INITIATIVE TO GROW LOCAL INDUSTRY

The Indigenous Cinema and Culture Festival (FeCCI) is on a mission to bring together the producers of indigenous Brazilian culture and inspire discussions on issues that can strengthen and promote the culture of its native people. The festival focuses on the stories of indigenous collectives and serves to showcase the creative achievements within the community. The program is free and accessible to all who aspire to work and create within the industry and aims to encourage and recognise filmmakers with awards, promote collaborations and create new audiences for their art. Representing a significant effort to promote indigenous cinema and culture the festival has already made a significant impact on the local community and its creative people.

This local filmmaking group launched an inspired community project in 2022, called ‘The Island’. Open to anyone within Newcastle and the surrounding areas, regardless of experience with film production they recruited 40 volunteers, some never experienced filmmaking before, and created a short film in just six months. Teaching real industry skills and practices, the initiative provided hands-on opportunities to pitch the film, prepare the shoot, work with a large crew and learn the different depts on-set, while using industry-standard equipment such as cameras, lighting and sound. The film club works hard to break down barriers to entry and encourages everyone to be interested in filmmaking while providing the support, guidance and tools to achieve it.

The Creative Opportunity Program (COP) was launched by Oregon Film to support and grow projects such as diversity and inclusion initiatives, educational programmes, workforce development, regional production development and industry-related small business growth. In its first year alone the initiative granted £375,000 to 34 programs including the Tell Your Story Grant, Outdoor Adventure Film Grant and the Pathways job training and placement program. A mutual success story, this initiative has brought growth to the local creative community while expanding and developing talent to build a workforce with historically good wages and benefits.

The Pact Skills Platform recognised a skills gap in the market and is devised specifically to fill that gap. The modules of the Pact Skills Platform are designed to foster a deeper understanding of the business and commercial aspects of TV production. The goal is to support individuals already engaged in production by broadening their knowledge base, and to assist member companies in boosting productivity. By empowering more junior members of the team, the Platform encourages them to take on new roles and responsibilities essential to the evolving business models of the TV production industry. It has also been designed to be used by universities to ensure that graduates entering the industry have the right knowledge and skills.

Resource Productions CIC, (RP) is a regionally-based, not-for-profit, global majority female-led, community interest group with a mission to enable social change through art, film and TV whilst diversifying the creative industries. In recent years the industry has identified gaps in the screen sector workforce and as a result, initiatives have grown to train new entrants to fill these roles however, there is still a gap: taking crew out of training and placing them within the industry. Located in Slough (the most diverse borough in the UK) and neighboured by two major film studios it seemed ideal that RP was chosen by the BFI to lead one of the ‘clusters’ aimed at connecting the local talent supply chain.

An inspirational initiative, the Sudanese Filmmaking Association (SFMA) launched a project that would bring displaced, war-torn Sudanese creatives together to train and develop one another through a small financial exchange and mentorship program. Aspiring filmmakers and content creators would be encouraged to tell their stories of war while supporting their income by exchanging knowledge and experience with their respective mentors. Between April-Sept 2023 a staggering 183 workshops and 26 masterclasses have taken place, resulting in 7 films and 2 documentary series made by Sundanese refugees. The outcome is a collaborative community of filmmakers affected by war but adopting the peaceful tools of creativity to share their stories and cherish their dignity as they earn a small but precious income.

The annual Latin American Forum on Cinema and Social Impact was launched so that attendees could meet, reflect and grow their networks through an exchange of strategies, information, knowledge and methodologies. Focused on strengthening practices, fostering continued learning and growing the community within their respective territories the sharing of ideas has become the impetus for this event. The purpose of the forum is to be a place of confluence of Latin American knowledge, tools and practices to inspire and action self-referenced distribution paths and social engagement to strengthen and establish successful routes for future growth.

The Church is a post-production collective based in Kingsland Church Studios, Newcastle, in the North East. They offer a wide range of post-production services, including DaVinci Resolve colour grading, offline/online editing, VFX, and audio post-production, such as ADR, sound design, music composition, and mixing. They cater to various industries, including broadcast, streaming TV, film, and games, all within the beautiful Kingsland Church Studios in Byker. The Church has successfully trained and employed graduates and regional post-production staff, working on projects like BBC comedy and Channel 5 drama. Overcoming initial challenges of building the facility and attracting clients, they now serve prominent brands like Tiger Aspect, BBC, Paramount, Banijay, Amazon Prime, and Channel 5

“Where to Watch,” is a powerful initiative that promotes Irish film, TV dramas, animations and documentaries to global audiences. Powered by Usheru technology and supported by Screen Ireland, this digital platform is a central hub streamlining access to those wanting to explore more Irish audiovisual content regardless of location. Created to amplify the visibility of Irish films, its mission is to increase viewership domestically and internationally while championing the diverse voices, tales and talent that the local industry has to offer. In addition to this, the initiative also aims to foster collaborations, attract new talent to the Irish film industry and encourage future investment for continued growth.

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