Continued growth, collaboration and committed support to the workforce was at the centre of another big year for the High-end TV Skills Fund.
Since April there have been contributions from 166 new high-end productions, with a further 44 second payments expected, resulting in an increase of 26 productions from the previous year. This saw a total of £2.5 million more committed to the Fund than the same period last year.
There were significant developments in training too, including in the Trainee Finder programme. The flagship new entrant initiative evolved this year as the Fund collaborated with the Film Skills Fund to offer placements in both film and TV productions, offering improved flexibility to trainees and responding to the workforce’s trend of moving more freely between the two.
Having launched in 2023, a second cohort were welcomed onto the access coordinator training programme. Developed in response to a call to make the industry more accessible to deaf, disabled and/or neurodivergent (DDN) cast and crew, the training provides candidates with the skills to facilitate requirements in working production spaces, ensuring access, equity and inclusion is embedded throughout the workplace. Having completed extensive training, candidates are now ready to receive placements as access coordinators across HETV productions.
Further training and support aimed at improving access for all saw over 400 professionals take part in a number of courses that spread awareness on working with DDN crew, delivered by specialist training providers, Triple C.
This commitment to support was reflected in a new access bursary initiative that offered cash grants to DDN crew to remove financial barriers from entering, progressing or returning to HETV. Freelancers were able to apply for between £100 and £2,500 for the likes of training, aids, accommodation, travel, driving lessons, childcare, support to apply to Access to Work, software and equipment. Those applying to receive bursaries came from across the UK with 87% of successful applicants coming from outside of London.
Bursaries are a tool which can help improve the social make-up of the industry by helping to tackle financial imbalances, a topic the Fund explored during the year. Members of the team attended the Edinburgh TV Festival in August where the Fund hosted a panel discussing social mobility within the industry. Hosted by actress and comedian Lucy Beaumont, the panel asked if a person’s background is a factor in their career progression and whether skills and training could play a role in improving equity.
Training bursaries in the electrical and post and VFX departments helped provide further access to entry into the industry, with a new bursary programme – for those working in unscripted HETV from underrepresented backgrounds – will look to support more candidates in the new year.
This year also saw the launch of a new HETV Unscripted Working Group, created in response to the growing number of high-end unscripted productions that contributed to the Fund. Through this new group, the Fund was able to deliver appropriate training that is relevant to those working in the area and designed to create new skills and opportunities among the sector’s workforce.
The increased crossover of unscripted productions has enabled to Fund to work with productions in all areas and help grow the mid-career programme, Make a Move, to enable more freelancers receive the experience of working in a more senior role they need to progress.
Elsewhere, the development of the skills checklist for scripted content provided a comprehensive set of industry-agreed information to employers and individuals about the skills, responsibilities and tasks required for a wide range of roles and departments.
They were developed with guilds and associations and designed to support the successful hiring and skills development of freelancers and employees on scripted TV productions.
In September, 19 candidates graduated from the Fund’s Leaders of Tomorrow programme, the first cohort to do so since the programme’s launch in 2021. The inclusion programme, developed to create a viable pathway to improve the diversity among senior roles within HETV, provided tailored comprehensive support or mid-level professionals to progress into senior, decision-making roles.
A new cohort joined the programme in July, having been identified as ready to move to a more senior role and nominated by a leading industry professional. Follow their journey across ScreenSkills platforms in the new year.
We look forward to more of the screen workforce receiving the support and opportunities they need in the new year as the Fund responds to industry need to provide the tools and training to help develop the skills of those making the content the world watches.
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