Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland Passport to Production: Talent and Recruitment Development by co-design
Accredited Training Programmes to meet needs of fast-growing sector
Screen Ireland has joined forces with the TU Dublin School of Media and the Enterprise Academy to provide an accredited training programme for new entrants to the fast-growing Irish film and TV production sector.
This builds upon a partnership with Screen Ireland and TU Dublin developed by Senior Engagement Manager, Hugh McAtamney, in his previous role as head of the school, and Dr Caroline O’Sullivan, the current Head of School, co creating elite industry programmes such as PG Diploma in Advanced Producing and Creative Leaders and a national apprenticeship in CGI technical Art.
Talent Development Challenge
In common with many other sectors of the economy, the Irish film industry is facing ongoing challenges in attracting and retaining talent. As a result, the screen sector needs to recruit graduates and professionals from outside of the industry with the necessary transferrable skills and who are passionate about film and want to pursue a career in the sector.
Those candidates can come from a broad range of backgrounds covering everything from accountancy to hairdressing and engineering. The difficulty faced by the industry over the years has been in providing a pathway for new entrants to acquire the skills and knowledge which will offer a route into the sector.
Screen Ireland is focusing on skills development by publishing a competency framework and establishing the National Talent Academies. The aim of the National Talent Academies is to develop and drive opportunities for diverse and regional talent on a national level for new entrants, emerging talent and established/experienced professionals. This includes ensuring opportunity within the industry for those who may at present feel precluded from a career within the sector. The National Talent Academy network comprises of the Film and TV Academy, Animation Academy, VFX Academy and three Crew Academies based in Dublin/Wicklow, Galway and Limerick respectively.
The Talent Development Solution
Screen Ireland, the development agency for the Irish film industry, developed a solution in the form of the Passport to Production programme. The programme was developed by Screen Ireland’s skills development team as a flagship training and work placement programme for new entrants interested in working in live-action film and television production. Passport to Production enables new entrants with existing transferrable skills to find these new career access points offered through the competency framework.
It is accredited through TU Dublin’s Linked Provider partnership model as a Level 6 QQI 10 ECTS credit programme.
“Passport to Production is an entry level programme which we at TU Dublin have accredited at Level 6,” says Dr Caroline O’Sullivan, Head of the School of Media. “It is a four-week programme which allows people who want to gain access into the film industry and who have skills and experiences from other industries to develop their skillset and their career.”
This conversion-style programme comprises intensive training over one week facilitated by industry experts and guest tutors which equips participants with the knowledge and key skills needed to work on set. Following this, participants embark on a three-week paid work placement, where they continue to receive structured on-the-job training. This allows experienced practitioners to hit the ground running immediately on a production.
Most recently, participants undertook work placements across several high-end film and television productions such as The Banshees of Inisherin, Disenchanted, The Wonder, Vikings: Valhalla, and Cocaine Bear. TU Dublin has a long-established relationship with Screen Ireland, according to Dr Mary Ann Bolger, Head of Discipline, Media Arts, TU Dublin. “We have been collaborating with Screen Ireland for a long time. But in recent years we have been collaborating much more closely and working together to develop creative skills as well as thinking about the future of the industry together.”
Accredited Talent Development Programmes Co-Development
In early 2023, our collaboration saw Screen Ireland and TU Dublin’s School of Media and the Enterprise Academy come together to sign a Memorandum of Understanding on the co-development of a suite of accredited talent development programmes and career pathways to support screen sector growth.
“The partnership cements TU Dublin and Screen Ireland’s reputations for designing and delivering programmes that are to the forefront of knowledge and practice in the creative and cultural sectors and that respond directly to the needs of industry,” says Dr O’Sullivan.
Meeting industry needs
The Passport to Production Programme gives participants a broad overview of all the departments involved in film and TV production. It includes practical elements which are part of a hybrid approach consisting of group activities, industry panel experts and case studies. Other principal elements of the programme include health and safety training, set etiquette, script breakdown, self-management, and the soft skills required to thrive in the industry. That essential learning is then put into practice on the three-week paid work placement.
“It’s a very immersive, intensive programme which allows graduates to literally get a passport, a licence to work in the industry,” Dr Bolger explains. “One of the things we recognise in the School of Media is the fact that the workplace is a place of learning and the activities you carry out in the workplace are learning activities and therefore can contribute towards a qualification. This makes the practical element of the Passport to Production programme even more important.”
The programme is very much geared towards meeting industry needs, says Emer MacAvin, Skills Development Executive with Screen Ireland. “It has been running since 2019 and what is valuable about the programme is that it is addressing the real needs of the industry on the ground. A lot of the graduates are placed in high end TV productions that are shooting in Dublin and across the regions. The main focus of the programme is to get people to come in from other industries and to help them become work ready. It is like a bridging programme. They learn who is who in each department as well as those transferrable skills around problem solving, communication and team building which are essential to work in high end TV drama and film productions.”
Programme Impact
Graduates have found the programme very valuable. “The programme was great for networking, and I met a lot of people in the Passport to Production course and on the work placement,” says Sofia Ortelli who is now working as an Assistant Director. “That opened a lot of doors for me to keep working in the industry – in the AD department especially.” As an industry; where word of mouth and personal reputation are vital to getting established into the industry at this level, this experience proves to be invaluable.
Production Coordinator Constanza Abbas Blanco says it helps to break down barriers to entry. “It is actually kind of hard to start in the industry and this course provides you with the knowledge and tools for starting from a practical point of view. And then you have the work placement and that is an amazing opportunity.”
“The success of this key skills-development initiative from Screen Ireland highlights new possibilities for industry and higher education to collaborate in the areas of certified and structured work-based learning programmes and to acknowledge skills development achievements of screen professionals at all experience levels through recognition of prior learning,” adds Désirée Finnegan, Chief Executive of Screen Ireland. “We look forward to continuing our work with TU Dublin in this area.”
Passport to Production Learners at Troy Studios, Limerick, March 2024
