dock10, a television facility based at MediaCity in Salford, has launched an in-house trainee scheme for those who want to work in TV studio production.
The scheme aims to train up the next generation of experienced production crews and to address a skills gap in TV production.
As part of the initiative, dock10 has recently begun training two camera assistants and two sound assistants who were selected following a competitive recruitment process.
The four entry-level trainees are paid while they learn as part of the sound and camera teams on the studio floor, designed to build up the skills and relationships needed to succeed in television.
At the end of the 18-month training period, each of the trainees will be able to operate as skilled freelancers at dock10 or at other production companies, in a bid to widen the pool of skilled talent available to the industry.
The trainees will work across a range of dock10 hosted shows such as BBC Bitesize, Match of the Day through to The Voice.
The launch of the dock10 training scheme follows a successful pilot initiative that trained up two entry level sound assistants over 18 months. Both graduates of the pilot scheme are now regularly working at dock10 and within the industry.
“This training scheme is a way of seeding the freelancers of the future,”said dock10 head of studios Andy Waters. “It’s a very hands-on scheme which gives the trainees the experience of working in a studio environment and getting involved on many shows.”
Dock10 hopes the scheme will expand and may potentially become a model used by other broadcasting companies, as part of an industry-wide effort to tackle the skills shortage.
Waters added: “Our industry is going to have some problems in the future unless we train up the new generation. We’d love for other companies to get on board with this idea and hope it may become a model for others if it is appropriate for them to use.”
