Building a screen skills ecology for Barnet

Barnet is part of the ever-expanding northwest London production corridor that links studios with businesses that rent out props and film kit and, importantly for us, screen education.

Barnet’s diverse communities, growing screen production facilities and expanding further and higher education provision in the screen industries, puts the borough in a great position to be part of the industry’s future.

The screen industries have been having quite a turbulent time of late. Following the pandemic, there was a boom in production but then the 2023 writers’ strike in Hollywood (followed by members of the Screen Actors Guild who joined the industrial action) caused significant disruptions to productions. Despite the many challenges, the UK has a global reputation for having a skilled workforce and high-end production facilities. Inward investment is returning and things are looking more positive now.

As the industry started to turn a corner, I was commissioned by Barnet Council to produce a Screen Skills Plan for the borough. The idea of the Screen Skills Plan is to design a skills and employment model that supports screen production in and around the Barnet. Over the last few months, I’ve been working with my team in the Film School here at Middlesex University along with Barnet Council, Barnet and Southgate College and industry partners to build the Plan.

I have been meeting a lot of folk who work in education and training across Barnet, reconnecting with some of our graduates who are working in industry and expanding my network of industry partners. For example, through creating the Screen Skills Plan, I’ve connected with local content creator Brandon B, based at Mill Hill, and Troubadour Studios in Brent Cross. We want to build a local pipeline into these studios. I’ve also connected our students to freelance and enterprise support provided by Barnet Council to help keep our creatives here in the borough when they finish their studies.

Building our values into the plan

Whilst a skills focus is hugely important, especially when we’re constantly thinking about our students’ future careers, authoring this report also gave me an opportunity to focus on some of the principles that are important to me in education leadership. I built the plan around four pillars: education, enterprise, environmental sustainability, and equal access. I have been able to shape this plan in a way that mirrors our values in the Arts and Creative Industries Faculty at Middlesex. For example, I looked at some of the ways in which we can address the barriers to accessing roles in the screen industries and also some of the practices that can be improved to be more diverse and inclusive.

There are aspects of film and television production that have been very poor when it comes to environmental responsibility. There are challenges for the games industry too with hardware dependencies and e-waste. Developing a thriving screen ecology here in the borough, is also about making productions greener, working locally, making the best of our collective resource that minimises the carbon footprint of production. I’ve already connected our students with some brilliant industry suppliers, CAMA, leading the way with sustainable set and prop storage and reuse. It’s vital that this learning happens now to support the ongoing ethos of responsible production in future too.

News ways of bringing screen industries and students together

We’ve been able to introduce students to industry partners in new ways. As a direct result of the Barnet Screen Skills Plan, we are now working with FilmFixer who are partnering with us, managing our estate as a film location. We’ve already had a big streamer series production on campus, which I’ll say more about when I can! Our Film students watched live takes on set with the series producers, as well as touring the set with location managers and had an inspirational pep talk with the director. It was such a great experience.

Troubadour Studios at Brent Cross have come on board as an industry partner to support this agenda in the borough, and earlier this year we launched this formal alliance as Screen London Barnet at Troubadour, along with leadership teams from Barnet Council, and Barnet and Southgate College with us here at Middlesex. This demonstrated a real sense of commitment from across the borough which feels like we’re really gathering momentum. I am very excited about how this will support our students.

The plan is available to read, but the exciting part is how we make it all happen!

About the author

Dr Helen Bendon is Head of the Film School in ACI and leads Changing the Culture.