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Institutional Context
Summary
The National Film and Television School was established in 1971 by the UK Government and delivers MAs and postgraduate diplomas in Film, Television and Games across a range of specialisms. The NFTS is Variety’s Top UK Film School 2020 and recipient of the 2018 Outstanding Contribution to British Cinema BAFTA, the National Film and Television School is one of the world's leading film, television and games schools. Alumni have gone on to win 13 Oscars and 145 BAFTAs with graduates including; double Oscar winning cinematographer Roger Deakins (1917) creator of global Netflix hit Sex Education Laurie Nunn and BAFTA winning director, Lynne Ramsay (You Were Never Really Here). The NFTS is a registered charity (313429). For more information see nfts.co.uk
Institutional context
The National Film and Television School is one of the top post-graduate institutions of its kind in the world, and has been recognised as such this year through its inclusion in The Hollywood Reporter’s Top International Film Schools list for the tenth consecutive year. In 2018, the NFTS was awarded both the BAFTA for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema and the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education.
The School offers a transformative experience to students who go on to play a significant role in our cultural life through their work in the film, television and games industries. NFTS alumni have won 13 Oscars, 145 BAFTAs, and 15 Emmys, and been nominated dozens of times for each.
The School provides post-graduate programmes in a range of film, television and games disciplines on a not-for-profit basis, including 17 Masters courses, 14 full and part-time Diploma courses and 6 Certificate courses, with 521 students in 2020. The School is committed to ensuring it is open to students of genuine ability, no matter what their background or financial circumstances. As an institution that develops the next generation of creative talent, the School takes a special responsibility to ensure our creative industries reflect the full diversity of our country; since 2015 1 in 4 NFTS graduates have been BAME. As such, the School provides a substantial amount of bursary and scholarship support (approximately 20% of total student tuition fee income1) to students on a means-tested basis.
NFTS students are given 24/7 access, 364 days a year to the largest production facilities at any UK film school. Not only do these include our studios, but also our sound and dubbing theatres, over 50 top of the range cameras, the latest editing software in dedicated suites, our Dolby Atmos and Digital Surround Cinemas, and more.
The School is the UK’s biggest provider of continuing professional development to the film and industry delivering more than 150 short courses across the UK to support activity in major production centres including London, Glasgow and Leeds.
The School provides opportunities beyond those offered to its own students. Each year, in partnership with the BFI, it hosts the BFI Film Academy, a residential filmmaking programme for 16 to 19-year-old aspiring filmmakers. The School also seeks to reach out to young people in the Buckinghamshire area through an annual schools competition run in partnership with the Buckinghamshire Skills Hub.
The School - under its AccessNFTS banner - also delivers in partnership with Universal Pictures pop-up events around the UK themed around different disciplines from sound to production design; masterclasses at universities and colleges; and the opportunity to connect with the School’s expert tutors, alumni and industry professionals at festivals and film, television and games industry events.
NFTS Audited Financial Statements year ended 31 July 2019↩︎
For further information, please send queries to info@nfts.co.uk
Local Growth and Regeneration
Summary of approach
The National Film and Television School is the leading the provider of continuing professional development to the film and television industry in the UK. As the ‘National’ Film and Television School we see supporting production clusters across the UK as being at the heart of the School’s knowledge exchange activity.
The School’s focus on supporting local production hotspots through developing bespoke provision to meet company needs and delivering CPD in areas that directly address industry skills gaps and shortages have seen the School’s income and beneficiary numbers double since 2015. In the last 12 months the School has collaborated with Netflix, BBC, Sky, Channel4 and many other companies to design and deliver provision.
Aspect 1: Strategy
To live up to our role as the UK’s ‘national’ film and television school, it is vital that the NFTS supports the needs of film and television production across the UK. To that end the central pillar in our knowledge exchange strategy is continuing professional development.
Film and television production is a British success story, with talent and output in high demand around the world and significant growth forecast in the years ahead, both across the UK as a whole and in the nations and regions as the trend for increased production outside London and the South East gathers pace. The BFI’s 2018 Screen Business report stated that the screen industries – including film, animation, high end television, video games and children’s television – delivered nearly £8bn to the UK economy and generated more than 137,000 jobs in 2016 alone1and as a sector it is growing faster than any other aspect of the economy.
As the sector grows the need for new talent to fill a wide range of production roles is intensifying. The availability of skilled workers is acting as the main constraint (as identified by the BFI, Creative England, ScreenSkills and the British Film Commission). On top of this, Britain’s imminent exit from the European Union makes the need for new home-grown talent all the more pressing.
With its focus on practical, hands-on filmmaking and small group teaching and learning, the NFTS is unashamedly the pre-eminent, top of the pyramid institution in the sector in the UK. The School is now the market leader in delivering continuing professional development for the film and television industries in the UK, working to actively address the skills shortages detailed above.
The geographic area in which we are focused is UK wide, however, production tends to centre in local clusters specifically London and the South East, Scotland, Yorkshire and Humberside and Wales. We have therefore established a physical presence in three of these four conurbations and are developing significant activity in each area. It is on our roadmap as part of our new Corporate Plan to establish a similar presence in Wales in partnership with a major Broadcaster.
Since the NFTS joined the higher education sector in 2014-15 the School has grown this activity significantly, more than doubling our income from CPD. In terms of beneficiaries in 2016-2017 the School worked with 375 professionals, by the end of 2020-2021 the School is expecting to have engaged with 1250 professionals.
As a School we are now seeking to leverage our reputation and expertise as a thought leader in this area even further. For example in 2018 the School – working with Royal Holloway, University of London – secured a major UKRI grant to establish an industry centre for excellence in immersive storytelling. In awarding the grant, the funder made clear that it was our existing strong reputation for CPD and unapparelled industry engagement that made us the obvious delivery organisation.
CPD now accounts for more than 80% of our knowledge exchange income and it is where the School directs most of its related resources. But it is not the School’s only knowledge exchange activity. Our strategy also seeks to grow our activity and impact in two further areas, specifically i) working with industry partners to produce professional content and ii) maximising our income from IP.
Each year the School utilises its staff, students and graduates skills and expertise to develop professional production projects in partnership with leading partner production companies. Recently the School has produced work for Sky, BBC and Film 4.
In addition the School is becoming increasingly sophisticated in exploiting its archive to generate income through licensing and distributing the School’s content. Recently the School signed distribution deals for films with companies including Shorts International, ARTE and Canal+ and Google. We believe this area of activity can be grown significantly.
Our knowledge exchange activity is a core part of the School’s mission and Corporate Plan and supports our impact and reputation more broadly. Our success in providing industry recognised CPD is built on the reputation of the School for running high quality MA and Diploma provision and winning prizes internationally.
Moving forwards, establishing a further physical presence in Wales, strengthening our relationship with independent production companies and further exploiting our IP, are our key priorities.
Aspect 2: Activity
In order to deliver on our strategy to support the film and television sectors in the UK to grow by addressing key skills shortages and gaps we have focused on three key areas:
Established delivery hubs in growth conurbations across the UK
Geographic immobility and social mobility – With filming opportunities concentrated in London and South East, the labour market is mainly based in these regions. There is ample infrastructure and demand to film outside of these regions, but production is predicated on the labour market moving outside of London and the South East on a temporary basis, which comes with uncertainties and higher costs.
In 2018 the School established a new delivery hub in Glasgow with the support of the Scottish Government (£475k) and the BBC, who provided office and teaching space. The hub now delivers more than 30 CPD courses annually, working with in excess of 375 people and generating income of £300k.
In 2020 the School established a second hub in Leeds in partnership with ITV. It is expected the Leeds hub will deliver a similar volume of activity once fully operational. Since it opened – despite the pandemic, it has developed a number of specialised craft courses in partnership with the BFI and Emmerdale and run a month long CPD programme for independent production companies identified by Channel 4.
Looking specifically at the investment in the Leeds hub, Yorkshire's film and TV industries has grown faster than any other part of the UK in recent years, generated an annual turnover of £424m across 590 creative businesses by 20152. Therefore, even without Channel 4’s move to Leeds, there is an ongoing, and growing, demand for the skills and training that the NFTS Leeds hub will deliver.
This work in the nations and regions builds on our single course partnership with Aardman Animations where we have collaborated to deliver a 12-week course to secure the supply of highly trained animation talent in Bristol. We have worked with Aardman for four years, training more than 48 animators. We hope to expand on this work going forwards and expect strong synergies between further activity in Bristol and our planned new hub in Wales.
Developed targeted bespoke course provision with employers
Regularly, the School works with employers to identify skills shortages and develop targeted provision. Recent examples of this include developing a Post Production Supervision course with Netflix and HBO and a Casting course with the Casting Directors Guild. In addition, the School has developed bespoke courses for companies including Leftbank, HTV, Wishful Thinking and Boom Cymru.
Delivering Funded National Programmes
Our reputation and broader expertise in CPD mean we are well placed to win competitive tenders to deliver important national training programmes such as the BFI Film Academy Craft Skills Residential, the Creative Europe Inside Pictures programme and the UKRI funded National Centre for Immersive Storytelling. We are actively talking to other bodies about delivering schemes nationally and internationally.
These three area are built on the reputation of the School as a high quality provider. As a School we are regularly listed in the list of top international film school’s and we know that this is attractive to working professionals looking to undertake further training.
The COVID-19 pandemic has strengthened the Schools aptitude to further all of the areas detailed above through online activity. In June 2020 the School worked with Channel 4 to deliver a month of online training to its key independent production company clients. The month reached more than 850 professionals. Online will be a much more important tool in delivering the above activity moving forwards.
The amount of ‘repeat business’ the School secures relating to its work above is a clear sign that the provision is meeting the needs of those it is intended for.
Aspect 3: Results
The School’s very focused approach to local growth has meant that it’s work delivering high quality CPD has been highlighted by a number of bodies and organisations as being central to the continued growth of the film and television sectors. The Bucks and Thames Valley LEP, Screen Scotland, Channel 4 and the BBC all cite the School’s work as being critical to their own strategies to enable growth.
The success of the strategy is also evidenced by the significant growth in income and the number of beneficiaries we engage with annually.
In early 2020 OC&C completed a review of the impact of the School’s provision on inward investment film, high end tv, and independent British film between 2015 and 2019 and the report demonstrates how graduates of NFTS training quickly take centre stage in an industry critical to the UK economy. For example:
Two thirds of all UK high end television spend is on content with at least 1 NFTS graduate in a key role
85% of UK broadcaster spend on high end television and two thirds of all Netflix productions have at least 1 NFTS graduate in a key role
Over 50% of the biggest box office successes since 2015 have had at least 1 NFTS graduate in a key role
97% of the biggest budget ‘inward investment’ films have NFTS graduate involvement
Participants from CPD courses also go on to win major prizes. For example last year a graduate of a two week writing course won the Triforce / /Amazon Studios Writerslam competition. Many also secure agents on the basis of work developed at the School or sign development deals.
Another demonstrable indicator of how the School continues to meet industry needs is evidenced by the number of major media companies that provide sponsorship for School activities. In 2020-21 this income will hit £1million. This income is not recorded as part of the HE-BCI return due to the mechanism for how income is recorded but this money is directly given to further and support the School’s CPD activity.
In 2020 BOP completed a review of our CPD work delivered as part of the National Centre for Immersive Storytelling (NCIS) and said the following:
‘NCIS is delivering very well against its targets. It has reached a large number of industry professionals through its training (371 to March 2020) and has already surpassed the stretch target for the number of people engaged.
NCIS has good traction in the screen sector which is the result of NFTS’ networks and credibility’.
The sustained upward trajectory is something we plan to build on to further cement our position as the key training provider to the film and television industry.
For further information, please send queries to jwardle@nfts.co.uk
Public & Community Engagement
Summary of approach
The National Film and Television School is the centre of excellence for film, games and television training in the UK. The School works to support these high-growth industries by proactively engaging with both major industry players and emerging SMEs on the key issues relating to skills and talent and continuing professional development.
The School work with its partners to identify training needs and then to secure funds to meet those identified skills gaps and shortages. The School provides important opportunities for new talent to access established talent and for new talent to develop their creative practice. Showcasing the work of new talent is at the heart of everything the School does.
Aspect 1: Strategy
The School’s community engagement strategy is focused on two areas:
i) interaction with the film and television industry to understand and help meet their needs around skills and talent whilst also raising awareness of how the School can help them plug skills shortages and gaps and make the industry more inclusive.
ii) fostering opportunities for those interested in working in film and television to engage in film and television practice of the highest level and to expand their understanding of the various employment opportunities available
These two strands of work are both key pillars of the School’s overarching strategy as set out in the Corporate Plan i.e. Creating Opportunity and Working UK Wide
The School’s interaction with the film and television industry in the UK is extensive. Each year we organise various events and screenings which gather together some of the leading figures in the industry to support, discover and develop new talent. Annually more than 800 industry professionals attend an NFTS event.
Highlights of our activity in this area include:
An annual industry fundraising gala which more than 650 senior industry figures attend
A showcase of new talent held at a central London cinema which more than 2000 industry guests attend
The School is also committed to reaching out to those interested in working in film and television from a wide range of different cultural, socio-economic and geographic backgrounds, with the aim of widening the talent pool, giving fair access to the industry, and searching for unheard voices and untold stories. Annually we work with more than twelve thousand people through a series of pop up events including careers fairs, workshops, masterclasses and visits to the NFTS and visiting key cities across the UK including Glasgow, Edinburgh, Bristol, York, London, Birmingham and Leeds. We also have an extensive online offer which reaches more than 15,000 people annually.
Highlights of our activity in this area include:
A national roadshow of pop-up events (AccessNFTS) in key UK cities to connect new talent with industry experts.
Two Massive Open Online courses which more than 15,000 people undertake annually.
The BFI Film Academy which sees the School work with 77 of the most talented young filmmakers aged between 16-19 from across the UK in an intensive filmmaking residential.
We consult on this activity annually through the School’s sector/discipline industry advisory boards and through our regular interactions with the School’s key industry funders, which include all of the major Broadcasters, Universal International Pictures the BFI and ScreenSkills.
Central to both our work with both existing professionals and those looking to access the industry and learn more about film and television production is:
identifying the training needs of the industry and early identification of new skills and specialisms.
raising funds from the industry to meet identified skills gaps and shortages
providing opportunities for new talent to access established talent
developing new talent to meet identified skills gaps and shortages.
working with new talent to make original work
showcasing success
In recent years we have sought to expand our impact on both audiences by building relationships with the film and television industry beyond London and South East. For example, we have secured investment from the Scottish Government to locate a hub in Glasgow, and support from major industry partners such as Universal International Pictures to support our Outreach programme (AccessNFTS). We have also engaged with local bodies such as Screen Scotland, Creative Wales and Screen Yorkshire to ensure we are fully up to speed with local issues and opportunities.
We have found that by having a physical presence in the locality and a sophisticated online offer that we can provide easily accessible entry points for audiences to engage. It really helps with enquiry handling and integration with local groups and associations and also enables us to organise networking events to engage the industry and place us at the centre of existing networks. For example in Glasgow we have organised a number of ‘In Conversation…’ events with high profile industry figures including Steven Moffatt (Dr Who, Sherlock).
We measure the impact of the School's activity via both financial measures and reach and reputation gained.
Aspect 2: Support
The School has invested its own allocated funds (e.g HEIF) and raised additional funding (e.g Scottish Government, Universal International Pictures) in furthering its community engagement activity.
Knowledge Exchange is central to the School’s Corporate Plan and therefore the Director of the NFTS directly manages the key staff working to deliver the strategy. This ensures full institutional buy-in to delivering the knowledge exchange activity.
The membership of the School’s Board of Governors also reflects our focus on community engagement with a number of leading film and television practitioners on the board. These members are well placed on the School’s community engagement and help ensure the School fulfils its role as ‘the’ UK’s national film and television school.
The School has been in receipt of HEIF funding since 2016 and has enabled the School to further its work by buying in specialist expertise and knowledge to further the School’s strategic agenda in both engaging with film and television industry (e.g. Business Development Managers in both Glasgow and Leeds) and providing a point of contact for those looking to get into the industry (e.g. Head of AccessNFTS).
The School invests in the CPD of its own staff to ensure it is well placed to take advantage of emerging opportunities. Most recently, the School invested in CPD to support our trainer’s ability to deliver more of the School’s provision online during the COVID-19 pandemic.
We promote our services widely via social media, and targeted e-newsletters and we regularly engage with companies who contact us and ask for us to develop bespoke training for their specific purposes. Our regular industry email goes out to more than 4000 industry professionals.
Staff are incentivised to deliver results through performance related pay and success is recognised and celebrated internally.
In 2019 we appointed an Access and Outreach Manager who liaises with local groups and organisations across the regions to ensure the School is welcoming and supportive of their goals and ambitions. For example we regularly host the AGMs of the major film and television guilds, which sees many industry professionals come through the School to attend an event.
Aspect 3: Activity
The School’s community engagement activity is organised around six key areas:
Identifying the training needs of the industry and early identification of new skills and specialisms.
School staff engage with the industry through our formal industry advisory board system where each discipline of the School (Sound, Directing, Design etc) meets with senior industry figures to discuss changes to industry practice and new trends in production. Occasionally we also conduct formal research into skills trends and shortages. For example, as part of work in Immersive we published a Skills report which we launched to an industry audience of more than hundred.
Raising funds from the industry to meet identified skills gaps and shortages
Annually we gather the film and television industry to raise funds for the NFTS and to share with them our work in meeting their industry needs. This event is very well attended with more than 650 senior industry figures attending. The event generates more than £350k per annum for the School.
Providing opportunities for new talent to access established talent
A key part of our work is our staff, students and graduates engaging with people keen to build a career in the film and television industry. We work to raise awareness of the different roles that they might pursue and connect them with key talent and material relating to current film and television releases as a way of bringing alive the various opportunities.
Developing new talent to meet identified skills gaps and shortages.
We are often asked by leading media companies to partner with them to start new provision in areas of skills gaps. For example in 2019-20 we have worked with HBO and Netflix to develop a new professional training course in the area of Post Production Supervision.
Working with new talent to make original work
We foster opportunities for local communities to engage in film and television practice and research of the highest level, and aim to create a welcoming and inclusive place for all those who want to learn. The most high-profile activity of this type is the annual BFI Film Academy which sees 77 young people from across the UK come to the School for two weeks to work with School staff and students to make seven films.
Developing new talent to meet identified skills gaps and shortages.
We are often asked by leading media companies to partner with them to start new provision in areas of skills gaps. For example in 2019-20 we have worked with HBO and Netflix to develop a new professional training course in the area of Post Production Supervision.
Showcasing success
Annually we organise a range of screenings and events to showcase new work and graduates to the industry. The biggest of these shows is held in February annually and sees more than 2000 industry guests attend.
Aspect 4: Results and learning
We continue to strengthen our work in evaluating our activities to ensure they meet our stated strategic objectives. To date we have principally sought to do this through three measures:
Income and Growth in Participant numbers – both of these appear in the School’s institutional KPI dashboard and are monitored by the Board. We use this information to direct our own investment in activity
Participant Satisfaction – we complete exit surveys with all participants in training and complete exit interviews with clients who commission us to deliver training. We use this information to adapt future delivery and build on areas of success.
Monitoring Onward Journey – we seek where ever possible to track the onward journey of participants. Currently this is a very manual process but we are looking to investing in a digital way of achieving this.
In each case the results and impacts of our approach and work are clear in terms of growth in income, high levels of participant satisfaction and the successful onward journey of freelancers and businesses that we have worked with.
Moving forwards we can enhance the way we share these results and learnings across the institution and explore different ways to monitor impact and capture learnings.
Aspect 5: Acting on results
Our work in reporting on the impact of our activity is embryonic and needs to be further developed to ensure internal and external audiences are better informed of the outcomes of our work. We would also benefit from engaging with the NCCPE and making use of the EDGE tool. We do collect participant feedback and this forms an important function in our own evaluation of activity.
For further information, please send queries to jwardle@nfts.co.uk