Mark Milsome Foundation Scholarship Announced

The Mark Milsome Foundation has announced their first Scholarship, to take place in collaboration with the Guild of British Camera Technicians.

The Foundation chose to approach the Guild because quite simply, it has developed a training and mentorship programme respected throughout the industry and which is considered to be one of the finest technical training programmes in the world.

The two-year programme produces technicians who are educated and trained to the highest standards. Alongside an extensive network of industry contacts, patrons, sponsors and members, the GBCT supports its trainees throughout the programme, from attending an intensive trainee course through to paid work on feature films, television dramas and commercials, continuing to provide advice as required once they have completed their time as trainees and moved on to the next stages of their careers.

Mark worked his way up through the camera department from ‘tea to DP’ and the members of his Foundation wanted to support and join forces with a training programme that they believe he would have been proud to be associated with.

The GBCT training programme invites applicants from the whole of the UK to apply to their programme and Mark would have applauded the inclusion of applicants nationwide. We believe he would also support a programme accessible to young people and based on talent rather than the strength of their industry contacts or traditional academic qualifications. As a Foundation, we recognise that some of the most talented technicians do not have a history of academic excellence and only discover their true potential after they leave full time education and are given an opportunity to work in a creative industry.

The Guild receives approximately five hundred applications for each training programme, which takes place every two years. After a rigorous process of elimination, approximately seventy are invited to be interviewed by a panel of Senior Guild Members. A final twelve to fourteen people are then invited to attend a self-funded, 6-day practical course, where they are assessed for their potential. At the end of the trainee course, Guild members consult and select six or seven trainees to become part of the next camera trainee intake.

The Mark Milsome Foundation is proud to announce that it will collaborate with the Guild during its final selection process at the end of 2018, and that a member of the Mark Milsome Foundation will join the Guild of British Camera Technician members in the final week of the assessment workshop.

Over the six days, the Mark Milsome Foundation member will observe and assess potential candidates and decide who, in their opinion, best represents the qualities that Mark Milsome embodied during his thirty-year career in the camera department.

The successful trainee will be granted a place on the GBCT Trainee programme and will have the full cost of their practical assessment fee refunded. They will become known as the Mark Milsome Trainee for the duration of the programme. Our Foundation will monitor and support the successful trainee and pledge to enhance the whole GBCT Training programme by adding educational trips and additional training programmes, including production safety courses.

In association with BAFTA the successful candidate will also be granted free access to BAFTA events, In London and around the UK for the duration of their course, subject to availability.

The next GBCT trainee programme starts in January 2019 and will be the first to incorporate a Mark Milsome Trainee and a collaboration between our Foundation and the Guild.

We hope to announce information relating to a second scholarship next year.