News Story
Last week Film London launched the Higher Education Framework at Vue West End. Exploring the crucial intersection of higher education and the dynamic screen industry, the new framework aims to bridge the gap between academic knowledge and industry requirements through targeted, industry-led training programmes, tailored to both students and staff.
As a pivotal initiative within the BFI's Metro London Skills Cluster, supported by the National Lottery fund, Film London unveiled a comprehensive plan aimed at elevating the quality of training within the higher education sector, in collaboration with London Higher.
The framework will include:
Collaborating with industry partners and training providers to craft and implement targeted programmes that address occupation shortages and unique needs within the screen industry.
Partnering with Higher and Further Education to enhance curriculum, promote effective teaching, and foster skill development in students and staff, aligning with the screen industry's demands.
Piloting Bespoke Programmes tailored to the evolving needs of the screen industry, offering innovative solutions to workforce development.
Advancing Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion by ensuring access and retention for marginalized and underrepresented talent in the screen industry.
Our efforts to integrate industry-specific needs with educational curriculums, alongside our commitment to equity and diversity, reflect our holistic approach to workforce development in the screen industry. This vision drives us to create pathways for all individuals to thrive and succeed in an industry that continues to captivate and inspire audiences worldwide.Babak Jani, Head of Skills at Film London
The UK’s Film and Television industry generates billions of pounds for the UK economy and creates hundreds of thousands of jobs. Official 2023 statistics revealed a £4.23 billion film and high-end television production spend in the UK, reinforcing UK’s position as a global production centre.
The recent Budget Statement from the Chancellor of the Exchequer provided a significant boost to the UK’s world-class film and TV industry with the introduction of a new tax credit for independent films with budgets up to £15m, a 5% increase in tax credits for VFX and removal of the 80 per cent cap, and a business rates relief to help ensure studios can continue to thrive and planned developments proceed, attracting increasing levels of domestic and global production. The new skills cluster will serve to help meet this demand, developing and expanding London’s talented workforce.
BFI's Metro London Skills Cluster, supported by the National Lottery fund, is led by Film London and the National Film and Television School (NFTS) and includes three core partners: the Association of Colleges (AoC) and London Higher, the Capital City College Group (CCCG) and Middlesex University. Collectively, the Cluster partners work closely with industry to deliver an integrated programme of activities across London and Hertfordshire, Surrey and Buckinghamshire.
The cluster will add value to what’s already available and on offer to applicants, aiming to intensively scale up provision to build a workforce to match the future demand and is aimed at people at all levels of their training and career journey. This builds on the work of the Mayor of London’s Creative Skills Academy, launched in January 2022.
It’s vital that we continue to develop our talented, diverse workforce here in London, to capitalise on demand and fill thousands of new jobs being created. Together with NFTS, the Mayor of London, the BFI and industry partners, we’re committed to providing an even wider level of access to opportunities across London and the South East. I'm excited by the work of the cluster, and as Chair of the HE/FE group of the National Skills Task Force, know how this compliments the UK wide strategy being developed.Adrian Wootton OBE, Chief Executive for Film London
The Metro London Skills Cluster covers London and three of the Gateway counties to its west - Hertfordshire, Surrey and Buckinghamshire. The area is home to major producers and studios including Elstree, Pinewood, Ealing, Twickenham, Shepperton, Leavesden, Longcross and Bovingdon. These studios are also the UK production centres for some of the biggest film and television companies in the world including Warner Bros. Discovery, Disney, Netflix and Amazon.