UK's Future Film Industry Boost

The BFI today announces the 24 regional partners that will help deliver its pioneering BFI Film Academy Network programme in 2012/13. The BFI Film Academy is the result of a unique partnership with the Department for Education in England, which has provided £3m funding for the programme, and forms a key part of the BFI’s ambitious plans to revolutionise film education for 5-19 year olds across the UK.
Providing opportunities for talented and committed young people to develop news skills and build a career in the film industry, no matter where they live or what their background, is a core aim of the BFI’s Film Forever five year plan to support the future success of UK film and forms the central tenet of the BFI Film Academy programme.
Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove, commented: "The new academy is open to young people from all backgrounds and will play its part in helping ensure the British film industry remains competitive."
BFI CEO Amanda Nevill commented: "I am so excited about this really important project. Film and the creative industries as a whole are at the heart of the UK’s economic recovery. Film makes a multi-billion contribution to UK GDP, we are the third most important market for film in the world, and our industry is expected to grow significantly in the coming years. However, to ensure further growth we must find, encourage and nurture the talent of tomorrow - those with the creativity and skills needed to drive future success in the UK’s film industry. This project is designed to do just that."
Over the next four months 24 regional partners - which include a diverse range of film and media training organisations, university and delivery experts in the cultural and education sector - will work with the BFI and its strategic partners BAFTA, Creative Skillset and Pinewood Studios to bring rich learning experiences to nearly 500 16-19 year olds across England[1], bringing a career in the film industry to life and widening opportunities for young people to engage with film.
In March 2013, up to 50 of the most talented and committed young people from the regional programme will go on to attend a residential Talent Campus, which will help develop their skills even further and signpost further education and training opportunities, and future employment within the film industry. The first fully integrated nationally coordinated development programme for young film talent, the residential Talent Campus will operate in March 2013 and the BFI will announce the delivery partner for this in the New Year.
Led by industry experts, BFI Film Academy courses will cover every area of the film industry, enabling young people to develop the commercial and cultural knowledge and skills to help make a career in film a reality. After completing their BFI Film Academy courses, young people will progress to a range of opportunities, including apprenticeships and employment in the film sector and further learning through Higher Education.
Opportunities offered across the BFI Film Academy network in 2012/13 will include the chance for students to meet and hear insights from leading industry practitioners including writers, directors, producers, film critics, technical experts, craftspeople and studio executives about how a film reaches the marketplace, from development, production, post-production, marketing and PR through to sales, distribution and exhibition. There will be opportunities to make films using professional techniques, equipment and technologies including 3D; and to develop an increased understanding of the history, theory and criticism of British and World Cinema. The BFI Film Academy delivery partners will reveal further details of their courses as they begin to recruit students in the coming weeks.
The BFI’s aim is to ensure everyone, particularly young people, wherever they live, can learn about and enjoy the widest range of film. In 2012/13 the BFI Film Academy network will operate across every region of England giving a diverse group of young people from all backgrounds the opportunity to get involved, and the BFI aims to work with partners in the nations of the UK to make the Film Academy UK-wide from 2013.
The 24 BFI Film Academy partners in 2012/13 are:

East
Cambridgeshire Film Consortium (Cambridge)
Culture Works Foundation (Norwich)
University of Hertfordshire School of Creative Arts (Hatfield, Herts)

East Midlands
Broadway Media Centre (Nottingham)
CfBT Education Trust (Lincoln)

London
CTVC (Central London)
Eastside Educational Trust (East London)
Met Film School (West London)
Revolver Entertainment (West London)
The Film and Video Workshop (North London)
Young Film Academy (Central London)

North East
Beacon Hill Arts and Arpeggio Films (Tyne & Wear and County Durham)
Tyneside Cinema (Newcastle)

North West
Cornerhouse (Greater Manchester)
FACT/ Signal Film and Media (Liverpool and Cumbria)

South East
Film Oxford (Oxford)
Resource Productions (Slough)
Screen South (Maidstone)

South West
Bristol Old Vic Theatre School (Bristol)
Somerset Film and Video Ltd (Bridgwater, Somerset)
The Watershed Arts Trust (Bristol)

West Midlands
Thomas Adams School in association with Wem Town Hall and University of Wolverhampton (Wolverhampton and Shropshire)

Yorkshire and Humber
Reel Solutions (Leeds)
The Sheffield Media & Exhibition Centre (Sheffield)
www.bfi.org.uk/education-research/5-19-film-education-scheme-2013-2017