THE SKILLS GAP
TRAINING
ELSTREE
Elstree’s Centre of Screen Excellence, based at the production hub in Hertfordshire, has been up and running since May of this year. ScreenSkills joined forces with Elstree Screen Arts Academy (ESA), Elstree Film Studios and the National Film and Television School to create this screen arts training academy, built on the former site of MGM British Studios. The Centre offers creative and technical traineeships for 18- and 19-year-olds in areas of skills need and is supported by ScreenSkills with National Lottery funds awarded by the BFI. The Academy will deliver courses in costume, grip, hair and make-up, lighting and production assistant, which were developed with industry
practitioners for the Yorkshire Centre of Screen Excellence pilot in 2020. There are around 60 places in these six key skills shortage areas and candidates who successfully complete the course will receive a Centre of Screen Excellence UK Craft Skills Certificate. Elstree Screen Arts is further developing its own courses to meet local demand including in art direction (2021) and sound (from 2022). The Centres of Screen Excellence are intended to bring together local and national partners to build capacity in production hubs with a more inclusive, highly skilled workforce. Elstree and Borehamwood is also home to Universal Production Services, BBC Elstree, BBC Studioworks and Sky Studios Elstree, opening in 2022.
have been trained at a dedicated post house. Plugging the gap has left facilities with a merry- go-round, as they lose both work and people. At the same time, much of the ScreenSkills training is around freelancers and focused on production, rather than post. At Clear Cut Pictures, there’s long been a
commitment to structured training. Md Rowan Bray describes the traditional route. “It takes about four years to get them through the operational processes, to the point where they can sort out any problem. Then they are ready to become a creative editor, to work in the online grade or sound.” It’s a whole-company ethos, with experienced staff sharing their
ENVY ACADEMY
Envy Post began its Academy in 2018. It’s an in-house training scheme, for everyone from entry-level, including runners, to juniors, mid and senior level. Almost half of the Envy workforce of 200 has used the Academy, either as a gateway to start working in the post house, or to further their career. If a member of staff wants to learn a new skill – say grading or using Flame – or to get further training within a particular area, then they can explore various training and secondment opportunities, all carefully regulated internally. The Academy has given a focus to Envy’s work at entry-level, with a strong presence on social media platforms, combined with visits to colleges and universities to give talks
and advice about job opportunities in post production. It also advises tutors and faculties on the best software and industry advances. Before Covid kicked in, there’s was a big programme of work experience at Envy, with up to 150 to 200 work experience placements happening annually, each lasting for around one week. This halted in the pandemic. Instead, the Academy ran a series with universities and colleges on Zoom and Teams and managed some virtual training. Back up and running as the lockdown eased, between January and the end of October 2021, the Academy has helped to promote 18 runners into junior roles, across the company, including bookings, audio, offline and vfx.
It takes about four years to get them through the operational processes
know-how and their time. At Molinare, as well as having runners
and apprentices, they’ve gone big on the government-funded Kickstart scheme. “We thought it might have an impact on our runner pathway,” says Lesley Marr, Director of Operations “but it hasn’t, it’s complemented it.” The Kickstarters have six months of paid training, gravitating towards an area that they find works for them, such as social media or sound. Molinare has 10 runners at any one time and an obligation to take 15 Kickstarters each six months to qualify for the scheme. With a big gap of talent post Covid, the Kickstarters have come into their own. A third have been offered posts at Molinare. Bringing in new people can go some
way to filling roles left by departing staff. “The enticement of working on a really great production, on a year’s contract, is more exciting at the moment,” says Marr. “That’s
Winter 2021
televisual.com 27
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