Initial Research: Short Films // Part 7 - Training & Development

Lighthouse (http://www.lighthouse.org.uk/)

Support programmes:

·         Guiding Lights – Since being launched in 2006, it had become the UK film industry’s most prestigious mentoring scheme. The programme supports upcoming filmmakers and professionals through high-level mentoring, complemented by a range of training and networking activities. Each mentee is matched with a leading film industry professional that provides advice and guidance over a 9-month period. Previous mentors include Danny Boyle, Barbara Broccoli, Sam Mendes, Alison Owen, Alex Garland, Nira Park and many more.

·         BFI Short – Lighthouse are in control of this high quality production scheme which has helped produce 17 major short films over the past two years. It is a scheme which caters for a lot of producers as it spans genres from drama to comedy, thriller to sci-fi, and featuring filmmakers from a range of creative disciplines including film, TV, documentary, commercials and theatre, then the projects are selected for their strength of artistic vision and potential audience appeal.

·         Studio - The studio supports an emerging breed of practitioner working at the intersection of digital art, design, technology, science, film and the wider creative industries.

Rain Dance (http://www.raindance.co.uk/site/)

Support programmes:

• Raindance film festival offers a variety of different courses including screenwriting, producing, directing and technical. 
• They also allow you to submit your own video's with a small fee that if your short, feature or music video is picked it will be screened at their film festival. From this festival you can also win prizes like awards and money, which is a great addition for a filmmaker to add to the monetary rewards of a film or the reputation of the actual film.
• Finally, Raindance Film Festival also has a variety of content in its shorts section online where filmmakers are given an opportunity to broaden their audience by allowing consumers to watch their films online at a specialised hub for short films, compared to searching for shorts on a wider website like YouTube or Vimeo.

Creative Skill Set (http://www.skillset.org/)

Support programmes:

           

·         When navigating through their website, they offer clear support in their ‘Who we help’ category, which lists: Young Creative Talent, Creative Businesses, Creative Professionals and Trainers and Educators. The type of support they offer is work placements, jobs, funding, apprenticeships, courses and an education on the creative industries.

The Script Factory (http://www.scriptfactory.co.uk/)

Support programmes:

·         Before the summer of 2013, The Script Factory used to offer a training option but has now closed. Although, they do offer a ‘development service’ where the script writer has a consultation meeting with a group of professionals and develop the script without a pre-structured formula.

The DFG (http://thedfg.org/)

Support programmes:

·         Joseph Rowntree Foundation is hosting a special screening and drinks reception at Sheffield Doc/Fest. At this special screening they premiere films, meet the filmmakers and meet some special guests. This helps as it creates exposure for the films and filmmakers and introduces different audience types on a large scale.