Durham BFI Film & Television Careers Week

Following the huge success of the BFI (British Film Institute) Careers Week last year, January 2023 welcomes the return of this fabulous series of talks led by UK film and television industry professionals.  Curated by the BFI and hosted by Prof. Jonathan Long & Prof. Santiago Fouz-Hernández, the workshops are practically focused and will give all students the opportunity to understand different roles and to explore future career options with people currently working in industry. 

The film and television industry is a mammoth employer, requiring talent from a vast array of disciplines from costume design to accountancy, hair and make-up to distribution. With 20 new studio spaces in the pipeline nationwide there’s never been a better time to work in the film and television sector so whether you are studying Visual Arts, Business & Finance, Fashion or Design there are numerous opportunities. Understanding more about these opportunities during your studies will help you make the best choices when you decide on your future career and enter the industry of your choice.  

The sessions are open to all but will be especially useful to those already interested in working in the creative industries with an emphasis on film and television. They offer a deep dive into a range of creative and industry roles asking: what’s the function of specific roles? What do specific roles entail on a day-to-day basis? We’ll also offer tips and advice for getting into specific fields? Plus a chance to ask any questions that might help you find the right career path after graduation. 

Details 

There are 11 talks programmed across the week. All sessions provided via Zoom with the exception of the first session on Monday 23 January at 10am.  

Please see the timetable below for session times and dates.

For full details of all workshops and registration details, interested students and staff should visit the Sharepoint site. 

BFI Careers Week Timetable 

We are delighted to be welcoming an exciting group of Guest speakers to share their knowledge and experience, including:  

Jeremy Ojo (Screenwriter) is a writer, and actor, who is currently working on the Sky/AMC show Gangs of London as a story editor. Previously, he worked as a Development consultant for the Drama Commissioning Team at Netflix. He has worked for other production companies in the UK including Roughcut TV, the makers of People Just Do Nothing and Stath Lets Flats and DNA Films and TV (Trainspotting, Notes on A Scandal, The Last King of Scotland, Devs and others.) 

Alongside this, he co-created and starred in a web series called Shoestring, which came out in 2016 and generated thousands of views on social media with one of the episodes selected as one of the best for the BFI’s Postroom Network. He has also written on BBC Two sketch comedy Famalam. He was part of BBC London Voices Writersroom and has projects in funded development with various production companies including Bad Wolf and FiveActs. 

Harriet Lawrence (Location Manager) grew up in Scotland, moving to London to study Foundation Art at Chelsea School of Art. She has a degree in Photography from London College of Printing. After brief stints in retail and picture editing, she fell into Location Managing by accident in about 1994 finding a job she loves. She began work in Commercials - learning by being thrown into the deep end, given little or no information and juggling several jobs at once.  Since the late ’90s she has increasingly worked in drama and independent UK films. 

Harriet has worked on a range of TV dramas, feature films, and stills shoots including Suffragette, Burton and Taylor, Fleming, Parks & Recreation, Henry VIII, My Cousin Rachel, The Personal History of David Copperfield, Essex Serpent and all the Outnumbered series, setting up the first series of Downton Abbey and many of Stephen Poliakoff’s films including Dancing on the Edge. She is about to wrap on Emerald Fennell’s new film Saltburn.  

Since 2007, she has run the renowned Assistant Location Managers Training Course via Film London then Production Guild, and more recently supported by The Location Collective and sponsored by our wonderfully supportive suppliers. In 2016 she was given the received the PG Inspiration Award at their bi-annual awards ceremony. 
 

Jack Tarling (Producer) produced Sundance, Berlin, Edinburgh and BIFA awards winner God’s Own Country by Francis Lee, financed by BFI and Creative England, and Await Further Instructions directed by Johnny Kevorkian, which Netflix have acquired for multi-territory. He has also co-produced Hackney’s Finest directed by Chris Bouchard and co-financed by Framestore, and VS. by Ed Lilly, financed by BBC Films. 

He worked throughout 2019 as Producer on an unannounced US-set interactive feature film for Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe. 

David Blank (Production Accounting) started out as a runner on Harry Enfield compilations in the early 2000s and progressed into the accounts department via Granada TV drama. He then spent the next 8 years getting established as an assistant accountant and noticeable credits included Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. Over the following years David has become known as a versatile Production Accountant, able to turn his skillset to shows of all shapes and sizes, always treating scripted TV and film with the equal respect that they deserve. Recent noticeable credits include Paddington 2, Spencer and Venom: Let There Be Carnage. 

David works with the Production Guild of Great Britain and has been pro-active in addressing the sectors current skills gaps on new entrants into the industry, including establishing links with new graduates from the London Screen Academy and actively recruiting from outside the traditional film and TV background, looking for new entrants with transferable skills. 

Seth Mason (Casting Agent) has most recently been co-casting director on The Split 3 (BBC / Sister) and Rebel Cheer Squad (Netflix / iPlayer), which both aired in 2022, and the shorts Nant and Her Majesty – both of which had official selection at the London Film Festival 2022. He was casting director on The Catch (Projector Pictures for Channel 5) and co-cast season 5 of Unforgotten (Mainstreet for ITV) and the feature film Embers (Mini Productions), all due for release in 2023. 

As casting associate, he recently worked on Sherwood (House Productions), AIDS: The Unheard Tapes (BBC), The Bubble (Netflix), Crossfire (Dancing Ledge Productions), Des (New Pictures), Starstruck (HBO Max / BBC Three), Worzel Gummidge (Leopard Pictures), World On Fire (Mammoth), Silent Witness (BBC), Baz Luhrmann’s The Secret Life of Flowers for ERDEM x H&M and the hit feature film Crawl (Paramount).