West of England Film/High-End TV Workforce Development Programme 2024/25
In 2024/25 we co-delivered the West of England Film & High-End TV Workforce Development Programme at The Bottle Yard Studios, in partnership with Bristol UNESCO City of Film and Bristol Film Office. This industry-focussed training scheme was designed to equip local new entrants from backgrounds underrepresented in the film/TV industry with skills to become ‘set-ready’ for a career in scripted film and TV production.
The scheme was funded by the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority’s Mayoral Priority Skills Fund which provides flexible grants to meet current priority skills gaps in the region. It was part-funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
Applications
Applications for 2024/25 are now closed, and we are now getting ready to launch the next exciting phase of our skills programme. Please leave your details here to receive future skills updates.
Who was it for?
To take part, applicants must have been:
Participants must also have been from a background currently underrepresented in the film and TV industry.
Underrepresented groups include:
Why did we run it?
The West of England is one of the most film-friendly regions in the UK. The Bottle Yard Studios in Bristol is consistently popular with drama producers and has recently expanded, whilst the region’s Film Offices are busier than ever supporting film and TV shoots on location.
The reputation of the skilled local crew who currently work in the region plays a major part in attracting productions to film here. But in order to service the growing numbers of productions opting to film in the West, we need to grow our local crew base.
There has never been a better time to consider a career in scripted production – it is one of the fastest-growing parts of the region’s film and TV industry. On a national level, it is estimated that 21,000 new crew will be needed across the UK by 2025.
We believe that the opportunity to join this fast-growing industry should be open to everyone in the region, particularly those who are not currently represented in the film and TV workforce or who may not have previously known how to go about starting out in scripted production.
You can read more about why we have devised this programme here.
Partners & funders
This Programme was delivered by Bristol City Council’s Film Services (comprising The Bottle Yard Studios, Bristol UNESCO City of Film and Bristol Film Office) . It was funded by the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority’s Mayoral Priority Skills Fund which provides flexible grants to meet current priority skills gaps in the region. This project was part-funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.