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October Newsletter - start of article

October Newsletter

A very autumnal welcome to our October Newsletter! The weather might be changing, but things are still as busy as ever here at Screen Alliance Wales. We’ve had yet another jam-packed month here at Wolf Studios Wales to tell you about, so without further ado, here’s a roundup of our October.

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.

·      Wales Millennium Centre have multiple positions available including:

o   IT Helpdesk Engineer

o   Digital Officer

o   Stage Door Receptionist

o   Casual Event Security Commissionaire

o   Customer Relations Assistants (deadline 29-10-21)

·      Nimble Productions require a Junior Production Manager

·      Boom Cymru need a Casting Producer

·      HMW Casting are currently looking for a Casting Assistant (deadline 29-10-21)

·      ARTISAN VFX have a position available for a VFX Coordinator

·      DUPE VFX are seeking a VFX 2D Compositor

Careers café 12 - IJPR

For this month’s Careers Café, we welcomed the fantastic Chris Worwood and Liam Jones from publicity company IJPR. IJPR was set up by Chris and his husband, Ian Johnson, 15 years ago and they are now one of the country’s top PR agencies with a huge list of credits to their name. With offices in both London and Cardiff, IJPR deal with publicity for huge shows such as His Dark Materials, A Discovery of Witches, I Hate Suzie, Last Kingdom and many more. Chris and Liam gave an amazing session for our attendees where they discussed where they both started out, the nature of PR, the effect that Covid has had on the industry as a whole and the impact of social media within publicity. PR encompasses a wide variety of tasks, but predominantly works to promote TV shows and films across a variety of platforms. Every show is different, and therefore each requires its own unique set of practices throughout filming (on set etc) and when the show is aired; for instance, episodes that are released weekly need different treatment than box sets which are released all at once. Although it may seem as if there are few opportunities to break into the industry, Liam and Chris’ advice was to explore the vast number of different jobs within the industry; everything from accountants to costume breakdown artists. There are so many opportunities available, especially within Wales’ booming TV industry.

A very big thank you to Chris and Liam for being a guest for this month’s Careers Café. Make sure to keep an eye out for our social media channels to see who our next Careers Café guest will be. Watch this space…

IJPR is one of the biggest PR companies in the UK
Chris and Liam at a BAFTA event

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 were honoured to accept the Production Company of the Year Award at this year’s Edinburgh TV Festival! His Dark Materials star Amir Wilson presented an emotional and surprised Jane Tranter with the well-deserved award. Bad Wolf CEO Jane Tranter said “The most exciting news! It is really brilliant to accept this award on behalf of all the Bad Wolves who have worked so hard here in Wales to achieve this great honour”. Congratulations to Bad Wolf from everyone here at Screen Alliance Wales. A worthy winner.

Facilities by ADF have announced that they will soon be relocating to their brand new Operational Base facility in Surrey. The team will be moving to their incredible new facility next spring. Make sure to follow Facilities by ADF on their social media channels for all updates and information from their organisation.

Ysgol Pen-Y-Bryn have been super busy planning for their next ‘Pen-y-Bryn Films’ project. Their Key Stage 5 learners have been testing out adding special effects to their alien crash site recently ready for a sequence for after half term whilst the Key Stage 3 Film group also having been busy recording scenes for the film project. A number of great scenes have already been shot recently on the group’s indoor set! Good luck with it all Pen-Y-Bryn, we can’t wait to see the finished project!

BECTU will soon be putting on another of their Creative Industry Safety Passport courses once again. The session is a one-day health & safety course designed specifically for workers, employed or freelance, working in film, TV, theatre, and live events. To book onto this session, please visit their website here. They will also be putting on another Café CULT session which this time will be focusing on ‘Understanding Psychosis’ which aims at anyone working in the creative sector in Wales who want to understand more about Psychosis. You can learn more about the course and register here. They have also teamed up with 6ft from the Spotlight to pilot the exciting new role of Well Being Facilitator on TV and Film productions in Wales.

Mad Dog 2020 are delighted to announce that their Assistant Director training goes live at the National Films & TV School on the 15th of November, Beckinfied, with this soon being repeated Cymru!

Coleg y Cymoedd are preparing for their first physical advice day, taking place on the 3rd of November. We have been invited and are looking forward to working alongside the creative courses at the event!

St Alban’s Partnership

We are thrilled to announce that we are now in partnership with St Alban’s Primary School in Tremorfa! We have already visited several times, putting on Daemon Puppetry workshops, scenic painting, and science experiments. We have a whole host of other activities planned for future visits, so do make sure to keep up to date with us on social media. We want to demonstrate to the pupils the wide range of careers that are available within the Film and TV industry and encourage them to pursue this avenue of work. We have written an article about our new partnership which you can read here which talks more about St Alban’s and our involvement with the school this coming year.

Trainee Training

Screen Alliance Wales prides itself on being able to provide multiple training opportunities for our trainees to help increase their skillsets. This month, we have managed to help them out in a variety of ways by organising sessions and setting up specific courses to our trainees needs. Earlier in the month, we welcomed Belinda from St John Ambulance Cymru to deliver a First Aid course where she talked our trainees through potentially life-saving procedures, whilst also providing tips and advice concerning all types of medical situations. We also welcomed Mike from Blackwood Fire to deliver a Fire Safety course. The course provided our trainees with invaluable information about fire safety, but also gave them the chance to use fire safety equipment including extinguishers and fire blankets. For both courses the trainees received certificates and provided them with vital skills which will not only be beneficial for the workplace, but throughout their lives. A massive thanks to St John Ambulance Cymru and Blackwood Fire for leading the courses and teaching our trainees essential skills in First Aid and Fire Training.

Belinda from St John Ambulance Cymru showing our trainees the correct way to wrap a bandage
Mike from Blackwood Fire with our trainees

As part of this month’s trainee training, a huge congratulations goes to Carys-Haf for completing her Forklift Truck training certificate with DLT Training and to Robyn and Luke for completing a Towing training course with ATTS Training. We hope that these skills will help our trainees throughout their careers and be beneficial in the areas they want to work in.

Trainees Luke and Robyn
Studio Trainee Carys-Haf

Studio Tours

We were so excited to finally welcome back groups for tours of the studios. As the crew were on location, we had just one week to show Students from University of South Wales, Coleg y Cymoedd, and The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama around the incredible sets at Wolf Studios Wales. With over 16 groups through our classroom doors, and with several Covid safety procedures in place, we were able to show the students from each of the Universities and colleges the amazing work that goes on at the studios. The sets and props for His Dark Materials series 3 have been some of the most ambitious and jaw dropping of the entire series so far and we were very excited to show off the incredible creations produced here.  

Students from The University of South Wales Performance and Media course
A group from the Design and Performance course at The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama

SAW's Rhys in North Wales

We love to be able to encourage young people all over Wales to pursue a career within the media industry. Screen Alliance Wales’ very own Rhys paid a visit to a number of schools in North Wales, delivering workshops and presentations to schools in and around the area. Students from several schools were treated to workshops, seminars and sessions revolving around the different areas of work within TV.

Rhys travelled to several places in North Wales to deliver a number of presentations and workshops to students
Rhys speaking to children from St Richard Gwyn Catholic High School

BAFTA Cymru Awards 2021

Finally, we were honoured to be heavily featured in this year’s BAFTA Cymru awards ceremony. It was wonderful to see that the work we do has been recognised by an incredible organisation and at such a prestigious event. We will continue the work we do here in Wales to provide training and support for those looking to get into the industry and creating the next generation of talent.

Caroline McCall was presented with the Best Costume Design award for her work on His Dark Materials Season 2. We are proud to say we had 4 trainees working in the BAFTA winning Costume Department on that production.  Congratulations to Caroline and her team on a well-deserved accolade.

Congratulations to Caroline and her department for their well-deserved award
We were honoured to be mentioned at this years BAFTA Cymru Awards

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

LinkedIn: @Screen Alliance Wales

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