ScreenSkills is to fund 350 high-end placements for trainees this year as it steps up investment in its HETV Fund to £10.5m to address skills shortages.
The Trainee Finder programme supported 200 paid production placements in 2022-2023 and the scaling up represents a 75% increase.
Overall, ScreenSkills’ range of initiatives supported 5,000 people to enter and progress in the industry, up 260% year-on-year.
The total pot is £400,000 up on 2022-2023’s value, having previously been raised by £3.4m from 2021-2022’s £6.7m.
HETV productions budgeted a less than £5 million per episode will now step up their contribution to £73,3000 and productions costing more than £5 million will contribute £110,500.
In a ScreenSkills survey, 41% said the skills problem had got worse, almost twice the proportion of the previous year’s report.
Other challenges included ‘show jumping’, with 76% reporting incidents of crew leaving mid-production to take up a new job elsewhere.
Issues around leadership skills were identified as a concern by 79%, more than twice as many as the previous year, with 87% saying that with a lack of available talent, crew were stepping up to senior roles before they were ready.
Respondents said they wanted training to support wider skills development, inclusion and diversity, plus further work in tackling specific grade shortages.
ScreenSkills’ HETV Fund draws on contributions from all five major UK broadcasters as well as streamers such as Amazon, Apple and Netflix.
ScreenSkills also published a set of 'top tips for freelancers' this week, assembled by ThinkBigger managing director Edi Smockum.
Georgia Brown
The findings come as Amazon Studios' former Europe head Georgia Brown becomes chair of the Skills Task Force, which aims to tackle labour shortages in film and TV.
Building on ScreenSkills' response to the BFI Skills Review, the task force will focus on training and investment, access to the Apprenticeship Levy and forging stronger pathways from further and higher education into the screen industry, and will make recommendations to the government where appropriate.
Brown will lead a team of more than 20 senior figures in TV and film, drawn from all major broadcasters, studios, streamers and groups including ScreenSkills and Pact.
