HETV Fund in Leeds to celebrate 10 years of support

The High-end TV Skills Fund, continues to celebrate its tenth anniversary, spotlighting the achievements of the industry-created initiative across Yorkshire and the North East at a special event in Leeds.

Since April 2020, the Fund has supported 96 productions in Yorkshire and the North East that include Vera, The Red King, Ackley Bridge, Bodies, All Creatures Great and Small, Gentleman Jack, Happy Valley, Last Tango in Halifax, This is England, The Virtues and Victoria. In that time, the Fund supported 814 beneficiaries in Yorkshire and the North East on their individual career paths.

Reflecting on the impact of the HETV Fund so far, its Chair, Barry Ryan from Ink Factory Films commented: “Over the last decade, the Fund has made a real and positive difference to people’s careers and the make-up of today’s workforce by supporting over 25,000 individuals to enter the industry, realise their dreams and progress.”

This success and impact of the Fund’s work in Yorkshire and the North East was explored by a panel of senior industry executives based in the region. Chairing the conversation, Niall Shamma from Warp Films based in Sheffield, was joined by Rebecca Davies, who produced COBRA, Howard Ella from Netflix and Kate Larking from Duck Soup Films. The panel discussed what the HETV Fund is doing in the region to nurture and retain talent and support career progression across all levels, drawing on their own experiences and how the industry has changed in Yorkshire during their own careers.

“It is an absolute pleasure working with the High-end TV Fund. It really is a brilliant and fulfilling partnership between the HETV Fund and each production company and freelancer that becomes involved,” explains Rebecca Davies. “I have been lucky to uncover many new talented entry level crew in all departments at Trainee Finder interviews and have enjoyed watching crew flourish given the opportunity to transfer from other industries or step-up to their dream job on Make A Move. All this would not have been possible without the Fund or the HETV team at ScreenSkills. The positive impact of this tailored support for freelancers is noticeable on every HETV drama I work on and this success is definitely to be celebrated and makes for a bright future.”

Duck Soup’s Kate Larking added: “The High-end TV Skills Fund works hard to keep their finger on the production pulse, and as a result provides invaluable support through their various schemes to companies and freelancers alike. Happy 10th Birthday HETV Fund - and thank you!”

Martin Campbell, producer on The Bay Series 5 is an alumni of the mid-career Make a Move programme, which he now uses on his own productions. “My first Make a Move was from location manager to line producing and was quite daunting, knowing this is where I would need the most support. Doing someone else’s job is not as easy as it looks. This is where the support from the Make a Move programme and my mentor worked so well. I also moved from line producer to producer on The Bay with the programme, which was a fantastic experience and brilliant to be asked back for series five. I’ve since worked with the Fund to place Make a Movers on the productions I’m working on. Once we find the right person, the rest is easy, when you have the right support in place. Quite often, it’s them that have the great ideas.”

Heather Crompton, a Leeds-based camera operator, explains how the Leaders of Tomorrow programme is supporting her career progression. “The step up from mid-level crew to head of department is one of most difficult transitions in our industry. The soft skills training, practical work shadowing and the bursaries, along with networking opportunities, that the Leaders of Tomorrow programme has offered, have undoubtedly made me more confident in myself and my ability to progress in my career.” Heather, who graduates from the programme later this year continues, “I feel honoured to be part of the inaugural intake, and to witness the potential of the programme increase each year with the second and now the new third cohort. The opportunities provided by the HETV Skills Fund can only serve to grow our existing workforce into healthy, competent leaders of tomorrow.”