THE SKILLS GAP
TRAINING
to explore a project-based, more flexible apprenticeship scheme, with an initial cohort of 20 apprentices. “The reality of being freelance is that it’s
very tough, very isolating,” says founder and md of crewing agency Sara Putt Associates. “People need to feel that someone has a duty of care for them.” The agency aims to provide some of that care, acting as a network. It also offers a 10-month development programme for 25 trainees each year. Putt is currently deputy chair of BAFTA and points to the BAFTA Crew initiative as another scheme that addresses this gap. “Challenges often occur two, three, five years into a career…. it’s the mid range of skills that people are really lacking… production coordinators, boom ops, second ACs that have moved beyond being trainees, but are not yet heads of department.” Ironically, the boom in production, coupled
with the skills gap has made it both more essential, but also harder, for indies to find time and resources for training. “We’re dealing with squeezed budgets, schedules are tighter,” says Claire Featherstone, the Chief Operating Officer at HiddenLight Productions which launched in late 2020. “We don’t have massive resource, internal HR, or training at our fingertips, however we are keenly aware of it and working on it for both our core staff and freelancers.” Anyone coming into the company is buddied up with another member of staff. “It’s across the piece,” says Featherstone who was part of the Women in Film and TV Mentoring Scheme. “We don’t assume it’s just the juniors who need guidance.” HiddenLight also aims to allow its workforce
to shadow and develop their roles. Featherstone is optimistic about the new Unscripted Skills Fund, plus other broadcaster initiatives. The focus has to be on core staff, “but obviously freelancers form such a part of our workforce, we are increasingly trying to see what we can do for them.” Bringing people back for returning series, moving them to the next level, doing exit interviews. Post production has its own set of
challenges when it comes to skills development. The edit houses have a long-standing tradition of in-house training, investing in staff who, like as not, used to stay with the same business for a large part of their career. But the boom in production has coincided
with a trend for production companies to bring post in-house, often recruiting staff that
Winter 2021
televisual.com 25
SKY
“The UK has a world-leading production sector, and for us to remain competitive, we need to ensure our talent and crews are top of their game,” says Jane Millichip, chief content officer at Sky. “This is only possible with proper training, development and mentorship.” At entry level, 2021 saw Sky team with the Creative Academy to recruit 18 people from under-represented backgrounds into Sky’s Content Academy. Six months in to their year-long paid placements in different areas of Sky’s production and post production operations and Millichip says that the cohort “is already challenging us to think differently about how we do things and make improvements for the better.” Sky has got behind ScreenSkills’ three-year mid-level Leaders of Tomorrow scheme for freelance crew and its HETV Make a Move scheme. “TV production relies on
freelancers and often people move from job to job and gain experience in their craft, but often aren’t taught useful leadership skills like how to manage teams and how to support colleagues with performance,” says Millichip. Former factory worker Ursula Haworth used the scheme to step up to line producer from first AD on Sky’s Brassic. There’s also a focus on narrative skills. The Sky Writes programme, based in Newcastle, supports under-represented writing talent in the North of England; for trainee script editors, there’s Flip the Script, focused in the North West, which gives paid placements; Sky has also joined with screenwriter Bisha K Ali and Netflix to fund the year-long Screenwriter’s Fellowship, for six writers from under-represented backgrounds. “We will continue to focus this area as we seek to increase the diversity of stories and voices within television,” says Millichip.
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