Hertsmere Borough Council is launching a new programme, Hertsmere Creative Futures, that will build on the borough’s rich screen heritage, creating stronger links between local young people and the thriving local film and television industry.
The programme will introduce young people to the range of opportunities that make the industry work, showing them there are avenues for people with many different skills, interests and career ambitions.
Film and television productions rely on far more than the roles seen on screen – they need people working in construction, carpentry and electrics; transport, security and catering; costume, hair and make-up; lighting and many other behind the scenes crucial roles.
Through Hertsmere Creative Futures, the council wants to help young people seize these opportunities, develop skills and make learn from people working in the industry.
The programme will launch with its first initiative, commissioned by Hertsmere and delivered by Brilliant Film Academy, offering young people aged 11–17 living in Hertsmere a fully funded, five-day introduction to the industry.
Young people taking part will gain hands-on experience, meet professionals working in the screen industries, learn about different careers and work together to produce their own creative project.
Cllr Jeremy Newmark, Leader of Hertsmere Borough Council said :
Hertsmere has a remarkable film and television heritage and a hugely successful industry, and is the home of Elstree Film Studios, Sky Studios Elstree, and Fairbank Studios, but we want its legacy to be about the future as well as the past. Behind every production are hundreds of people doing different jobs. Whatever a young person’s interests – design, finance, catering or a more traditional creative role – there could be a career for them in the screen industry.
Hertsmere Creative Futures is about making these opportunities visible to our young people. We want the industry on their doorstep, to be an industry that is open to them. I see this as the start of a pipeline from Hertsmere’s classrooms to Hertsmere’s studios. We want Hertsmere Creative Futures to grow, investing in local talent and taking the industry that is on our doorstep and turning it into opportunities and jobs for our residents.”