Welcome to the Screen Alliance Wales October Newsletter!

Firstly, if you haven’t done so already, we would like to encourage you to create a profile on our website (here). This is an incredible place to showcase any credits, skills and links to previous work. It also keeps you up to date with all vacancies that we advertise and automatically signs you up to our newsletter. If you already have an account on our directory, do make sure to keep all your details updated with you most up to date information

Vacancies

As always, we would like to start off by highlighting all the opportunities that are currently available over on our vacancies page. This is regularly updated, so make sure to keep checking the page on our website here. Now is such a great time to explore the varied roles that are on offer to join the booming Film and TV industry in Wales.

We have the following exciting opportunities available:

Facilities by ADF currently require a Sales Ledger Administrator

Real SFX are looking for a Finance Manager

Gritty Talent require a Project Manager

Welsh National Opera have roles for a Touring Stage Technician and also a Stage Electrician.

Painting Practice are looking for a Compositing Artist.

Boom Cymru are seeking a Production Manager and a HR Administrator to work within the production office.

Sponsors and Supporters

The work we carry out is only made possible by the fantastic contributions from our wonderful Sponsors and Supporters. Here’s what they have been up to this month…

Bad Wolf have been sharing some incredible content for the build up of Season 3 of their ground-breaking His Dark Materials series. For exclusive trailers, posters and more, make sure to follow Bad Wolf on social media!

University of South Wales – We welcomed students from USW to a special Bargain Hunt Careers Day with the BBC (see more below).

Facilities by ADF is pleased to announce the expansion of its Bridgend workspace with a new 5,400 sq ft factory unit, to support the increased demand for the Group’s services. This is another key milestone for the Company as it continues to build on the significant progress made since listing earlier this year. The new factory is perfectly situated right next to ADF’s current factories and will bolster the existing 9,000 sq ft of factory space currently available. This latest addition will help to promote further growth in the business through the creation of new employment opportunities.  

Deputy CFO, Ross McDiarmid commented, “We are excited to announce this latest expansion to our existing factory portfolio which will generate new employment opportunities and enable us to meet the increasing demand for our services. We have seen strong momentum across the business over the past year and this new factory demonstrates yet another example of our commitment to continuing this upwards trajectory.”

Ysgol Pen-y-Bryn This Christmas Pen-y-Bryn Films returns to the next instalment of their Doctor Who series , following on from this Summer's Doctor Who:Curse Of The Mummy Film Skills project. This terms film will be created by our Key Stage 5 learners up against the menace of the Christmas Elves. As part of the project the group recently went on a residential visit to Puzzlewood Forest in the Forest of Dean, which will feature in this terms project and accompanying magazine. The group enjoyed their visit and worked hard throughout the visit to complete some new scenes for their latest film project.

Screen Alliance Wales award news

Last month, we shared the incredibly exciting news that we have been nominated for 3 awards from Investors in People, Careers Wales and the Cardiff Business Awards. Well, the good news just keeps on coming for SAW as we have also been selected as a finalist for the Makers and Shakers Initiative to Grow Local Industry award. We are yet again overwhelmed and incredibly grateful for the recognition our work is receiving by so many prestigious organisations.

John Fillingham visits the University of South Wales

Early on in October, we visited the University of South Wales alongside John Fillingham, director of Anchor Risk Management, who gave an incredibly informative lecture on set etiquette and health and safety on film & TV sets. John heads up the health and safety team at Wolf Studios Wales, as well as other filming locations across the country, being present as nearly every stage of the production process. In the session, John went into detail about what goes on behind the scenes of a production, the various planning stages and demonstrating just how vital this area of the industry is. The students then got the opportunity to ask questions so that (when working on their own projects) they ensure correct health and safety procedures are in place throughout. A huge thank you to John for delivering the session and Tom Ware from USW for introducing the event.

Screen Alliance Wales: Out and About

We set up a stall for a Careers Wales event in the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama where we brought with us a VR headset, showcasing how VR and other gaming skills can cross over into the film and TV industry. Rhys also delivered a talk all about this as part of the day. The attendees got the opportunity to have a go with the headset which was a tremendous amount of fun! A special thank you to Painting Practice for donating the headset as well as helping us set it all up.

As part of Ffilm Cymru’s Foot in the Door project, we also welcomed students from Coleg Gwent for an Industry Awareness Day. This covered a wide range of media-based activities and got the students thinking about career paths. Thank you to everyone involved!

Bargain Hunt Day

Working alongside the BBC, we popped over to the BBC Studios at Roath Lock Cardiff Bay to deliver a special carousel day, giving attendees the opportunity to chat with heads of department on Bargain Hunt about work in the industry. The show is still one of the most popular day-time shows on British television, and requires a huge team made up of runners, researchers, and producers as well as a workforce in both pre and post-production to keep it at its high quality. The day saw young people from the University of South Wales, Cardiff and Vale College, Oasis and Compact chat with industry professionals from a range of departments. We hope that this has encouraged those who attended to pursue a career within this industry and hopefully one day join the amazing Bargain Hunt team.

BAFTA Bursury for Anson and Kudzai

We are thrilled to announce that two of our former trainees, Anson and Kudzai, have been awarded the Prince William BAFTA Bursary! Anson joined the His Dark Materials season 2 crew last year working in the sound department, and made himself a vital member of the team. Kudzai joined the crew this year for a Bad Wolf show and also demonstrated an incredible professionalism within the camera department. We are ever so proud of Anson and Kudzai and are sure that this bursary will help both of them achieve their goals working in the industry. To read more, please click here.

BBC Wales Creative Production Visit

We were so pleased to be able to welcome staff from BBC Cymru Wales to the Screen Alliance Wales classroom. The event started with SAW’s Allison explaining all the work that Screen Alliance Wales does within the film and TV industry, before handing over to Bad Wolf founder Jane Tranter who spoke about some of the exciting projects that the company has on the horizon. The day finished with a special Q&A with Jane, Steffan Morris, Gabriella Ricci and Kate Crowther all from Bad Wolf, answering questions from the attendees. We loved welcoming you to Wolf Studios Wales and hope to see you all again in the near future.

Focus 2022

Taking place this December, Focus 2022 will be an incredible online and live event where over 150 speakers from Film, TV, Games and XR to discuss the rapid developments within the screen sector. The live event will be taking place on the 6-7th of December with the online content taking place from the 8-9th of December. We will be sharing all news and updates regarding this exciting event over the coming weeks, so make sure to keep up to date with our social media channels. For more information, please click here.

Careers event at the Grangetown Hub

Lastly, at the end of the month we headed over to the Grangetown Hub for a special careers event to chat with people from the local community about the range of opportunities available at Bad Wolf and in the film and TV industry. A special thank you to Natalie from the Boss and Brew Academy for hosting the event and to members from Bad Wolf who came down with us.

Don’t forget to follow us on our social media channels to keep up to date on all the latest news and vacancies. 

Twitter: @ScreenAllianceW /@SAWeducation

Instagram & Facebook: @ScreenAllianceWales