Skillset Successes
Bright Sparks
In partnership with Skillset, South West Screen and three of the South West region's leading TV production companies introduced six ‘Bright Sparks' who have completed a unique new entrant training programme.
‘Bright Sparks' searched for promising new entrants from the South West for junior roles in three of the region's top TV production companies: BBC, RDF Television West and Twofour. The year-long scheme supported them through 4-month work placements at each company and a bursary.
There was no formal application form for ‘Bright Sparks' - the first 72 people to respond to an open call got the chance to attend an open day to find out about the scheme and take part in a range of activities including quizzes, team exercises and talks. The most promising 24 went on to a talent day where they had the chance to shine in front of an industry panel, participating in a mixture of activity-based workshops plus an individual interview.
The 24 were whittled down to a final talented six, who have been working on programmes like ‘Are You Smarter Than A 10 Year Old?' (Twofour for SkyOne) ‘Dickinson's Real Deal' (RDF Television West), and ‘Bargain Hunt' and ‘Flog It' (BBC)
Shireen Ward, Director of Operations, Twofour Digital said:
‘Twofour is delighted to be one of the host companies for the first Bright Sparks scheme and looks to actively encourage and retain talent within the South West region to support the booming production industry.'
According to Christine Owen, Head of Production, RDF Television West:
‘The Bright Sparks scheme is a great way for RDF Television West to encourage new talent in the region. We're delighted that there was such a positive response and are looking forward to working with the trainees across a variety of projects'.
Gaynor Scattergood, Scheduling Manager, BBC, agreed: ‘Bright Sparks provides a great opportunity for the BBC to work with new talent within the community. It also enables the 'Bright Sparks' to gain an insight into broadcast television production.'
Lisa Howe, Project Manager for ‘Bright Sparks' explained:
‘We've seen a huge growth in daytime and popular factual TV production in the region recently so we needed to create a broader talent pool to support this growth. Through Bright Sparks we wanted to recruit new talent from more diverse backgrounds and we think the scheme has successfully achieved this.'
Animation Bridge
Skillset is delighted to report on the successful completion of Animation Bridge, and the follow up scheme Animation Bridge: Storyboarding from Start to Finish.
With funding from Skillset, Animation Bridge was a model piloted by Aardman Animations and South West Screen in 2006 for stop motion key animators transferring to CG production, a unique opportunity for up to ten people to become experts in storyboarding through a highly specialised training course at Aardman's film studio in Bristol.
The new training scheme, which ran from April-June 2008, looked at Storyboarding from Start to Finish. This intensive 8 week course was tutored by Frank Gladstone, ex-Head of Training and Artistic Development at Disney and Dreamworks Animation, Aardman Animations and top UK trainers, aimed at helping professionals hone their skills, develop their craft, artistic interpretation and cine literacy.
Animation Bridge: Storyboarding from Start to Finish was funded by the Skillset Film Skills Fund, Aardman Animations, the South West Regional Development Agency and South West Screen.
South West Attachment Scheme (SWATS)
Structured new entrants' training is key to ensuring that the region's TV and digital media companies can access new production talent. It's also a way of ensuring high-quality work experience for promising newcomers. The South West Attachment Scheme (SWATS) has established a track record for delivering exactly that. It has run three times between 2002 and 2007.
Funded by Skillset's TV Freelance Fund, the South West Regional Development Agency, South West Screen and eighteen of the region's production companies, SWATS 2006/07 helped 11 new entrants - Production Assistants, Coordinators and Junior Researchers - into industry through a 12-month intensive programme of supported work placements, short course training and individual advice and guidance.
Oliver Coysh from Totnes in Devon was one of the lucky trainees who won a SWATS place in October 2006, after being chosen from around 150 applicants - graduates and non-graduates - from across the region.
After gaining a degree in Media Arts from the University of Plymouth, Oliver set about finding that crucial first job. Despite his education and work placements during his degree, Oliver found it difficult to gain work in the industry that paid enough to live on - some was even unpaid. He took a few short-term assisting jobs, mostly in London, and found himself turning down unpaid work experience during gaps because of his circumstances.
Fortunately Oliver heard about SWATS through a Skillset mailing and knew it could be the perfect chance to get started in his home region. Eight weeks later Oliver was starting his first SWATS placement as a general assistant with Denham Productions in Plymouth, then moving on six months later to Yeovil-based GRACE Productions.
