TRAINING
THE SKILLS GAP
places there - we’ve got to do something more substantial. Of course that takes money and effort…
..So we’ve got to change our mindset.” Tales of crew shortages and wage inflation
are everywhere. Stephen Merchant comedy drama The Outlaws, made by Big Talk for Amazon and the BBC, lost its production manager mid-shoot and tried over 30 before finding a replacement; Lightbox had to approach an increasingly long list of editors for one of its recent feature documentaries. Other shows have been put on hold. Broadcasters and services are increasing investment. In September, Netflix announced
CHANNEL 4
In 2022, Channel 4 will roughly double its spend on skills development to around £5m. The channel brought various initiatives together in 2020. “It’s all about moving everything under one banner, 4Skills, and making sure we have a nations and regions focus, nurturing talent from diverse backgrounds and working in partnership more,” says Kevin Blacoe, the head of partnerships at Channel 4. The investment divides between developing skills for in-house roles and sharing with indies and other partners. Core roles for the channel, such as its legal and finance teams, social media hub and in-house digital studio allow opportunities for more formal opportunities, including apprenticeships and placement schemes. Another plank of 4Skills is working with indies. The second round of the C4 Production Management Training Scheme
kicked off in May, consisting of a 12-month placement at an indie for 15 trainees, with C4 sharing funding. The first round, in 2020, was unscripted, this year is scripted and there’s a strong focus on diversity. Stellify in Belfast and The Garden in Leeds are both taking part. “The purpose is to grow the UK as a production sector and in particular out of London production,” says Blacoe. Partnering with agencies, such as ScreenSkills and other broadcasters is key. Over the last 18 months, C4 has worked with the BBC, ITV and S4C, as well as screen agencies, such as Screen Scotland and Creative Wales and education providers, the NFTS being one. It’s not just about entry level. It’s helping to fund programmes such as the Factual Fast Track scheme to boost those at mid-level in their career, which piloted with Creative Wales.
Challenges often occur two, three, five years into a career
a £1.2m training programme, Grow Creative UK, to train up to 1000 people across the UK through its own productions, partners and education institutions, with an additional £1.5m put aside for training under-represented groups. Work is needed to support mid-level, as well
as entry-level initiatives. “The real challenge is at the mid to senior-level right now,” says Kumar. “Those are where the skills shortages are causing the most problems.” Entry-level schemes are focused on evolving
the industry to have a more diverse workforce. Trailblazers such as the Mama Youth Project have inspired employers to make room for the under-represented; this year, PACT’s Indie Diversity Scheme extended to 11 production companies offering six-month paid placements. Given that apprenticeships require
candidates to be employed workers, the largely freelance crew are rarely eligible. But ScreenSkills is working with Netflix and WarnerMedia on a DCMS-backed pilot
24 Winter 2021
televisual.com
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