Beasts 3 and season two of Pennyworth. HBO shows filming in the UK this year include The Nevers. Netflix productions include The Crown, Bridgerton and The Witcher.
At the conclusion of the pilot, it will be assessed based on completion, pass and satisfaction rates of the apprentices, satisfaction of the companies providing placements, and the financial and practical sustainability of the model.
The ScreenSkills Apprenticeship Programme pilot was announced today by Culture Secretary Nicky Morgan, with Education Secretary Gavin Williamson, on visits to Warner Bros. De Lane Lea, the Oscar and BAFTA-award winning post-production facility in Soho, London, and to HyperActive Broadcast’s flagship post-production facility, also in Soho, to view editing of Netflix’s award-winning production of The Crown.
Baroness Morgan said: "The creative industries are one of the UK's biggest success stories and play a pivotal role in shaping how the rest of the world sees us. I hope this new pilot scheme will give young people from all backgrounds the chance to gain experience at the forefront of our vibrant screen sectors, inspiring future careers and helping to secure the sustained growth of the industry for years to come."
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said: “It’s absolutely fantastic to see global companies like Netflix and Warner Bros. investing in apprenticeships to help young people pursue exciting careers in TV and film.
“Britain’s creative industries are a huge success at home and abroad. This innovative partnership will provide the opportunity for apprentices to gain the skills they need to get ahead in the industry while working on major productions.
“We recognise that more needs to be done to make sure the TV and film industry are able to take full advantage of the apprenticeship system including the levy. This scheme will also help test how we can support them to generate the skilled workforce they are crying out for.”
Josh Berger, President and MD Warner Bros. Entertainment UK and Ireland and Chair, BFI, said: “This pilot is part of our ongoing commitment to creating opportunities and avenues for new diverse voices to enter the entertainment industry during this continued period of growth in UK film and television production. Apprentices already make a valuable contribution across our businesses and by partnering in this pilot we hope to identify a long-term, sustainable solution for the whole production industry to work with the Apprenticeship Levy.”
Anne Mensah, Vice President Original Series at Netflix, said: “This is an incredibly exciting time for UK film and television and we are proud to partner with DCMS, ScreenSkills and Warner Bros. on this important pilot, as we work to unlock and champion opportunities for everyone, across the industry.”
Seetha Kumar, Chief Executive of ScreenSkills, said: “The screen industries are paying millions into the current apprenticeship system, but the freelance and project-based nature of much of the work makes it difficult for all these funds to be used. We hope this imaginative trial will stress-test how best to use the funds to train the workers our sector so desperately needs.”
Individuals who are interested can find out more on the ScreenSkills website.
Production accountants and broadcast production assistants have been chosen as roles in high demand and where apprenticeship standards have been developed or can be adapted from those for other industries. There are many job roles in the screen industries where no apprenticeship standard has been developed because they are principally freelance positions where it is difficult to place the apprentice with a single employer for the minimum 12 months currently required. Production schedules mean it is not always possible for workers to go straight from one production to the next.
ScreenSkills estimates that the screen industries are unable to utilise around 75% of what they currently pay.
The ScreenSkills Apprenticeship Programme pilot is taking place alongside other work ScreenSkills is carrying out, supported by the BFI awarding National Lottery funds as part of its Future Film Strategy, to develop apprenticeships for the industry.
More than 500 employers from across every part of the creative industries will welcome up to 30,000 young people into their businesses and organisations this month in a concerted drive to transform understanding of the range of jobs available.
Discover! Creative Careers Week is at the heart of the Creative Careers Programme, a DCMS-backed initiative under the special deal for the creative industries sector in the industrial strategy.
We at ScreenSkills, the industry-led skills body for UK screen, are delighted to be working with our colleagues at the Creative Industries Federation and our arts equivalent, Creative & Cultural Skills to deliver this ambitious plan to counter years of poor careers advice and genuinely open up exciting jobs to a wider range of diverse talent.
The screen industries contribution to Discover! will see more than 70 events involving 90 organisations and enable around 6,700 young people explore jobs from animating Peppa Pig to creating a launch campaign for a blockbuster film as part of a giant creative careers initiative this month.
Broadcasters, indies, studios, post-production facilities and VFX, animation and video games companies are among those taking part in the week which runs from 18 to 22 November.
Young people aged 11+ will get the chance to visit famous studios such as Leavesden, home to Harry Potter, Pinewood, home to James Bond, Three Mills, where shows such as MasterChef are made, and Elstree, which has hosted productions including The Crown and Strictly Come Dancing.
BBC will host BBC Young Reporters events at Salford, Birmingham, Bristol where young people get to inform a real audience about the stories that matter to them as well as allowing young people to broadcast on BBC Three Counties Radio in Dunstable, Bedfordshire.
Channel 4 is also opening its offices in locations including Leeds, London and Manchester to showcase a range of roles including film financing, their internal ad agency, programme-making and commissioning.
Sky is inviting secondary school students to join their journalism insight day to discover what life is like in the newsroom with journalists including sports reporters on hand to answer questions.
Gaston’s Cave, the animators behind Peppa Pig, will show how the hit show is made while other behind-the-scenes visits will take dozens of youngsters into the heart of VFX, post-production and film and television marketing in Soho at companies including Framestore, Molinare and The Farm.
Feref, the creative agency that created our Find Your Future campaign earlier this year, is joining forces with Sony Pictures and MPC to offer young people a chance to create their own launch campaign for a blockbuster movie.
Other companies taking part include ITV, All3Media, Lionsgate, Viacom, The Garden, Blue Zoo animation studio, Digital Orchard Group, Radio Centre, Bauer Academy, Confetti Media in Nottingham, HOME in Manchester and Showroom cinema in Sheffield as well as the National Film and Television School, BFI and the children’s film education charity Into Film.
Video and interactive games will be represented by Ubisoft, SEGA and the National Videogame Museum in Sheffield.
We are all committed to developing a more inclusive industry and the starting point is inspiring young people and informing them about the wide range of jobs available, including many they might not have heard of before. It is fantastic that so many organisations and businesses are creating opportunities for thousands of young people to experience our sector first-hand.
The ambition of the Creative Careers Programme is to help secure the skills pipeline for the creative industries which are the fastest growing sector of the UK economy. The Creative Industries Council estimated that there are more than 77,000 positions in the sector currently vacant or requiring better skills.
Anyone who is asked by a young person – or an older one looking to transfer their skills to another industry – for advice on jobs available can now go to the dedicated Creative Careers Programme website DiscoverCreative.Careers for more information.
