ScreenSkills, the training body for the UK creative industries, is collaborating with Pinewood Studios to launch Skills to Film, an initiative to tackle skills shortages identified in the UK industry.
The programme will offer people living or working near Pinewood in Buckinghamshire, information on how to transfer their skills to roles in film production. It will focus on five production specialisms: art, locations, costume, construction and accounts.
Areas outside of the industry from which the initiative will look to attract candidates include carpentry, plastering, design, sewing and fitting, finance management, marshalling and logistics.
Local individuals with experience in any of those areas are encouraged to apply for a place on an introductory weekend on June 8 and 9 and Pinewood Studios. The event will include panels with senior industry figures and workshops teaching about different departments and skills in the film business.
It will be followed by a networking event at the studios on June 26, with additional events across the next year for Skills to Film attendees to meet production company staff and department managers.
Applications for the programme are open now, closing on April 24.
ScreenSkills expects successful applicants to the programme to take on film opportunities alongside their current work to begin with.
It also intends to roll out the programme with studios across the UK in 2019.
The initiative is supported by the BFI as part of its Future Film Skills Strategy, which aims to recruit 10,000 new entrants by 2022 and create a more diverse workforce.
ScreenSkills rebranded from Creative Skillset in October 2018, when chair Richard Johnson called for “greater investment in skills and training if the UK is to maintain its global reputation in screen.”
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