Welcome to Screen Alliance Wale’s September newsletter! We are thrilled to be able to share with you all of our news from this month. It’s been yet another busy month for us as SAW, and for our sponsors and supporters, so let’s get started!

Firstly, we'd love to direct you to our brand new 30-second video, highlighting some of the incredible work that we do at Screen Alliance Wales. We are so pleased with how it turned out, so do make sure to check it out here.

Vacancies

We have several opportunities currently available over on or 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.

·   Gorilla require a Finishing Editor

·   Artisan VFX are looking for a VFX Coordinator

·   World Media Rights are currently seeking a Line Producer

·   Boom Cymru require a Casting Producer

·   Real SFX are looking for a Production Manager

Careers Café 11 – Rhys Bebb

For September’s Careers Café we had a change to the usual format.  Rather than an invited guest, we ourselves gave a talk about a more in-depth view of the industry.  The session, which covered some of the less well-known elements of the process of making a television programme or film, aimed to inform the participants in the diverse range of skillsets required. Therefore, we hope to open up opportunities for people in parts of the industry they may not otherwise have considered. 

For our next Careers Café, we will be welcoming members of IJPR to come and talk about working in publicity. With a host of credits to their name, including His Dark Materials, I Hate Suzie, Killing Eve, Call the Midwife and many more, they are one of the leading publicity firms in the country. We can’t wait to see them! To apply to the next free Careers Cafe, click here.

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 are still working hard on two separate productions: His Dark Materials Season 3 and Industry season 2. But the huge news from the company this month is Russell T Davies’ return to Doctor Who, which will be co-produced with Bad Wolf! They will be working together for the 14th series of the show, as well as the 60th anniversary.

Gorilla - After appointing a new dubbing mixer, runner and assistant, Gorilla is still recruiting and currently looking for an experienced Online Finishing Editor. They’ve had the busiest year ever and always looking for skilled staff so would welcome any experienced talent enquiries. Their trainees, apprentices and work experience programme are working well and they look forward to working with SAW to introduce a new generation to our industry and keep our talent in Wales.

University of South Wales – This month, the University welcomed the talented director Euros Lyn, of His Dark Materials and Dream Horse fame, for an amazing masterclass. Over 100 students attended the event and they all came away from it with brilliant advice and tips from an industry expert.

Maddog 2020 Casting are excited to see the SAs they supplied for shows Sex Education and Vigil are currently airing on Netflix and the BBC respectively. They also held their Autumn team days at their London office where they shared a considerable amount of industry knowledge and did a lot of in-house training. But most of all they had fun and bonded as a team. 

BAFTA Cymru will soon be hosting the BAFTA Cymru 2021 Awards ceremony! The event will be taking place on the 24th of October at 7pm and be available to watch on Facebook and their YouTube Channel, hosted by Alex Jones. You can read the full list of nominations here.

S4C is pleased to support the Culture Connect Wales project that has recently launched. Culture Connect Wales supports diverse talent in finding opportunities in the film and TV sector in Wales. The project is led by Watch Africa CIC, and supported by Welsh Government, through Creative Wales, with partners BBC Cymru Wales, ITV Cymru Wales, S4C and Channel 4. You can find out more about the project here: https://cutlureconnect.wales/

Mae S4C yn falch i gefnogi’r cynllun Cyswllt Diwylliant Cymru sydd wedi lansio’n ddiweddar. Mae Cyswllt Diwylliant Cymru (CCW) yn cefnogi talent amrywiol i ddod o hyd i gyfleoedd yn y sector ffilm a theledu yng Nghymru. Arweinir y prosiect gan Watch Africa CIC, ac fe’i cefnogir gan Lywodraeth Cymru, trwy Creative Wales, gyda phartneriaid o BBC Cymru Wales, ITV Cymru Wales, S4C a Channel 4. Gallwch ddysgu mwy am y cynllun ar y wefan: https://cultureconnect.wales/

Meet the Trainees

We are excited to announce the launch of our new social media campaign, #MeetTheTrainees. Every day this month, we have been posting a pic of one of our brilliant trainees, introducing them and giving a brief description of the type of work they do as a trainee. There are many SAW trainees currently working across a range of departments, so it’s great to be able to share with you what it is they do! We have also been giving our trainees tools and resources that will help them on their journey in the Film and TV industry. Props trainee Matt received tools to help him in the props department, whilst E-J got giving a selection of books to further her education in the costume department.

To read more about our trainees, click here.

Zina Wegrzynski Writing Course

Screen Alliance Wales teamed up with the fabulous Zina Wegrzynski (Development Executive and Writer in Residence) this month to put on the TV Drama Writing course. The three-day course covered a whole host of information about the script writing processes including character types, story arcs, genre, and pitching. Through each session, Zina used examples from the world of film and television and linked them to works by top screenwriting academics. She made time for any questions that the participants had, with the course receiving outstanding reviews at the end. Thank you again to the brilliant Zina for taking time out to put on the course. Earlier in the month, we published an article about Zina’s fantastic course which you can read here.

Diversity Day

Screen Alliance Wales were thrilled to host our very first virtual diversity day, looking to encourage those from underrepresented backgrounds to pursue a career within the Film and Television industry. We welcomed special guests from BBC Wales, Bad Wolf, Gorilla, Facilities by ADF, Maddog2020, Urban Myth, S4C and University of South Wales to talk with our participants about the various pathways of finding work within the media. Each participant got the opportunity to speak personally with all the leading industry professionals on the day and had the chance to get their questions answered. We are so pleased with how the day went and look forward to putting on another in the near future! A huge thank you to all our participants, and a special thank you to our brilliant guests who gave up their time to take part in the event. It really is truly appreciated, and you all made it a terrific morning.

Pen-y-Bryn Shirts

We were so pleased to be able to give one of our closest supporters, Ysgol Pen-y-Bryn some bespoke t-shirts ready for their students who have just returned for another term. The school has recently started an exciting new project, ‘Pen y Bryn Films’ and we hope the t shirts will be a welcome addition for the crew! Work has begun on their new project ‘Super Boy’, which will be available to watch this Christmas and we cannot wait for it. KS3/4 and 5 learners from the school are contributing to the project by creating sets, props and will also be showing of their acting skills. Make sure to keep up with Pen-y-Bryn films on their YouTube page (here) and on their social media channels. We’re so pleased to see the students from the school rocking their new shirts on the Super Boy project!

Creative Wales Development Fund is now OPEN!

If you are a Wales based business that develops content, products and services in the creative industries you can apply for funding of up to £25,000 to develop your project. The new Creative Wales Development Fund will include two strands. It will support projects within the TV and the digital content sectors (including games, animation, Createch and creative services). Please make sure you read the full guidance document carefully to check whether you are eligible. Once you have completed the eligibility checks you can request an application. Access the full guidance - Business Wales

The deadline for applications is 12 noon on Monday 11th October.

Edinburgh TV Festival

The end of last month saw the incredible Edinburgh TV Festival return (albeit virtually) once more with an incredible line up of special guests, panels and inspiring lectures. The multi-talented Lin-Manuel Miranda and Bad Wolf’s very own Jane Tranter sat down together for an incredibly powerful and evocative interview as part of the festival. Lin-Manuel discussed his own personal journey from musical obsessed young man to international star and his current work, being an active supporter of inclusion and representation within the Film and TV industry. He praised the diversity that he saw working on His Dark Materials, and the work carried about by Screen Alliance Wales and encouraged young people to pursue careers within the media. At the end of the session, Lin-Manuel answered questions from participants, two of which were former SAW trainee Aled and Bad Wolf trainee Rasheed! For Rasheed, it was his first time attending the festival and he sat down to talk with us about his experience. You can read his article here.

Euan Lampitt Visits SAW

Lastly, we welcomed Euan Lampitt, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility International at Warnermedia to our studios this month. Euan has spent the last few years working in New York and while he was back in the UK, we were thrilled that he stopped by for a visit. We showed him around our state-of-the-art classroom, he met with our brilliant trainees, and he got to see some of the incredible sets currently in use at Bad Wolf Studios. A massive thank you to Euan for visiting, it was a pleasure having you for the day and we hope you visit again soon!

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