Film London hosted their first Skills Summit in London last week (Wednesday 19 February) as part of BFI’s Metro London Skills Cluster, supported by the National Lottery. The flagship event contributed to the industry consensus on how to shape the future of the screen industry workforce and was opened by a keynote speech from Bianca Gavin, Head of Production – Scripted, Pulse Films and Chair, Production Guild of Great Britain.

Bianca Gavin’s keynote highlighted the importance of investing in talent development, not only for new entrants but for established professionals, in order to ensure a sustainable, adaptable, and thriving industry. She explored the challenges of a freelance-based workforce, particularly the need for collaboration across education, recruitment, training, and management, and emphasised the role of inclusive recruitment and a supportive work culture in creating a workforce that reflects society.

The keynote also stressed the importance of inclusivity, diversity, and creating clear career pathways to foster long-term retention, and called on attendees to take meaningful action, share insights, and stay engaged in collaborative efforts to drive industry change.

In addition to the Keynote Address, the Summit included hands-on workshops, collaborative discussions and a networking event to close the day. The Summit focussed on four key topics: Building & Retaining Our Workforce, Bridging Skills,Incorporating Production Support and Inclusion in Practice.

Karl Liegis, Head of Production at 60Forty Films, who worked closely with PACT on the new HETV Production Support Package, walked attendees through the 5 key areas of support. Panellists included Chloe Perkins and our very own Azariah Jade and Nick Peter Yee, all of whom designed and implemented a range of training initiatives for all crew across two 60Forty Productions in London and Bristol. They reflected on the rewarding experience of incorporating training in mental health and resilience, Microsoft Excel training, and AI into production workflow. The importance of training was also lobbied, as ‘this saves time, it saves budget,’ for productions when they have crew equipped with the latest knowledge.

Industry attendees were also invited to attend practical workshops, which included ‘Adjustments on Set for Neurodivergent Cast & Crew,’ facilitated by Robyn Ramsden-Wilde and Sam Margaritis, Inclusive Recruitment’ facilitated by Arit Eminue MBE and, ‘Addressing Skills Gaps’ chaired by our Head of Skills, Babi Jani.

During the latter workshop, a conversation about finding a mentor in the industry took place. Here, Hair and Make-Up Professional, Teresa Reynolds, who is also a Youth Worker, encouraged attendees to ‘go out and volunteer in spaces where there are people of protected characteristics. Not just so you can bring them into the industry, but so you can learn how to nurture people. That pastoral care, we need a lot more of that in the industry. Nurture, pastoral care, understanding, empathy, sympathy.’

Teresa’s sentiment, was shared by panelists on the ‘Impact of Talent Development’ masterclass, where Freelance Hair and Makeup Artist, Xabier Celaya, mentioned championing someone with transferable knowledge with hair, asking a production if they could bring this person on a Key Hair Stylist. ‘Otherwise we’re gonna lose people [from the industry] who have transferable skills.’ Simone Haynes, Production Assistant, who had a career in banking previously, shared that ‘as a mother, I know how to plan ahead, thinking about dental appointments, play dates, studies for GCSEs, tutoring. I’m already thinking about spreadsheets because I budget for my household, I know exactly how much Sainsbury’s is gonna charge me at the end of the week, how much we’ll need for a holiday. I bring all these skills to a production team, and I do that with confidence.’

Ultimately, the biggest takeaway all in attendance were left with is that talent development and retention is not a job for one person or a specific group within the industry—it’s a collective responsibility. We must work together, lean on each other, and guide one another to create meaningful change and build a skilled and sustainable workforce.

Film London’s Skills Summit is part of a UK-wide strategic approach to skills. Previously, BFI research led to industry convening a Screen Sectors National Skills Taskforce. Led by Georgia Brown, formerly of Amazon Studios, it reported in November 2023, including recommendations around the need to improve the relationship, programme design and feedback mechanism between Further Education, Higher Education and Industry, to ensure the needs of industry are being addressed through the training pipeline. Under new leadership of Laura Mansfield, ScreenSkills has published its new strategy and reshaped its Board and the BFI in 2023 awarded £9m over three years to seven skills clusters across the UK whose aim was to work with local industry, education and training providers to help people develop their careers in the screen sector.

Film London, working with the NFTS, received a £2.2m National Lottery grant from the BFI. Since, they have been working with three other core partners – the Association of Colleges and London Higher, the Capital City College Group and Middlesex University to deliver the BFI’s Metro London Skills Cluster.

The vision for the Metro London Skills Cluster is to join the industry in London and the south east with esteemed educational hubs to cultivate London’s next wave of screen talent. The Cluster area is home to major producers and studios, including Elstree, Pinewood, Shepperton, Ealing, Twickenham, Leavesden, Longcross, Bovingdon and many of the world’s biggest film and TV companies, including Warner Bros., Discovery, Disney, Sony, Netflix, Amazon.