Generation now: the immediate future of the film industry

In most other circumstances, a blog topic falling into my inbox would constitute a great start to the week. In this case, I really wish it hadn't.

An email from IdeasTap, a charity dedicated to creating opportunities in the creative industries for those starting out in their careers, was today sent to subscribers entitled 'So long, farewell: IdeasTap is closing".

Six years after its formation in 2008, IdeasTap will, in June 2015 be shut down. The organisation, an "arts charity for young, creative people at the start of their careers", has to this point run off the funds of founder Peter de Haan's charitable trust, but are now, unable to secure government or corporate support to keep them going. The company that have in just six years given away £2.3m in funding and mentoring to future creatives, and connected and inspired countless individuals at the start of their careers is being forced to close its doors once and for all.

Peter de Haan reflects on the closure of the organisation, flagging up many of the topics I have covered throughout the duration of this blog. He says:

After six years, the picture for the arts is still gloomy. Further funding cuts are coming. The cost of higher education is now dauntingly high. The recent Warwick Report suggests that the arts are not catered for by government agencies, and that arts education is steadily being marginalised – despite the huge value the creative industries offer the UK, both culturally and financially. I hope they wake up, and soon.

As a student mere months away from stepping out into the real world and trying to forge a career in the creative industries, this news - although unfortunately not surprising - couldn't come at a worse time given the already huge lack of foot-in-the-door opportunities. 

The fact that a charity with such aims and values as IdeasTap cannot secure funding to keep it open reflects to me the pure lack of value placed on the creative industries in our society today and it really does make their future seem bleak.

To me, the closure of IdeasTap neatly illustrates the end effect of the some of issues I have been discussing throughout the duration of this blog. Long term, our answer lies in our schools creating a sense of value around the arts, and around film. Our future generations must see the study of moving image in the same light they see English Literature or History. It might not be of interest to everyone, but it is a vital part of our cultural education, and it doesn't seem unfair that a basic understanding of the medium should be expected in all students.

It is important to the future of our culture, society and of particular importance to the film industry that we fight to create an understanding and overarching value of film in our future society, even if we cannot see it take affect for the next 40 to 50 years.

Because the immediate future of film industry in the UK; that is, those just starting out in the their careers, looks bleak. They haven't been part of a society or an education system that, as a rule, values the creative arts in any form, and end up having windows of opportunity slammed shut. There is no doubt that many will turn away from possible future careers in film or in the arts due to lack of certainty and lack of funding and that, for me, is a particularly sad reality to face. 

Let's hope that the closure of a valuable resource such as IdeasTap might spur more people to fight for the future of the arts, and the future of film in the UK. 

The industry responsibility to the future of UK Film

So far I have considered the changes that need to be made in our society and schools order to offer a strong and dynamic UK film industry in the future. However, one thing that is important to note that is, even if such changes were implemented, and the pool of potential film-makers widened and diversified to cover those from all economic and social backgrounds, the industry would still need to take some drastic measures to embrace the changes, and solidify the future of the UK film industry as a richer and more diverse part of our culture and society.

We are currently facing a culture of large companies using loopholes to avoid paying the national minimum wage to people starting out in career. Often they brand jobs as 'work experience', or offering bursaries rather than salaries for the sake of cheap labour and ticking boxes. The low or unpaid internship debate has exploded over the last few years, and newspapers and internet articles are constantly debating to the 'experience or exploitation'. The film industry is no exception to these issues, with the 'Black Swan' case of two unpaid interns suing Fox for their work on the 2010 film gaining global attention.

Going back to previous posts regarding privilege, it's fair to say that we cannot tackle these issues just from an education perspective, although it would be a start. The industry need to stop debating about diversity and start making choices that facilitate change, because those facing the world of the media industry imminently, even those not considered poorly off face some major financial challenges from employers.

Let's consider online jobs board MyFirstJobInFilm.com (MFJIF) as an example. The company describe themselves as a 'recruitment platform between the UK Film Industry and the individuals who wish to join the film industry as new entrants.' The opportunities on this site seem particularly exciting, with emails to members going out nearly every day about new jobs in the film and television industries. While the platform is undoubtedly a great resource, the problems with its service (and many other services like it) illustrate issues within the wider industry quite well.

In this instance, as a final year university student looking to work in the industry, I will use myself as an example.  I fall under what some might term the 'squeezed middle' category. My parents earn enough that I only receive the minimum entitlement from student finance (which in reality barely covers rent costs for the year), yet they can still struggle to make ends meet in their own lives. The day-to-day implications for me being that each week at university are strictly budgeted, and I must cover much of my own living expenses with savings from previous jobs. So in reality, the monthly subscription fee to access the full jobs board of MFJIF seems to an unaffordable expense when you're struggling to scrape together enough money to pay the gas bill.

Furthermore, a large proportion of jobs advertised on the website, primarily in London, as seen below, are advertised as 'work experience'. While the company stress that applicants should under no circumstances work for more than 4 weeks unpaid, it still seems odd that the majority of experience opportunities fall under this category, making them virtually inaccessible to those who live outside the capital; not to mention those who cannot afford to move to the city to take up a permanent role they might find!

While these sort of barriers make it all the harder for someone in my position to break their way into the industry, consider the position of those in substantially worse financial positions than me. Those endeavours do not just become difficult, or involve taking a second job - they become impossible.

If the UK Film industry wants puts words into action and truly diversify, it needs to take responsibility for itself, support film education initiatives and provide fair and equal opportunities for everyone at the start of their careers, rather than just those who can afford it.

Footnotes
Image 1) Screenshot of MFJIF jobs board on 11th March 2015

BFI Film Academy - the youth perspective

There's nothing quite as frustrating as being a school or college student having to listen to people who have been out of education for 20+ years tell everyone what is 'right' for the education system. Regardless of statistics, reports and graphs, it is undeniable that the answer to most of these issues lies somewhere within the millions of school children studying today, their thoughts, opinions and perspectives.

Given this, it seemed important to put forward some questions regarding film education to those in the thick of it. I managed to put forward some questions to 14 students who are currently in their penultimate week at the BFI Film Academy branch in the East Midlands, run in association with The University of Lincoln. The questionnaire asked the students to consider the following areas; what they have gained from their experience, whether they believed that film should be included in the school curriculum, whether they would pursue a career in the film industry, and whether they would consider studying film and/or media at FE and/or HE levels.

It seems that broadly, those taking part in courses such as the BFI Film academy are very interested in pursuing careers in the film industry, with 78.5% of students ticking 'yes' to that question, with the other 3 students either unsure, or interested in broader media. One student seemed to enjoy studying film, but note she would prefer to study law due to the potential salary differences.

In terms of studying film at further or higher education levels, while 35% percent of the students would consider, or have already applied for a formal film education course, 21.4% would not, citing other career choices, or 'experience over education' as a reason. The rest were unsure, or wanted to consider other media paths, such as journalism.

Considering these statistics in light of the test group - 15-19 year olds who have voluntarily applied for a short course in film production outside of school hours - it hardly seems surprising that the majority are interested in pursuing film or wider media as a career. However, even in this small group, we come up against some large discrepancies between the number of students who want to pursue a career in the media industries (78.5%) versus those who would consider further or higher film education courses (35%). While students did not detail reasons why this might be, answers from other questions offer some insight.

One particular question from the questionnaire provoked an unexpected but particularly interesting response. When asked if film should be included in school education system for students from a young age (like English or Maths), almost 65% of students said no, with only a few saying yes, and a the remaining participants saying it should be included but from later years (GCSE, A Level etc).

What was most interesting about the responses, however, was that of the 9 students who felt that film shouldn't form part of the curriculum, 8 stated startlingly similar reasons why. 6 students felt that, although they loved film,  they felt it deserved extra-currcicular status because not everyone enjoys or is interested in film, lots of people don't want a career in it, and a large number of students said that  - given how passionate they were about film, they wanted to study it with those who were just as passionate as them.

The way these students - a group clearly very passionate about film - consider the medium is quite scary if you consider it closely. The feeling that it shouldn't be included in the curriculum because a lot of people might not enjoy it suggests that the medium doesn't even enter their minds as a valued art form. Many people do not enjoy the study of English literature, History, or Art, yet they still form part of the curriculum, and all students are required to study these subjects to some degree. Film study - even for those who are passionate about the art form - unfortunately consider it far removed from subjects that are taught in our curriculum today.

The students responses quite neatly surmise the issues with not including film and media as a form of literacy in our curriculum. Those who are passionate about film, both making it and studying it are very vulnerable, it seems, to being swayed in their opinions on the value of film, and the role it plays in our lives. Luckily for the majority, it doesn't seem to have discouraged a lot of them from wanting to pursue further study or a career in the area, but it does raise concern for those with potential to benefit from the art form who are perhaps not quite so certain or pro-active as those at the Lincoln BFI Film Academy.

More than anything, the responses make me more certain than ever that our society's view of film needs to be changed and that measures need to be put in place now to ensure that our schools and societies appreciate film and moving image for being an art form, rather than just an entertainment.

A wider angle: European film education

Leaving aside the UK's somewhat uncertain future in the EU, its 42 years as part of the community mean it is important to consider Britain in comparison to its mainland counterparts with respect to their approaches to film education. This particular post will concentrate on France, who seem to be outweighing a lot of other European countries in terms of their dedication to integrating film into education from a young age. 

French minister for Culture and Communications, Aurélie Filippetti spoke with some vigour at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival about the level of provisions for film education, claiming that "culture is at the very heart of the project that is the European Union". The French, it seems, are far ahead of us in creating an inclusive entitlement to film education. For the last two decades,  the French National Education Ministry, and the CNC (Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée) have run (and continue to run) three in-school film education initiatives to cover students at all ages;  “Ecole et Cinéma” (“Schools and Film”), “Collège au Cinéma” (“Secondary School Goes to the Cinema”) and “Lycéens et Apprentis au Cinéma” (“High School Students & Apprentices in Film”), which in the 2011/12 school year reached 1,410,000 pupils, "representing the most significant provision for arts and culture education during school hours."

So what are they doing that other European countries aren't? And how are their actions affecting their industry? 

While they still may not have the perfect approach to film education yet, their use of the medium in schools and the importance they place on the arts in general is certainly more than a few steps ahead of the UK mind-set. It seems that while the BFI and IntoFilm battle against a government who seem particularly resistant to approaching film as a necessary part of a rounded education, the French government seem to have at least put in to action some of the demands made by the pro film education groups there. 

Differences in the French and the UK approach to film education might be partly placed in the history of the country's artistic turning point, the May 68 student strike and subsequent cultural explosion. Interestingly, while France experienced an artist revolution after May 68, and other countries have experienced similar movements (such as 'La Movida' in Spain after the death of Franco's), in England's history, we have never experienced such a dramatic movement that has embraced the arts fully as a form of rebellion or expression of freedom.  

France's much deeper set acceptance and appreciation of the arts in comparison to the UK shows in terms of figures and economic contribution too. A study presented by the CNC in 2013, reported that French cinema contributes twice as much to their national economy than the UK Film industry does to the UK GDP. The organisation put the direct value of the cinema industry in France in 2011  (€ 3.3 billion) accounts for 0.2% of the French GDP versus the 0.1% direct value added to the UK GDP by our own film industry. 

Xavier Lardoux's  2013 report 'For a European Film Education policy', commissioned by the CNC also outlines a number of European countries taking steps towards integrating film into the school systems, including Austria, Greece, Portugal, Spain and Croatia - but not the UK quite yet. 

Despite the dedication in the UK of various individuals and organisations to the entitlement for all to film education, and the integration of media literacy as a part of our national curriculum, the governmental resistance in the UK is disheartening and frustrating. Unfortunately, there are just a few minds that stand directly in the path of a more prosperous and diverse film industry that we might be proud of. 

Footnotes
1) For a European Film Education policy', available at CNC.fr

Case study 1: Into Film initiatives

Up to this point, my blog has taken a fairly cynical view of the state of film education, and focussed generally on what the government and the nation are not doing to help our future generation - industry bound or not.

However film education initiatives should be given their due, and this short case study will look at one of the major film education charities, Into Film, the work they are doing to combat some of the current problems in the film and television industries, and which of their initiatives might be useful to the younger generation if implemented nationwide.

Into Film describe themselves as seeking "to put film at the heart of children and young people's learning, contributing to their cultural, creative and personal development", focussing on watching films, filmmaking, teacher resources, training and development, meeting the industry and inclusion and outreach.

Into Film on: Privilege 

The organisation put huge emphasis on allowing access to film education for all, regardless of background or ability. One such project launched in May of 2014 was the Lottery funded 'Opening Minds, Transforming  Lives'. The initiative targeted children and young people from underprivileged backgrounds in Manchester, attempting to engage them with their local heritage through film, and in the process setting up 150 new film clubs in the Greater Manchester area. Sir Alastair Macdonald spoke at the opening event, saying;

If we want to narrow the gap in attainment we must give disadvantaged children what their middle class counterparts take for granted - art, culture, theatre, cinema, reading...film clubs help provide this

Sir Alasdair Macdonald, Former Headteacher

This programme's approach to inclusive film education is a particularly interesting one. By placing the focus on the local talent from the Greater Manchester area, the initiative is telling these students that coming from an underprivileged background does not determine their future, and they must strive to do what they want with their lives - whether it be in film, or an alternative passion. Given the universally acknowledged difficulty of breaking into the film industries, this approach gives resources and opportunity for young people, but most of all; hope.

Into Film on: Teacher Training

Into Film also place a particular emphasis on training teachers on positive ways to utilise film and moving image to engage students. We face a struggle today, created by the use of film and television in the classroom as 'treats', and often students see watching film as an opportunity to disengage.

They provide documents, resources and training sessions for teachers who wish to approach the use of film in their classrooms in a different way, and use it to help deeper engagement rather than the other way around.

Into Film's focuses themselves speak very clearly about the issues we're currently facing with film education, and with the industry itself. The inaccessibility of the industry, which I will address in more detail in a later post, can be off putting for any person, and especially those from underprivileged backgrounds. Into Film  Into Film attempt to squander the notion that film-making is out of reach for those with less opportunities. 

Education wise, we have a fundamental lack of understanding about how to use film in the classroom, and the current use of it is perpetuating and deepening the idea that the moving image is only a form of entertainment.

My hope for organisations like Into Film is that their work will be recognised and appreciated as important, not just in words, but in actions, by people in power who have the opportunity to implement some of their great approaches in schools nationwide, and help widen the pool of people they are reaching.


Footnotes
1) Information on "Opening Minds, Transforming Lives available at: "http://www.intofilm.org/news/articles/opening-minds-transforming-lives-manchester

Fear of the future: the new government and the UK film industry (Part 2)

Politicians were slightly stirred up this week by the publication of The Warwick Commission report, a twelve month inquiry investigating all aspects of the creative sector and reporting some worrying statistics that showed "the systematic removal from the education system of creative and cultural opportunities for young people". 

It occurs to me that, while there are clearly invaluable projects in place thanks to organisations such as the BFI and Creative Scotland, they are, unfortunately only reaching a very small minority of people. To change the way people view film education, and to create any sense of diversity within the film industry, we must start at the bottom - and that means schools. But, as seen in my previous post, it seems our current politicians might have a slight fear unknown power of media education. 

Realistically, we are relying on them facing that fear, starting to view media literacy as a fundamental part of education, and offering nationwide resources and teacher training if we want to see any substantial progress in this area in the next few decades. High hopes it seems...

The future diversity of UK creative content is in the hands of our country's major politicians, and the Warwick Commission report certainly gave at least one of the them something to talk about. The report, released last week, estimated the value of the creative arts sector to be £76.9bn (approximately 5% of the British economy), and went alongside figures published by the BFI that show our screen content alone generates over £6bn of that. 

These findings triggered Labour leader Ed Miliband to give his first major talk regarding his party's arts and culture politics in advance of the May elections. He said it would be Labour's mission "to guarantee every young person, from whatever background, access to the arts and culture: a universal entitlement to a creative education for every child." The party leader went even further, promising to make creative subjects obligatory if any school wishes to acheieve an 'outstanding' rating from Ofsted. 

If elected, and promises kept (!), Labour's policies could mean a step in the right direction for media education - albeit it more of a small shuffle. The promises are not film specific, nor are the party promising to make media education a standard form of literacy, but the policy changes would mean that high flying schools who regularly boast 'Outstanding' Ofsted ratings are put in a 'do or die' position when it comes to offering the arts, unless they are willing to give up their top tier rank.  It might not be much - but it's a gesture.

The Conservatives, on the other hand, are - to most, unsurprisingly - much quieter on the issue of arts education and funding, with their only major input on the matter to this point being the an uproar from arts and humanities supporters when Education Secretary Nicky Morgan gave a speech that attempted to steer teenagers away from the arts. The Conservative politician, at a speech for the Your Life campaign, inferred that arts study at school will offer significantly poorer employment opportunities for students, and urged them instead to pick 'STEM' subjects; the sciences, maths, technology and engineering. 

What we are not seeing from either party, nor, in fact any of the more minor parties, is the ongoing support for children choosing what they are good at, and most importantly what they enjoy. At 15 years old, when students are making their first tentative steps towards adulthood, they are asked to make GCSE subject choices. Given that these choice somewhat limit your choices at A-Levels (and therefore University, and future career...) it's kind of a big deal. This, for a lot of young people seems like the first big decision they have to make about their own future. So steering them blindly towards either a science or an arts path by using scare tactics is bound to stifle creative and entrepreneurial potential and passion, for fear that they might make the 'wrong' decisions. 

The policies being put in place by the politicians today are affecting the future of the UK film and television industries, be it by way of convincing people their passions will not lead to a career, cutting funds, opportunities or resources, we cannot hope to have a completely creatively diverse or at all interesting base of creative content from UK creators if we are not nurturing or encouraging that interest from the get go. Nor, it would seem from the figures, would any government want to see the cultural industries go down the pan given their contribution to the UK GDP. Hopefully, whoever is elected in May will give this area the attention it deserves. 

Footnotes
1) Warwick Commission report available at: http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/research/warwickcommission/futureculture/finalreport/ 
2) Ed Miliband on arts education: http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/feb/23/ed-miliband-pledge-universal-entitlement-arts-education
3) The Telepgraph on Nicky Morgan's 'STEM' speech: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/11221081/Nicky-Morgan-pupils-held-back-by-overemphasis-on-arts.html

Where does our government stand? (Part 1)

Considering Mark Reid's insight into the politics of film education, it seemed appropriate to look a little more carefully at the government's stance on the matter.

While there are absolutely invaluable projects running at the moment from the likes of the BFI and Creative Scotland, it occurs to me that, in reality, they are only reaching a very small minority of people, with the real way to access and change the views of film and media education being through schools. 

We then rely on the government facing their fear of the power of media, starting to view media literacy as a fundamental part of education, and pushing resources into nationwide access and teacher training and support if we want to see any substantial progress in this area in the next few decades. 

It would be unfair, however, to tar the whole UK with the same brush. Having spoken with Scott Donaldson, Creative Scotland's Special projects portfolio Manager, regarding his views on the matter, it seems (to me at least) that while Scotland are still fighting similar battles as the rest of the UK with regard to perceptions of film education in general, they are coming up against substantially less resistance from the powers that be in terms of including film and media literacy as a fundamental part of the official curriculum.

In Scotland, the 'Curriculum for excellence', their national curriculum, defines literacy as;

"the set of skills which allows an individual to engage fully in society and in learning, through the different forms of language, and the range of texts, which society values and finds useful."

with examples of texts being:

Examples of texts

novels, short stories, plays, poems reference texts the spoken word charts, maps, graphs and timetables advertisements, promotional leaflets comics, newspapers and magazines CVs, letters and emails films, games and TV programmes labels, signs and posters recipes, manuals and instructions reports and reviews text messages, blogs and social networking sites web pages, catalogues and directories

Furthermore, the Scottish government also circulates a literacy survey to students every other year at the following stages: to test levels of literacy, and questions regarding film text and language form part of those questionnaires. 

p4, p7 S2 (in terms of English schooling, Year 4, Year 7 and Year 9 respectively)

Mick Davies, Education Manager for the CCEA exam board in Northern Ireland also had this to say regarding media literacy in Northern Ireland. 

The inclusion of reference to media education (and moving image products as one among the various stimuli pupils might engage with) as part of the statutory requirements for English with Media Education within the KS3 curriculum reflects the fact that cultural and media products of all types can be read as texts. 

The concept of ‘literacy’ has diversified from the narrow sense of ability to read and write, to reflect the ubiquity of various forms of communication, and the need for young people to be able to understand, interpret and  engage with all sorts of texts. 

In stark comparison, the National Curriculum framework document for England states that the "overarching aim for English in the National Curriculum is to promote high standards of literacy by equipping pupils with a strong command of the written and spoken word, and to develop their love of literature through widespread reading for enjoyment."

Not only is media literacy not mentioned at all in that definition, but the only instance in which media is brought up is to say; 

"The arts (comprising art and design, music, dance, drama and media arts)... are not compulsory National Curriculum subjects after the age of 14 but all pupils have a statutory entitlement to be able to study a subject in each of those... areas."

So, students - at least in England - are far from being encouraged to pursue arts subjects at the points in their schooling where they're beginning to make decisions about their careers and futures, therefore perpetuating the notions that that media, or the arts in general, are not valuable areas of study or potential career paths. 

The second part of this study will consider why this might be, and take a look at the directions media education, and the UK film industry might be headed after the General Elections.

Footnotes

1) All details regarding National Curriculums are available via respective websites