Thank you to all of the young people and employers who attended the event yesterday which focussed on the progression and achievements of young people who have been involved in the Foot in the Door programme (more information about the programme can be found here).

Noel Dunne, Director of Creative Alliance, opened the session by explaining that the whole point of the funding for this programme is to increase the diversity of people entering into the film and production industry, the obvious next step being to bring these talented young people and our regional film industry experts together. Foot in the Door has created very skilled, talented and work ready young people who are learning about the reality of working in the creative sector. They are keen, willing and career hungry.

Pip Piper, CEO for the Producers Forum, spoke of the partnership between the Producers Forum and Creative Alliance and the fantastic things happening on, and because of, the programme – ‘the wind has changed and it’s great to be a part of that’.

Funding for Foot in The Door also includes five £1,500 wage bursaries to encourage production companies to employ an apprentice. Additional incentives include £1,500 government funding (if applicable) and the support and guidance of Creative Alliance at every stage of the process.

Programme participants provided an insight into why they enrolled onto the programme and their ultimate ambitions:

 “I want a legitimate chance to be part of a production company, to gain greater understanding of the overall process and I am willing and prepared to go above and beyond because I care about the future of my career” Tyrone Reid

“I want to start as a runner and work my way up to be a video editor or camera assistant – to help as much as possible and to make the projects that I work on as good as they can be” Sarah Knowlton

Taking on an apprentice can often seem daunting and employers will have concerns about how effective the process will be. Lee Kemp, Director at Vermillion Films, talked to the group about his experiences of taking on an apprentice, how he was skeptical at first but that the overall experience was useful and positive. Lee explained that the process of taking on an apprentice has not been as daunting or time consuming as he’d anticipated. “Indeed I’ve been able to putting Reuben onto chargeable contracts much earlier than I thought so he’s already starting to return the investment in him.”

Lee’s apprentice is Reuben who wanted to share his thoughts from the perspective of the apprentice – he couldn’t say enough about how brilliant it has been, for example, he was hugely fortunate to work on a feature film two weeks into his apprenticeship. The variety of tasks that he is asked to work on are bringing new skills and experiences his way helping him to define where he sees his career progressing – ‘I have learned more in the space of 5 months working for Vermillion Films than I have playing around with cameras for 3 years’

We will be holding a celebration event to showcase the work produced by the Foot in The Door participants in February. To register your interest in the celebratory event, or to find out more about the employer bursaries on offer, please contact Sarah Harding at [email protected]