IGNITE Your Creativity Update
Tom Arber
‘Finding out a lot more about stuff that I didn’t previously know, enjoying aspects which I hadn’t anticipated loving so much’
Over the last year we’ve partnered with Netflix to introducing over 1,150 young people across England and Wales to the often unknown career opportunities in TV, film and theatre production. We're very grateful to Netflix for their support in making IGNITE possible.
IGNITE Your Creativity, a free programme focused on providing a greater understanding of TV, film and theatre production roles, has worked with over 50 local and national organisations across three areas: Newport and South Wales, Wakefield and West Yorkshire and Sunderland and the North East.
Through IGNITE, young people have been introduced to different disciplines of careers in theatre, TV, film and live event production, including writing and pre-production, set and costume design, lighting and sound, cinematography, directing, and post-production with hands on experience throughout so that participants could fully engage with and explore each discipline.
After successful programmes in South Wales and Yorkshire in 2023, we kicked off 2024 with the North East as our final region of year one. We worked in partnership with Firestone Video and a number of North East-based and UK-wide organisations including Northern Stage, Sunderland Empire, Pride Media Centre, and North East Screen.
The first stage of the project in the North East saw us visit local schools and community groups to deliver 20 practical workshops. Then young people signed up for community taster days at Sunderland Empire to further explore creative roles and gain practical skills and knowledge of progression routes into employment.
From 19th February - 23th February, we delivered a week-long intensive course for 21 participants, primarily at Pride Media Centre and Northern Stage, including a day with Crew Gal at Salt Market Social.
Across the week, participants worked with industry professionals from across the sector, were introduced to North East Screen regarding their Crew Academy, and created their own short films with local filmmakers from Firestone Video, a North East-based film and video production company.
Huge thank you to our panellists who took part in our Industry Q&A on the final day of the course: Heather Greenwood (Managing Director & BAFTA nominated Producer - NYT Alum), Aaron Martin (Theatre Technician - NYT alum), Anna Robinson (Scenographer), Ben Smith (Creative Director - Firestone Video), Lucy Turner (Head of Production - Firestone Video) and Patrycja Nowacka (Prosthetic Makeup Artist / Special Effects Makeup Artist).
Previous successful iterations of the programme have been run in South Wales and West Yorkshire. The South Wales element was delivered with Urban Myth Films and their Newport-based film studios, the Sherman Theatre, National Youth Arts Wales and local community organisations and schools. Our West Yorkshire cohort had the privilege of working with Production Park, a leading venue for the live arts industry, BBC Yorkshire, Channel 4 News, and more.
‘It was lovely to meet like-minded individuals. Appreciate the opportunity and it really helped push me outside of my comfort zone.’
Participant Feedback