Programme Launches To Support BAME Talent

A programme to support black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) talent behind-the-camera in UK film to progress into more senior roles has launched.

Make a Move: Film will support large-scale productions to offer opportunities to industry professionals with at least three years' experience to advance in their careers. Up to £10,000 is available per candidate. Productions are also expected to invest in the beneficiary and provide details of a training plan on application.

The initiative, supported by the BFI with National Lottery funds as part of its Future Film Skills strategy, will be open to films that pay the maximum contribution of £55,000 into the ScreenSkills Film Skills Fund – making sure that successful candidates get a chance to work on the biggest possible movies.

The initiative is modelled on the highly successful Make a Move scheme which has been run by the ScreenSkills High-end TV Skills Fund for five years and has seen more than 330 individuals successfully move into more senior roles at all levels.

Make a Move: Film is targeted at supporting BAME talent in recognition of concerns that when crew from under-represented ethnicities do find opportunities to enter the film industry, they often experience barriers to progression.

The programme will also prioritise job roles identified by industry through the ScreenSkills Skills Forecasting Service as in demand, such as 1st assistant director, editor, line producer, production manager, production accountant, script editor, script supervisor, location manager and post-production supervisor. Productions may make the case for other roles which they believe are difficult to recruit for.

Gareth Ellis-Unwin, ScreenSkills head of film, said: "This is a practical approach to the nurturing of BAME talent into more senior roles in the industry. Bringing in new entrants is vital to the continued buoyancy of UK film, but it is equally important that crew get the chance to move up and onwards. This is aimed at ensuring a diversity of crew in narrative and documentary features are progressing in their careers."

Tariq Wahr, ScreenSkills film production liaison manager, said: "Any production eligible for Make a Move funding is welcome to discuss supporting an individual in this way. To work effectively, this has to be a collaboration between us, the production and the individual, with a proper programme of activity, whether mentoring, coaching or training, for successful candidates."

Make a Move encourages on-the-job training of crew identified by productions as ready to move up into a more senior role with some support. At the end of the programme, the beneficiary will be established in a new role or able to apply for a promotion.

Up to £10,000 is available per candidate. It can be used for a range of uses including travel, subsistence and relocation expenses where the beneficiary is required for work or training away from home, training courses, professional coaching or costs incurred buying equipment related to the job role.

Make a Move: Film is not for trainees and all candidates must be at the experienced or expert stage of their career, in accordance with the ScreenSkills Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Framework.

It is hoped that up to 15 candidates will benefit from the programme in the first year.

www.screenskills.com