Skills Shortage Looming Over Production Studio Expansions

With a record £5.6 billion ($7.3 billion) spent on making major budget films, high-end scripted drama, and strong non-scripted programming last year the film and TV industry is thriving like never before. However, the result of success has brought with it a new skills shortage problem.

At the request of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport within the British government, The British Film Institute (BFI) has been presented with the task of finding out just how big of an issue the lack of individuals in certain roles is. The report, set to be published in April, will highlight key indicators around those shortages.

The continued – and exponentially increasing – content push may reportedly see a gap of 40,000 workers by 2025. The effect could be so massive that it changes shooting schedules and dramatically increases budgets.

Talking to The Guardian, Seetha Kumar, CEO at ScreenSkills, a company that represents workers in the industry said: “The really pressing problems are at the experienced mid-level, and that is our big focus in the coming year because shortages there are hitting production schedules, causing delays and creating wage inflation,”

“All the research we do, and the regular feedback from industry who sit on our skills councils and working groups, [tells] of skills gaps and shortages across the board – from production coordinators and managers to editors, script supervisors and accountants.”

Coaching the issue

With a projected massive skills gap expected to be reported, the solution around the issue may be a means of significant job creation.

Sean T. Adams, a military veteran, business and life coach teaches people how to master themselves to develop high-income level skills through harnessing their knowledge and by giving them new tools to grow.

“When talented, driven, and ethical people unite it’s pretty mind-blowing how much can be accomplished. Another thing is You don’t know what you don’t know. This is why mentorship is so vital and honestly what saved me. One thing I realized is that the entrepreneurial journey is a development of oneself and nothing more.”

He believes that utilizing your environment to learn and grow new skills is paramount to understanding how to capitalize on the current market as well as listening and reading what the market is doing.

“Your work works on you more than you work on it. It’s not the knowledge that makes a successful entrepreneur. It’s skills, character traits and belief patterns.” He added.

“Reconstructing the way people think is the beginning, so people have a strategy when entering an industry that can ultimately play a major role in impacting a person’s success in life, business, or their career.”

With an economy reeling from the global COVID-19 pandemic, the film and TV industry could potentially herald a big opportunity for work and training.

Being a freelancer – very akin to full entrepreneurship – the opportunities for coaching individuals to filter into key roles is sizeable. The content push is going nowhere anytime soon meaning we’re seeing an industry ripe to address job shortages.

On advice for people looking to start afresh in a new industry, Adams said, “Get a mentor. You don’t know what you don’t know. Find someone that has the success that you want and learn from them. Ethics are key.”

“Make sure you develop yourself so that you can be strong for the people that you’re leading. You will never rise to the strength of your goals, you will only fall to the weakness of your systems. So if you have big goals make sure that you have a system that is conducive to success.”