The BFI is investing £900,000 over two years in a BFI Skills Cluster in Wales, which will see Sgil Cymru in close partnership with Creative Wales and Screen Alliance Wales (SAW) launch the one stop shop using National Lottery good cause funding.
It becomes one of seven BFI Skills Clusters across UK nations and regions which seek to work collaboratively with local industry, education and training providers to develop clearer pathways to long-term employment in film and TV production.
The cluster will receive additional funding from Creative Wales and BBC Studios, and work as a collaborative partnership of training providers, further and higher educators, and industry, with a focus on providing opportunities for all those currently under-represented in the sector. In its initial two-year phase it will seek to engage with over 2,000 workers.
The cluster covers four key strands: the ‘One Stop Shop’ will include an online resource with a calendar of training and work experience opportunities, job postings and links to crew databases; ‘The Start of the Journey’ will focus on entry level training, community and educational outreach, and includes a bursary fund; ‘Bridging the Gap’ will work to bring further and higher education and industry closer together by providing coordinated work experience placements and a series of ‘educating the educators’ sessions; and ‘Continuing the Journey’ will provide further training and upskilling opportunities to those already working in the industry.
Sgil Cymru is based at Great Point Seren Stiwdios (formerly Pinewood Studio Wales) in Cardiff, and deliver training courses for the UK film and TV industry, working in both Welsh and English.
“Wales is a key nation for the screen sector in the UK, home to large scale productions which are distributed across the globe, as well as content in the Welsh language,” said Sara Whybrew, BFI’s Director of Skills and Workforce Development. “The partnership in place led by Sgil Cymru, will be building on vital work that has been started and we hope the Skills Cluster will provide a strong foundation on which to further build game changing training and work-based learning opportunities for diverse and representative talent across the nation.”
“It is with pride that Sgil Cymru takes on the leadership role in this partnership,” added Sue Jeffries, managing director of Sgil Cymru. “The fact that the BFI, Creative Wales, and BBC Studios has shown its confidence in the nation and the sector by committing two years of funding for training in Wales is enormous. As a company we cannot wait to get started on this exciting new project. The One Stop Shop will bring together all the wonderful training projects already happening in Wales as well as see some great new initiatives, which will all help the sector grow for the future.”
To date, the BFI has invested £9m of National Lottery funding across three years in seven skills clusters. The Welsh cluster will receive funding across the remaining two years of the ongoing three-year funding cycle. The following six clusters received funding across three years: £2.3m in Screen Yorkshire (North of England): £2.2m in Film London (London, Hertfordshire, Surrey, and Buckinghamshire); £1.1m. in Screen Scotland (Scotland); £1m Create Central (West Midlands); £0.9m in Northern Ireland Screen (Northern Ireland); and £0.6m in Resource Productions (Berkshire).
No comments yet