PRODUCTION


UK TV STUDIOS


Britain’s got talent


virtual studio can add value to producers’ shows. “We’ve been speaking to a lot of entertainment companies, showing them round here – and they are very interested,” says Waters. “We’ve started to make some headway.” Diversification is key at Maidstone too, where


the model is to be “as versatile as possible in an ever-evolving market,” says Miles. “Our studios aren’t aimed at any one genre in the industry, and we think that’s important for us to not become niche. We can cater for drama productions, entertainment shows with our automated trussing systems esports and live sports with our fully diverse fibre paths.” As well as entertainment shows like Catchphrase,


the craft skills shortage is significant... It’s a common challenge


56 televisual.com Summer 2022


Maidstone hosted Tour de France’ studio coverage and ITV Sport’s coverage of Euro 2020.


PEOPLE PROBLEMS Other forces are shaping the TV studios market too. The craft skills shortage affecting the entire production industry is a particular issue for TV studios. The high-end drama boom has sucked in talent to the scripted sector, but there is not enough trained TV studio talent coming through to replace them. Many of the current generation of craft


leaders in TV studios first learned their trade after being employed by the BBC and put through its famed training programme. Since the early 2000s, however, the BBC – in common with other broadcasters – has outsourced much of its production – and training – to freelancers and independent production companies. It means that training isn’t being delivered


at the scale it used to be, or that the industry needs. “The craft skills shortage is significant,” says Moultrie, who says he is thinking about how solutions can be delivered at scale. “I think you will see the sector working more together on this, because it is a common challenge.” Dock10 recently launched its own inhouse training scheme for craft talent who want to


work in TV studio production. As part of the initiative, dock10 has recently begun training two camera assistants and two sound assistants. Dock10 is also formulating a diversity plan to boost representation at the studio – part of a bid to tackle a widely acknowledged lack of diversity in the TV studio sector. NFTS Scotland along with BBC Studioworks and Glasgow City Council has also launched a Multi-camera conversion course for those with some TV experience or transferrable skills ahead of the opening of the new Kelvin Hall studio. Moultrie flags sustainability as another big


issue for TV studios. BBC Studioworks is aiming to be 80% powered by renewable energy in the next three years. It’s also thinking hard about how to source talent from the communities where its studios are based. “At multiple levels it’s good for the community – it puts money back into the communities, it’s less travel time so is more sustainable, and it’s cheaper for those people to come into work.” Competition is, of course, a big issue for all


the studios. The opening of more TV studios over the past year has focused minds. Competition is a good thing, says dock10’s Waters. “It makes you fitter and stronger…It’s our job to just provide a better service.”


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