By Jenny Hammond, Employability Adviser in the Careers Team

I was fortunate enough to secure a sought-after place at the BAFTA Creative Careers Showcase at BAFTA’s venue in Piccadilly, London in December. For advisers in the Careers Team, it is important to get out and meet colleagues from across universities, but more importantly to meet people from industry and pick up knowledge from those in the know, which we can bring back to LJMU and share with students. People in the creative industries always have great tales to tell and many are keen to discuss their experience and expertise, so this was the perfect opportunity to network and listen to some engaging speakers discussing one of the most exciting industries in the UK.

London is very much at the heart of the creative industries so it was great to go down to the capital for this event but it was also good to hear on the day that an intentional geographical shift has taken place, which has seen an increase in creative projects outside of London. A number of industry experts pointed out that the North West’s creative sector is strong and growing and the good news for LJMU students is that more projects are set to take place in the North West in 2019 and beyond. Many people were also interested to hear that Liverpool is one of the most filmed cities outside of London, a fact that I was proud to share. Twickenham Studios at Edge Lane in Liverpool was brought up in one discussion and here’s hoping that this will further help to put the city on the media and film map.

The creative industries boom

Tim Hunter, Director of Learning and New Talent at BAFTA opened the event and introduced the first panel. Margaret Burgin, Careers Associate at Screenskills started by giving an overview of some industry information and statistics including:

• The creative industries currently contribute £92 billion to the UK economy
• 19% jobs growth between 2011-2016
• TV, in particular, is booming
• VR is growing in areas like medicine
• Screen is growing with 29 big budget films worth more than £20 million made in the UK in 2018
• Netflix are currently looking for a UK base (I think Liverpool would make a great location!)
• The Screenskills Skills Forecasting Service, which investigates current and future skills gaps, found that in the last three months respondents reported a 58% increase in activity, 68% had difficulty with skills, and 86% had difficulty recruiting.
• There is a big skills gap!

Screenskills host free one or two day bootcamps around the country with a range of different providers. Margaret also highlighted that the industry had come a long way as most runner roles and internships are now paid, which is particularly important from a diversity point of view.

Alison Small, CEO of the Production Guild, reiterated Margaret’s point about the skills gap the industry is experiencing. There is more production taking place in the UK but the industry is struggling to find people with the right skills. This includes finding people to work in line production and location management, but also includes roles like production accountants. As these roles aren’t considered as ‘sexy’, they often aren’t on people’s radars but Alison explained how creative they can be as accountants work with production team to ensure films are brought in on budget. Students should look to apply for trainee schemes through Screenskills’ Trainee Finder (which will open again in late 2019). Last year all 250 trainees found work across the country.

Joyce Adeluwoye-Adams, Global Diversity & Inclusion Director at King (the games company that created Candy Crush) spoke enthusiastically about the broad range of jobs available in the games industry, in areas like data science, software, and IT project management. The global games market is currently worth $137.9 billion with mobile games growing 25% a year and currently worth $70.3 billion. Joyce encourages people to look out for internships including their own internships at King.

The panel took some questions from the audience and discussed career changers and mature candidates, emphasising that they may need to start at the bottom and work their way up depending on their background. In some cases sideways moves will be possible, however, which is what Joyce did when moving from the media into the games industry.

CVs

One of the key things that careers professionals want to hear about is what the industry looks for when reviewing CVs. The panel each gave some input here and the following points were covered:

• No spelling mistakes
• Good personal statement – make it interesting and individual
• Highlight relevant experience
• Make sure the right skills are included
• Keep it succinct
• Don’t use smiley faces in emails
• NEVER write ‘Dear Sirs’ and don’t use the wrong name
• An impersonal approach doesn’t work
• Carry out research
• Lack of direction, no clear interest in the company’s work, or evidence of understanding the area doesn’t get you anywhere
• Keep applying every couple of months – sometimes the company need someone very quickly and the CV might just arrive at the right time
• Look for events and try to speak to people face-to-face

Finding a hat that fits

Sarah Putt, MD at Sara Putt Associates chaired the next panel, which discussed transferable skills and personal traits that employers look for.

Louise Hussey, Executive VFX Producer at Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) told the audience that visual effects (VFX) is also booming and they are crying out for creative people in IT and art but also in areas like accountancy, PR, and HR. We heard that there are a few graduate schemes with VFX companies and Access VFX have been travelling around the country visiting schools and colleges to try to get more people interested in the industry and understanding the different pathways in.

Bianca Hamilton-Clarke, Creative Resources Coordinator at Shine TV, discussed their graduate trainee scheme, which helps get people into roles in TV. In this role, trainees spend time with the office runners, where they get an insight into production. Bianca emphasised the importance of teamwork and being able to use initiative. She encourages trainees to get as involved as they can and ask for more work to do to help them learn and make a good impression. When reviewing CVs for the scheme she looks for things that will grab her attention and is keen to find people who have gained lots of people experience, perhaps in bars or retail. Bianca also discourages students from listing all short films they have worked on, suggesting to just select a few with their role highlighted. Skills are hobbies are also important as they give a good insight into the person. But being particularly outgoing and charismatic isn’t a pre-requisite – one of Bianca’s best trainees was fairly quiet but very focussed with the tenacity to get things done.

Tara Saunders, Head of Studio Operations at PlayStation’s London Studio focussed on skills, in particular softer skills, such as teamwork, collaboration, and communication skills. Creativity and programming skills were also mentioned but she said that softer skills are of particular importance as software can be taught. They really look for people who they believe will fit in with the rest of the team so they look at outside interests as well. Original, imaginative work rather than ‘copy-work’ is also very much sought after.

Some additional points from across the panel:

• Regarding creative output, candidates should show good judgement about their work and should know what they need to learn
• Candidates should be self-aware about skills and weaknesses
• There is a fine line between enthusiasm and over-enthusiasm when approaching companies!
• The industry is getting much better in opening up opportunities to people from different backgrounds and with disabilities.
• Regularly contact the company, perhaps every couple of months. It is really about timing – the next time might be the right time

CVs:

• Include details about specific skills and knowledge from the course – such as understanding call sheets and understanding how a production is run
• Highlight specific technical skills
• Include a small section on short films and outline the role you were in and what you did
• Differences of opinion on length – Bianca was happy with more than one page but others mentioned that one page is helpful if you can get everything on it.
• Don’t use tiny font
• Could put general information on one page and show-reel on the other
• Screenskills encourage people to create a profile with their site and connect and network

My big break

Sara Putt also hosted the final panel, hearing from emerging talents on the steps they took before and after leaving education.

Dan Pearce, Game Director at Four Circle Interactive told us how he submitted pictures of a game he wanted to make to a BAFTA games competition as a teenager and won. After starting university, he dropped out to start his own games company and used the networking and support from BAFTA to help with this. Dan went along to various events, including the Eurogame Expo at Earls Court where he spoke to various companies after watching videos of their games, helping him network with people in the industry.

Ellie Pitt, Journalist at ITV News West Country reflected on her time as an English student where she was involved with lots of extra-curricular activities including writing for the university paper and entering the Breaking into News competition with an ITN report. Although she didn’t win, the Head liked her report and offered her work experience. She then gained support from BAFTA who sponsored her to do an MA in TV journalism at City University.

Charlotte Regan, Writer and Filmmaker spoke about how she started making rap videos on her Hackney estate when she was a teenager, which led to collaborating on other filming projects. She had her Nan to thank for suggesting that she entered a BAFTA completion, which she won, and went on to do a film degree and continue creating short films and music videos.

Some overall advice from the panel:

• Regularly go to events and network
• Find people’s emails and make contact
• Know where filming and production is taking place and go along and try to speak to people and/or observe
• Get lots of advice and perspectives from other people in the industry
• Find out about schemes and competitions
• Do lots of work experience, get on set, and do runner work

Some extra hints and tips picked up throughout the day:

• Resilience is needed – you may feel out your depth but just go for it and give it a go
• Start a body of work at university
• Engage with programmes you want to make
• There is currently a big appetite for real, truthful news and real stories. Lot of money to be made in analysing the news
• Keep a look out for open days at places like Pinewood.
• BAFTA encourage people to connect with industry professionals on social media, ask questions and ask to be put in touch with other people in the industry – keep doubling your network!
• Create content
• Students should put “I give permission for my CV to be shared” on their CV due to GDPR
• If you are trying to get into TV, it is important to actually watch TV! Be an active consumer.
• Many 18-25 year olds don’t watch linear TV but they really need to if this is the field they are trying to get into.