Herts film academy celebrates students breaking into highly-competitive movie industry
A Hertfordshire-based Film Academy is succeeding in enabling young people aged 11 – 19 to get into the industry, despite its reputation for immense competition, plus the need for experience in specific skills and insider contacts.
The Brilliant Film Academy, based in Kings Langley and St Albans, puts ‘learning by doing’ at the forefront of its ethics and provides hands-on practical skills and state of the art equipment in the hands of its students. It also offers work shadowing opportunities within film and production companies – which has led to its students obtaining career opportunities.
One of its students, Jake Swan, 19, is working as an apprentice on a number of films with London-based Dreamtown Films and sister company, Goldfinch Entertainment, and now looks forward to a potential job opportunity with Panavision.
Another of its students, Rebecca Telford, also 19, is going on to study directing and producing at university, taking a wealth of experience in making film from her time with the Academy. She aims to go on to work in both film and High-End Television (HETV), those of which have project budgets of more than 1 million.
Jake said: “When I saw what Brilliant offers it seemed to meet all my needs required to develop myself as a young filmmaker, using great quality equipment used in the film and TV space - along with the promise of providing opportunities to get into working in the business. It gives students the skills and experience to be able to make a film from start to finish and then showcase it to an audience; along with building vital contacts with people already working in the industry, which bridges onto future work.
“The skills I have learned here have enabled me to be confident when going onto sets which has allowed me to make a great first impression. There are no other places locally that provide this experience, the best equipment, the hands-on practical skills and learning and of course, the opportunities.”
Rebecca said she was attracted to the enthusiasm of founder, David Jenkins, in giving students as much opportunity as possible considering the industry’s legal ramifications for under 18s which can hinder their ability to obtain experience-driven openings. This, says David, makes it hard for young people to get an idea of what jobs are available and how they work.
“We are constantly making films, from start to finish, the editing and the showcasing to live audiences. Brilliant has enabled me to decide which department I want to go into which is directing and producing and given me the opportunity to work on external projects, such as making promotional videos for a theatre company, DYAD Productions.
“I would strongly encourage other young people to look into Brilliant. It’s a place that has broadened my understanding of the industry and built my confidence. I’ve learned how to navigate working with new people and am building my network for the future – something which is very valuable in this field,” she added.
Other students have also described their experience, saying all features of the film making process are covered comprehensively with the best training and use of specialist equipment. They added the continued experience offered of working with film, TV and production companies was also one of the best aspects which many other offerings don’t do.
David Jenkins, the founder of the now 10-year-old company, Brilliant Theatre Arts, which includes the Film Academies, concluded:
“We are focused on giving young people hands-on training, giving them all the kit they need to learn. We help them to understand the job roles, from the start of the film making process, making it from the start, right to the very finish and then the editing.
“Also importantly we teach them how to get their films out to an audience and navigating technology such as YouTube and Vimeo. Then more importantly we get involved with film festivals through Film Freeways, a platform used by filmmakers to submit their work to film festivals and contests globally and cinema screenings at independent cinemas.
“We want to firstly to help young people discover filmmaking, get them passionate and excited and then guide and help them on their pathway into the industry.”