From Courses to Careers: Guiding Young People through the Screen Industries

• Lambros Atteshlis, Managing Director, Glasshead
• Adam Barber, Production Manager, Air TV
• Margaret Burgin, Head of Careers, ScreenSkills
• Joel Cable, Sector Manager – Art and Design and Creative Media, Pearson
• Alison Green, Head of Digital Content and Training, CTVC
• Dawn McCarthy-Simpson MBE, Managing Director of Business Development and Global Strategy, Pact
• Glyn Middleton, Head of Skills and Industry Engagement, Screen Yorkshire
• Scott Santus, Chief Examiner, BTEC Creative Media, Pearson
• Stephen Wilkinson, Creative Director, Rockhound

2pm to 2.05pm – Welcome from the University of Hull

2.05pm to 2.10pm – Welcome from the Screen Industries Growth Network (SIGN)

2.10pm to 2.40pm – Panel discussion

2.40pm to 3pm – Break

3pm to 3.40pm – Round-table discussion

What should be our collective focus when providing skills, training and guidance for young people looking to enter the screen industries?

3.40pm to 4pm – Break

4pm to 4.40pm – Round-table discussion

Are there new systems, processes and ways of working we should raise awareness of that could help to address issues raised in the earlier discussion?

4.40pm to 5pm – Plenary

Lambros established Glasshead as an independent TV production company in 1994 after a decade of working as a Producer at the BBC. He was introduced to the independent sector after working at Wall to Wall where he was a Series Producer/Development Producer. Over the years, Glasshead has built a reputation for consistently delivering projects to an outstanding quality. Our wide-ranging output includes documentaries and factual entertainment series, children’s dramas, animations and innovative multiplatform projects.

Glasshead has created shows for many of the major broadcasters including BBC, Channel 4, Discovery, History Channel, BBC World News, Al Jazeera English plus video projects for many international science organisations. The company has won a raft of awards including two BAFTAs, two BIMAs, an RTS award, the Japan Prize, an IVCA and the UK Future Internet award. Lambros has now stepped back from managing the company and works on projects which he really wants to be personally involved with – like helping students at the University of Hull.

Adam has worked in the creative industries for over 20 years in production and staffing roles for Air TV, BBC Studios, BBC News, BBC Sport, BBC Education, Red Bee Media, Johnston Press, and specialist TV staffing company Talented People. In his current role as Production Manager at Air TV, he looks after post-production, staffing, broadcaster liaison and asset management on projects for Discovery and UKTV channels.

Proudly based in Yorkshire, Air TV is one of the fastest-growing independent production companies in the UK with an unrivalled reputation for creating high volume award-winning factual TV. From the ratings-busting classic car show Bangers & Cash on UKTV’s Yesterday channel to blue light hit Helicopter ER on Discovery’s Really channel, Air TV programmes are hits at home and around the world.

Margaret has been Head of Careers at ScreenSkills for just over three years. She heads up a team which provides careers information for anyone wanting to get into film, TV, visual effects animation and games, including young people of school age, students, new entrants, careers changers and returners. She joined ScreenSkills from the BBC where she managed outreach projects, employment schemes, conferences and large events. She also worked with UK schools and universities on behalf of the BBC and was involved with the design and delivery of career training and resources. Margaret was part of the team which moved the BBC into Media City UK in Salford, where she worked on some early apprenticeships and innovative employment schemes. She started out as a journalist in local radio in the north of England.

With a background in fine art and graphic design, Joel has been with Pearson for 14 years as an expert in creative and skills-based assessment. Having designed and delivered A level and GCSE creative qualifications for several years, he moved into BTEC assessment and product management based on his passion for the importance of vocational education in the creative sector. He is currently the Sector Manager for all Level 2 and 3 BTECs in Creative Media and Art and Design.

With over 15 years’ experience, including founding and running her own multi award-winning company VividEcho, Alison has produced short, educational films for CTVC since 2009 including over 270 pieces of content for BBC Bitesize, six animations for BBC Teach and most recently BBC Teach’s Black British History series. Alison is a specialist in youth-facing, educational online content and since 2012 has been delivering film education programmes for the BFI in the UK, Turkey and China. CTVC currently delivers the BFI Film Academy in Hull alongside a course in London and the nationwide documentary course. CTVC also hosts their own, BAFTA winning education platform: TrueTube.

Dawn is an international development expert with over 30 years of experience in the broadcast industry (television and radio); this includes Managing Director, Commercial Director and Broadcast Development Director roles at local, national and international television channels. She is a thought leader and expert speaker on the global broadcast industry.

Currently she is the Managing Director of Global Strategy at Pact, the trade association representing more than 700 UK production companies. She plays a key role in the development of the UK independent TV sector, and has negotiated industry partner trade deals, advised government and help shapes frameworks for official UK trade agreements.

She has contributed to the wider industry taking on a variety of non-exec and advisory boards over the past 15 years: ScreenSkills, The Creative Industries Trade & Investment Board, UK Exports, UK Exports Council and various advisory groups both government and non-government organisations.

Glyn began his 30-year TV career making documentaries for ITV’s award-winning flagship First Tuesday series, making investigative films in apartheid-era South Africa, Peru, Sicily and Northern Ireland. He went on to produce and direct a wide range of high profile, prime time documentaries for ITV, the BBC, Channel 4, Channel 5 and the Discovery Channel, among others. In 2001, he co-founded the Leeds-based indie, True North, and helped to turn a start-up indie into the UK’s biggest factual producer outside of London. He produced, directed and executive-produced countless series for the BBC, ITV, Channel 5 and National Geographic Channel. As Head of Skills and Industry Engagement for Screen Yorkshire, he manages a range of skills programmes, including Connected Campus, Beyond Brontës and the Centre of Screen Excellence: Yorkshire.

Having taught vocational media qualifications for 18 years and worked in a variety of senior roles as an assessor over the last 12 years, Scott now works as an Assessment Associate with Pearson as a writer, Senior Team Leader for all BTEC media qualifications and the Chief Examiner for BTEC Level 2 and Level 3 media qualifications, including the BTEC Nationals in Creative Digital Media Production.

Stephen is a former BBC commissioning editor and an executive producer in BBC Science. An award-winning director and executive producer, with over 30 years experience in documentary filmmaking, he has also conceived award winning TV formats and brought new talent to the screen, including Brian Cox, Bettany Hughes and Iain Stewart.