ITV is to open a new academy to address current and future skills gaps in the broadcast industry.
The ITV Academy will open with a series of roles based at Coronation Street.
“We are incredibly proud that each year ITV Studios and ITV inspires, mentors, recruits, trains and develops thousands of people,” explained ITV CEO Carolyn McCall.
“Building on this heritage the ITV Academy will also help us work more effectively with our partners like ScreenSkills and the National Film and Television School to address the skills gaps within the industry as well as to encourage Government to allow the Apprenticeship Levy to deliver the growth in new opportunities it was supposed to deliver.”
The Academy will be headed up by Sonny Hanley, whose career spans over 20 years across production, technology, operations and content services. Starting out in the factual entertainment team in Leeds for ITV and Channel 4, he has more recently helped ITV move from tape-based delivery to fully digital.
He’s also Chair for ITV Embrace, ITV’s internal network for Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic colleagues and sits on the Board of the Northern Ballet Company as a Non-Executive Director.
“I’m really excited to be a part of building the ITV Academy – it is absolutely vital that we continue to upskill and develop our own production staff within ITV and to seek out and nurture the next generation in order to build and retain a solid pipeline of diverse talent to support the ever increasing needs of production,” he stated.
“At ITV, we’re working harder than ever to provide world-class training to match that demand. I’m proud to be a part of something that will open doors and offer career paths for people from a range of backgrounds. This is a step towards change in our industry and ensuring that the future is bright for those starting out their career journeys.”
The ITV Academy will work with partners including ScreenSkills, the National Film and TV School and Creative Access to look at where there are skills gaps.
It stated that one priority would be to encourage Government to allow the Apprenticeship Levy to create the growth in new opportunities it was supposed to deliver.
In a statment ScreenSkills said:
“Never has it been more important to create a unified, pan-sector strategy that will ensure that the UK has the skilled and diverse workforce that make the content that audiences love and trust. We look forward to working with the ITV Academy, building on our successes to build a future-fit workforce.”
