BFI's Metro London Skills Cluster Supported by National Lottery Fund

Skills
Empowered by a £2.2 million National Lottery grant from the BFI, Film London and NFTS join forces to fuel the UK's cinematic renaissance, synergising with industry giants and esteemed educational hubs to cultivate London's next wave of screen talent.

Regional partnerships to elevate skills and increase diversity in the screen industries


BFI's Metro London Skills Cluster(MLSC) Supported by National Lottery Fund is led by Film London and the National Film and Television School (NFTS) and includes three other core partners: the Association of Colleges (AoC) and London Higher, the Capital City College Group (CCCG) and Middlesex University. Over the next three years, the Cluster partners will work closely with industry, as well as additional colleges and universities, to deliver an integrated programme of activities across London, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Surrey.

image of a film studio with people operating cameras and lights

The Cluster 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.

Though the writers’ and actors’ strikes in the US have presented a challenge during 2023, the UK’s Film and Television industry has grown significantly during the last few years. Official 2022 statistics revealed a record £6.27 billion film and high-end television production spend in the UK, reinforcing UK’s position as a leading global production centre. The Metro London Skills Cluster will help to meet this demand by expanding and developing the talented workforce across the Cluster region.

The thematic areas on which the Metro London Skills Cluster will initially focus include Employability, Workforce Development and Retention and Curriculum Pilots

Leads

Activity lead

Partners