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Independent producer PDA Films is looking for new partners to help grow its pioneering production accounting training programme
Fozia O’Dowd spent her early years curating art exhibitions while trying to entertain a career as an actress, so to find that she was good at accounting was a bit of a shock. But after 13 years in the industry, she has found that, like her, good production accountants often come from other disciplines or sectors.
“I learned to be a better producer from understanding what I consider the skeleton of a production: the budget,” says O’Dowd, head of small indie Public Display of Affection Films (PDA Films). “After founding PDA, I wanted to create opportunities for others like me and, with the support of ScreenSkills, I was able to do that.”
Finding areas where there was a lack of information or expertise and then curating masterclasses with industry partners seemed the most logical way to give trainees the best experience. With ScreenSkills, O’Dowd had the likes of Entertainment Partners’ Lloyd Gunton, Media Finance Capital’s Jonathan Gorner and SLRV’s Jai Vora run bespoke masterclasses specifically for mid-level accountants, using feedback from the participants.
“The biggest gaps in training weren’t so much to do with accounting, they were things such as leadership, team management, delivering formal reports and heading meetings (namely the dreaded cost report), along with an overall lack of insight into how the rest of production works,” she explains.
“Participants in our courses learn skills that will support them in their next role and help to build a more stable film and TV ecosystem”
Fozia O’Dowd, PDA Films
O’Dowd and her trainees also found that it was still common for some production teams to treat production accountants as a service department and not integral to the workings of a smooth-running show. Often, this occurred among less experienced production teams.
“As the industry evolves, production accountants will need to adapt to new systems from job to job,” O’Dowd says. “Through our course, participants learn management skills that will support them in their next role and, in turn, help to build a more stable film and TV ecosystem.”
PDA Films is now developing a further programme of executive training for production accountants, producers and line producers, with the hope of supporting the formation of future working partnerships.
This training has already garnered the support of major players such as Chris Knott of Saffreys, Johan Ewing, partner at Lee and Thompson, Naomi Thomas, head of payroll at Sargent-Disc, and Stephen Wilson from Equals Money. Carey Duffy and Genevieve Subbotin from Cooke Lenses have partnered for in-person industry talks and masterclasses to run alongside the course and support career networking.
Through the course, a strong network of industry experts has formed and it is fast becoming a go-to source for shows to find production accountants. PDA also maintains a network of other crew who have come through the programme.
“What we need now,” says O’Dowd, “is a major partner who would support us in growing our training reach, in particular providing training for production accountants and production teams who are working on international co-productions or service productions running out of the UK.”
PDA Films is also developing partnerships with other women-led organisations such as Woman Behind The Camera (womenbehindthecamera. co.uk) to build bigger projects that benefit current and future production crew.
- For more information about PDA Films and the training on offer, visit www. publicdisplayofaffectionfilms.com
