New programmes from Liverpool Film Office and Channel 4 are targeting would-be film and TV professionals and writers in Liverpool, Manchester and Yorkshire.
In Liverpool, Liverpool Film Office is looking for around 1,000 people who want to kickstart their career in film and TV by joining Action!, a brand new skills initiative.
The programme will include career surgeries, training, workshops, industry bootcamps, access to additional employability assets, masterclasses with established crew and opportunities for paid placements on set.
To be eligible for the programme, applicants must be aged 18 and over, live in the Liverpool City Region and have the right to work in the UK and cannot be in further or higher education.
Action! has been made possible through £2.3m of BFI National Lottery funding which was awarded to Screen Alliance North, a new skills cluster partnership delivered by Liverpool Film Office, North East Screen, Screen Manchester and Screen Yorkshire.
Director of Liverpool Film Office, Lynn Saunders, said: “Under Screen Alliance North, we want to bridge the gap when it comes to training and securing a first job in the industry, working closely with our partners to build a stronger and more inclusive workforce.”
Channel 4, meanwhile, is celebrating its imminent fifth anniversary in Leeds with a host of training opportunities across Yorkshire and Manchester, including the New Writers Scheme, which is seeking up to eight writers in Leeds for eight months of expert industry training and mentoring, alongside introductions to scripted indies and feedback from Channel 4.
Channel 4’s drama commissioning editor Gwawr Lloyd said: “I thoroughly enjoyed working with the last cohort of writers and I’m excited to get to know the new creatives on this year’s scheme. It’s an incredible opportunity for the channel to work with fresh talent from different regions. Often narratives told on screen reflect the writer’s own personal experiences and it’s important to hear from a variety of voices, especially from underrepresented groups, to inspire interesting and authentic story ideas.”
Among Channel 4 schemes coming up later in the year are the Production Training Scheme, a year-long, fully paid training programme which places up to 20 trainees at independent production companies across the UK and will return in September 2024 and the Content Creatives scheme, aimed at people who might not think a career in the creative industries is for them and young people from lower socio-economic backgrounds who have a passion for creating digital content. Placements for 30 creatives will begin in September 2024 across West Yorkshire and Manchester.
