In your time as Chair of the ScreenSkills Animation Skills Council what do you consider to be the main benefits of this industry-led collective approach to identifying skills shortages, training and other issues for the UK animation industry?
There are so many ways to help upskill every part of the skills pipeline and such little time to do it. The UK animation industry is also made of many small companies that do not have the resources to drive their own initiatives, so having a combined effort, without duplication of efforts is key. We have so many passionate people in our industry that want to make a true difference, we have an undeniable strength in numbers. But that is just the start, we need to measure the impact or suffer the consequences of disjointed initiatives with not visible results to learn from. So ScreenSkills’ abilities to centralise and measure that impact is a critical component often overlooked. This combined with the Skills Council being industry-led, means that the money can be spent in the right place, in a very fast moving industry.
You have been central to the development of the ScreenSkills funded Young Animator of the Year (YAY) competition for teenagers. This programme has resulted in many of the participants ending up with paid employment. Please tell us more about this hugely successful initiative and your wishes for the future?
Young people are under unprecedented societal stress so the initiatives I’ve been most proud of are those that help nurture and champion the next generation of talent, from as many backgrounds as possible. The Young Animator of the Year UK competition has multifaceted impacts; from fast-tracked employment to awareness of the careers available. The arts are often referred to at schools as “enrichment”, suggesting they are a nice-to-have. But the YAY UK initiatives demonstrated to teachers and parents that art subjects can read to life-changing career opportunities. This awareness needs to come before the students pick their GCSEs, so the 11-14 year old competition category is vital to achieve this awareness. I’ve been blown away by the talent that the teenage animators have shown, and I can only hope the momentum keeps building as we discover the next great animators, helping the UK animation industry keep it’s cherished international reputation.
What advice would you give to animation companies looking to take part in the discussion around skills and training?
I encourage all productions to contribute into the Animation Skills Fund, so studios can focus on the job in hand whilst helping push skills development forwards at every step. All the members of the council are there to represent the industry - so do reach out to those members to flag up any concerns you have regarding skills - the ScreenSkills website lists the current council members. And last but not least - Kieran is always on hand to explain how to get involved and hear how the money is being used.
Diversity, equality and inclusion is a very important topic for all screen industries. Is there one suggestion you could make that could improve access for people from under-represented groups?
There are many ways we need to increase diversity and equality, but to single out just one; reaching out to the young generation from all backgrounds and across the whole country, with diversity in every sense from ethnicity, socioeconomics and disability. So people outside of the industry are aware of how welcoming the industry is for both visible and invisible conditions, so they can see similar people to themselves in the industry, who are having very successful careers. This is the ambition with YAY UK, but reaching 25,000 schools is no simple thing! So each person sharing such initiatives with their friends, families and schools is invaluable, especially those with more under-represented groups in.
Parting thoughts?
It’s a group effort; we can’t solve these skills on our own, they take commitment internally and externally to push things forwards. So it’s important to get involved and not just watch from the side - this is from helping share awareness on social media to suggestions ways the fund can help. Everyone seems busier than ever, which is why it’s more important than ever to keep flying the flag to keep involvement up, so as many voices and studios as possible can keep pushing the industry’s workforce forwards in their careers.