Skills Task Force urges ‘pan sector approach’ on skills shortages

The Skills Task Force has urged the film and TV industry to come together to address a “burgeoning disconnect between an increasingly strained workforce and the demand for skills that the industry makes of it”. 

Chaired by creative executive Georgia Brown with Pact with chief John McVay as vice chair and Oliver Lang as consultant, the  recently-established group has convened 28 major organisations across film and television to reach a series of recommendations to more effectively resolve the skills challenges.  

“Despite all of the commitments and huge goodwill and dedication that goes into upskilling and diversity initiatives, there’s a huge disconnect still,” said Brown.  

The Task Force membership includes major contributors such as Amazon Studios which in March 2022 launched Prime Video Pathway, investing £10m into training and development over three years, as well as Apple TV+, the BBC, Channel 4, Disney, ITV, Netflix, NFTS, Paramount, ScreenSkills, Warner Bros and Discovery.

The group published its findings in a report today. It has called for a pan-sector skills strategy and partnerships, as well as a pan-sector funding model after a skills investment survey revealed over £100m of collective investment is currently being spent on skills development by the sector each year.   

The seven-month project has led to three key proposals: to strengthen strategy and partnerships approaches in order to embed screen sector collaboration in the long term, to build sustainable growth and careers and to put work-based learning at the heart of skills development. 

Another of the report’s key proposals is to transfom ScreenSkills, the skills body currently led by chief executive Seetha Kumar, who is stepping down at the end of this year.  

ScreenSkills are one of the 28 contributors to the project, and are working with the Skills Task Force on proposals.  

“What’s so impressive about this Task Force is all the major players have participated,” said McVay. “They’ve all been committed and see this as an important piece of work.” 

ScreenSkills also released a statement following the report, which said that the body “needs to evolve so that we can all keep pace with the changing needs and demands  of the talented workforce that we were created to support. Having worked constructively with the Taskforce and its members on this report, we look forward to continuing to do so as we work through the detailed recommendations.” 

The seven month report comes following a turbulent number of years for the industry, which has heavily impacted the workforce numbers and skillsets, as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, subsequent boom and the current commissioning slowdown.  

Brown said that the UK creative industry remains “innovative and world leading” and that there “remains a major growth opportunity for the decade ahead.” 

However, she added: “To create the skilled, sustainable and inclusive workforce required for the future, we need radical transformation from the ground up.”