BAFTA announces school programme

As part of their Give Something Back campaign, BAFTA has announced it will partner with education charities Into Film, Speakers for Schools and STEMNET to bring BAFTA members, award-winners and nominees into UK schools and youth programmes.

The new programme is designed for speakers to share their skills and experiences with young people and inspire them to enter the film, television and games industries.

Speakers already confirmed for the programme include game mechanics programmer Chris Payne, screenwriter Paul Viragh, presenter Tazeen Ahmad and actor Jimmy Akingbola. They will visit primary schools in Greater Manchester, Essex, Kent and London.

“Through the BAFTA speaker programme, young people across the UK will get a chance to learn first-hand from some of the best in our industries,” commented BAFTA chairman John Willis.

“We hope that as many schools and youth groups as possible take up this free opportunity to introduce their young charges to an exciting range of practitioners and potential careers”.

BAFTA’s increased involvement with new and emerging talent came after a BAFTA Career Pathways survey, which revealed contact with people in the industry played a key role in persuading young people into film, television and games careers.

The partnership with Into Film will allow BAFTA to get professionals from the film industry into schools, while their work with Speakers for Schools will allow students to hear from television and gaming creatives.

The programme will inspire young people to enter the film and television industries by studying STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and maths) for careers in areas such as sound, production finance and VFX.

Schools can directly request speakers by contacting one of the three charities directly.

Professionals can support the Give Something Back campaign by visiting BAFTA’s official website.