Courses are grouped in three strands: Step Up, Your Life at Work and Mind Your Business. Each strand lasts for one month and is offered four times a year, with multiple iterations of courses within the month. This ensures there are plenty of opportunities for people to forward plan and schedule training around their work and life commitments. There is an exhaustive list of all our courses sorted by strand below.
If any of the courses below do not have upcoming dates, you can register your interest. If enough people register their interest in the same course, we will look to schedule it (where possible) during the next month of that strand and email you to let you know when it is open for bookings. We’ll retain your record of interest for three months and delete after this period to ensure we are not contacting you about a course that you may no longer be interest in.
Step Up
Step Up offers training to help individuals coming back into the industry after a break, moving into a new role or responsibility level, or improving skills in unscripted TV.
Courses offered in this strand include:
- AI for TV development: introduction to generative AI for inspiration, research and assets
- Avid for edit producers
- Avid Media Composer refresher
- Camera & sound equipment 101
- Career mapping
- Creative feedback - how to give and receive it well
- Directing your first factual filming day
- Everything you've ever wanted to know about commissioning (but were too afraid to ask)
- Finding the story - on the shoot and in the edit
- Freelance toolkit for unscripted with Alison Grade
- Generating ideas and maximising creative potential
- Giving feedback: production management focus
- Globalising your development slate
- Influencing skills 101 with Fiona Dolton
- Interview techniques for unscripted TV
- Introduction to the FS7 with Dan Donnelly
- Navigating imposter syndrome
- Networking skills for freelancers
- No silly questions - 1-2-1 camera tutorials
- Schedules, audience and budgets: decoding TV buyers' needs
- Stepping into management 101… with Fiona Dolton
- The art of sizzles
- The seven deadly sins of self shooting
- The Whole Picture Toolkit: enabling mentally healthy productions - Scripted TV workshop
- The Whole Picture Toolkit: enabling mentally healthy productions - Unscripted TV workshop
- Using AI for Unscripted TV development: practical introduction to image generation for posters, pitch decks, and sizzles
- Visual storytelling: an interactive workshop for unscripted TV
- Your professional profile - what to say about what you do
- Your self-shooting day - get ready!
Your Life at Work
Your Life at Work offers training aimed at sharing workplace best practice as well as how you and your teams can stay healthy, happy, and productive at work.
Courses in this strand include:
- 1-to-1 SpotCoaching for TV professionals… with Wendy Wilson
- Anti-bullying & harassment training
- Deaf awareness training in association with Signpost Productions
- Developing the art of successful negotiation
- Disability awareness for hirers in association with thinkBIGGER!
- Embracing industry change: Diversifying to future-proof your freelance career
- Embracing industry change: Diversifying revenue streams for production companies
- How to have difficult conversations at work
- HR 1-2-1 surgeries
- Managing teams working remotely
- Managing tricky relationships
- Mental health awareness for managers
- Mental Health First Aid taster session
- Neurodivergence and inclusion in the screen industries
- Neurodivergence and inclusion in the screen industries: leaders and managers
- One session wonder: 1-2-1 problem solving session
- Reset, reframe, recharge
- Sustainable resilience
- The Weekly Cuppa
- Understanding and managing stress with Lucy Adams
- Welfare & Duty of Care Essentials
- Working in UK screen industries with English as a second or other language (ESOL)
- Yoga for self shooters – Coming Soon
Mind Your Business
Mind Your Business offers training in a range of areas related to business management and development, production finance, legal and business affairs, rights and compliance. They give individuals the tools needed to thrive in their chosen field in unscripted TV.
Current courses in this strand include:
- Beyond redundancy, setting up as a sole trader
- Blue Light Refresher: Legal and compliance considerations when filming with the emergency services
- Budgeting 101
- Content legal workshop with Sophie Argent
- Controlling freelance finances
- Creating a budget and schedule for unscripted TV
- Data protection for programme makers
- Directing crew and multi-camera shoots
- Introduction and walkthrough of RIMMS releasing platform
- Introduction to post-production paperwork
- Introduction to post production for production managers in unscripted TV
- Introduction to post production for series producers in unscripted TV
- Leadership & management essentials for those working in unscripted TV
- Managing Excel cost managers
- Navigating the rights minefield: business affairs and copyright… with Ben Green
- Navigating the rights minefield: business affairs and copyright… with Ben Green - production management
- Ofcom broadcasting code refresher
- Ofcom refresher for production management
- Pathway to production management
- Presenting and communicating with impact
- Risk Assessments 101
- Senior leadership one-to-one surgeries
- True crime refresher: legal and compliance considerations
- Understanding budgets for editorial teams
- Understanding commissioning production teams
- Understanding contracts for production managers
- Using social media posts in programmes - rights & legal considerations
- Using social media posts in programmes - rights & legal considerations - production management
Connect and Inspire
Connect and Inspire offers a variety of sessions, from in-person networking and online roundtables to in-depth case studies. All are designed to promote the sharing of knowledge and the building of relationships across unscripted TV.
As these sessions are often standalone sessions reacting to current industry needs, we won’t be keeping an exhaustive list on this page. Instead, see all upcoming sessions here.
If you have an idea for a Connect and Inspire session please get in touch with the team at USF@screenskills.com