Pinewood Studios to develop centre of excellence

Pinewood Studios and Amersham & Wycombe College have announced that they are looking to create a centre of excellence at Pinewood Studios to develop and deliver qualifications for all elements of the screen-based industries.

The centre will be delivered in conjunction with the proposed expansion of Pinewood Studios known as the Pinewood Studios Development Framework. It will be focussed on a number of priorities outlined in the Next Gen report that was spearheaded by Ian Livingstone OBE, Alex Hope OBE and Nesta.

Programmes at the centre will include visual effects (2D and 3D, FX, animation and rigging, pipeline and compositing), as well as in areas such as studio management, sound engineering and production.

Andrew Smith [pictured], director of strategy and communication at Pinewood Studios, commented: “We are thrilled to be announcing these plans today to develop a centre of excellence for the screen based industries here at Pinewood. We hope it will help to provide the next generation of talent with the skills they need to turn their ideas into commercial success.”

He continued: “By basing the centre at Pinewood it will allow students to work with and learn from industry colleagues who are at the top of their game, working on award winning and international productions on a daily basis. We are especially pleased that this announcement comes as the government introduces its new system of tax relief for high end TV, animation and video games.”

Gill Clipson, principal and CEO of Amersham & Wycombe College, added: “We are thrilled to be collaborating with Pinewood Studios on such an important and innovative project. We will be providing fantastic learning opportunities that allow young people to work with industry experts, become work ready and gain qualifications that have been designed for and by employers.”

It is envisaged that most of the students on-site will be apprentices and that the majority of these students will be aged 16-24 years old.