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get more applications at postgraduate level than Oxford and Cambridge, and we’re undeniably in a growth area. The tricky bit is where people want to work in high profile areas, such as directing, writing or producing, yet that might not be where the demand is. That’s why we’ve developed courses such as script supervision and production accounting, because there’s a real industry skills gap in those areas. You need to focus to thrive We’re postgraduate, so that means - although it’s not a prerequisite - that most students have already done an undergraduate degree in a generalist area. What they come to us for is to build a portfolio and specialise in a particular area. The film and television industry is not a generalist discipline – you build a career and life in a particular area. And it’s only because of the specific nature of what we do and because people spend two years building a portfolio that within a few weeks of graduating they have the potential to get top jobs. For example, one of our 2017 composing graduates, Segun Akinola, has just been announced as the new composer for Dr Who , which I don’t think would have happened if he’d done a bit of sound, a bit of editing and a bit of composing. He got that job because he focused. Be clear in what you want to achieve We also run diplomas, which are typically a year long, in particular areas such as production management, because there would be diminishing returns in areas like that if students were here for two years. A one-year Production Management diploma is just as valuable as a two-year MA in many ways because graduates are going to join at a junior level anyway, whereas with directing you’re using the second year to create a set of original films and work which becomes a way of getting hired on top shows. I always say at open days: “If you don’t know what you want to do but you know you want to broadly work in the film or television industry, this isn’t the right place for you. Only come here if you’re really clear where you want to be as we can help you achieve that.” Experience and learning work together The whole philosophy of how the courses are taught is learning by doing. Students learn how to be a production manager
by production managing multiple films. They learn how to be a composer by doing the music for games, animations, fictions and documentaries. The teaching and the workshops wrap around that rather than workshops running separately. Every course has great exposure to the industry so, on screenwriting for example, they don’t do work experience but spend a lot of time with production companies interfacing with development people; on the Production Management Diploma, students do month-long placements, so it depends on the discipline. You can always learn something We’re probably the biggest provider of short courses for the film and television industry in the UK and have a reputation for being able to support people at an early or mid-career stage. The short courses are not for people who know nothing: they are for people who are already working but want to expand their skillset. For example, someone may have been working in development for some time but they want to understand productionmore so they go on a short course to expand their horizons. We work with about 700 people a year on short courses and they are very practical. You have to build up a track record The fact is that you’re never going to get given the gig of shooting a high-end TV drama or a feature unless you’ve done it before, so you have to build a portfolio and track record as a DOP, which is different to being an assistant in the camera department. You need a slate of work where you’ve made the choices. By coming to film school you get to do that, and a lot of our students come because they’ve tried to work their way up. They might have finished their undergraduate degree at 21 and worked for a couple of years in the industry, but they can’t seem to make that jump to the next level of their career; they come here and spend two years building a portfolio, so that when they leave they have a real chance of getting the break they want. Don’t be allergic to ‘practical’ We don’t see ourselves as being an academic route but rather a very practical route. What students are paying for is the space, time and support to make a portfolio of work. Some people say ‘don’t go to film school, go and make a film’, but I would argue that the fees to come here
ABOVE Plenty of real-life, practical experience gives added value to the NFTS’ educational offer.
are around £12-13,000/$15,929-17,245 a year and we give £11/12k a year to students to make their graduation film, so they get a lot back in terms of production budgets. For that they will go away having made three big, substantial films and two or three smaller films. Filmmaking should be accessible tomany A huge part of what we do is support British talent. Last year 68% of the student body was British, 48%were female, 26%were black and ethnic minority British and that only happens because of scholarships – last year 83% of the British students who applied got some level of financial support, which is means tested. They apply and they might get all their fees paid or a proportion of their fees paid, and we match themwith donors. We have about 80 industry donors who give money to support that. Expansion is the key to success My mission is to build on the national element of the school’s name and to do more in the nations and regions. We’ve already opened a base in Glasgow and are in the process of thinking about where else we might operate from. We are also thinking about the outreach work that we do, and what we might do to support people at a lower entry point like we do with the BFI FilmAcademy, which is aimed at 16- to 19-year-olds. All in all, it’s an excitingmoment in time for the School.
“We’re probably the biggest provider of short courses for the film and TV industry in the UK”
More information
https://nfts.co.uk
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