Creative Access has proposed a new diversity mentoring scheme for the UK film industry.

The proposal would be for about 32 BAME interns (graduate and non-graduate) to be placed into full-time, paid training roles over two years at film production and distribution companies.

Creative Access founder Michael Foster says he has sent a copy of his proposal to Channel4/Film4 and BBC/BBC Films who have agreed to meet and discuss it. Both BBC Films and Film4 have already employed a Creative Access graduate intern.

Foster hopes the scheme would be implemented with support from those bodies or other funders. The proposal suggests that Creative Access/BIS EOP2 will put up £120,000 per year into the scheme.

Employers for the interns would be UK production companies who receive public money for film production and development (or distribution companies who work with publicly funded films), or those who take advantage of the UK film tax relief.

Each participating company would choose a graduate of their choice from a pool of over 3000 graduates who are aligned to the scheme. The cost to each production company would be about £4,000/year.

Foster says companies including Number 9 Films, MARV, Lupus and The Illuminated have already each taken on a Creative Access graduate intern.

​Each intern would be paid a bursary of £16,000 per year; selection and recruitment would be spearheaded by Creative Access/Mama Youth.

Creative Access’ internship programme [pictured], founded in 2012, already works with more than 100 companies. Foster notes the organisation has placed 258 graduates in the past two years, but only five of them in film companies.