NFTS Outreach: Helpful Resources

Click on each of the tabs below to get to the relevant links. 

Organisations

Below are links to organisations offering incredible opportunities to develop and learn skills linked to many of the careers in the Film, TV and/or Games. We try to only signpost opportunities that are FREE, however please be aware these offers change and some links will have a mix of free and paid for opportunities. The links were correct at time of publishing, we will review this list regularly to keep it as up to date as possible.

Organisation	Ages	Location	Description	Website
BBC	18+	Nationwide	Whether you are a school leaver, graduate or looking for an opportunity to change your career, find out about the early careers schemes the BBC offer to get you on the right track and into a job you will love.	https://careers.bbc.co.uk/content/EC_Home/?locale=en_GB
Brightside	16-25	Nationwide	Brightside connect young people facing barriers with inspiring mentors.	https://brightside.org.uk/
Discover Creative Careers	16+	Nationwide	Discover Creative Careers is a government-funded, industry-led programme working to ensure there is a larger and more diverse intake of talent into the creative industries.	https://discovercreative.careers/
ERIC app	16+	Nationwide	The ERIC app aggregate everything you need in one place. Helping you prepare and start a career in the creative industries.	https://www.meet-eric.com/
Film Hub North	16-25	North of England	Film Hub North - a sector development organisation supporting film culture in the North of England.	https://filmhubnorth.org.uk/
Future Film Focus	11-30	Nationwide	Supporting emerging talent to entry level employment, training, and work experience roles within the creative industries with key cultural partners.	https://e17films.com/future-film-focus/
Cinemagic Film Festival	4-25	Belfast	Cinemagic embraces the magic of film, television and digital technologies and offers young people the chance to develop real skills, explore opportunities, and reaffirm their belief in what they want to do and their own ability to achieve it.	cinemagic.org.uk/
My Creative Future	16-25	Nationwide	My creative focus aims to acheive a world where the arts are diverse, representative and accessible to everyone.	https://www.creativefuture.org.uk/
Physical Folk	16-24	Nationwide	Physical folk are focussed on connecting communities creatively.	https://physicalfolkuk.wordpress.com/
Screen skills	18+	Nationwide	Free e-learning, getting into the screen industries.	https://www.screenskills.com/
Video Collective	18+	Nationwide	Worldwide network for freelance filmmakers. Find anything from jobs and career advice to equipment reviews and discounts.	https://www.freelancevideocollective.com/
Birmingham Young Film Network	16-21	Birmingham	BYFN aim to create opportunities for young filmmakers and critics including work experience and networking with peers.	byfn.co.uk/
Boom Satsuma	16+	Bristol	Boomsatsuma offer innovative training in the creative industries through their college in Bristol, their focused degree programmes, and outreach in schools.	boomsatsuma.com/
Watershed Cinema	16-30	Bristol	We identify, support and network the talent of tomorrow, encouraging their creativity, ability and curiosity as artists and audiences. Our inclusive programmes reach out to young people in the spaces where they are (on and offline), developing their profile, skills, confidence and networks and providing stepping stones into the creative and cultural sector.	watershed.co.uk/about-us/talent-development
Tigers Ltd	16+	Glasgow	We believe young people learn best, grow and thrive, in whatever career they choose, when they’re fully supported. We offer everything needed to flourish: training through our courses and apprenticeships, connections through our mentorship programmes, as well as our ongoing, caring support.	learnwithtigers.co.uk/
Damilola Taylor Trust	14+	London	Runs the Youth Film Project which gives young people aged between 14 and 24 years old, the opportunity to write and produce their own short film.	damilolataylortrust.co.uk/
Eastside	8+	London	Eastside exists to help young people develop their creative thinking, so that they are able to become the problem-solvers of tomorrow, empowered to build a better society. They engage children and young people through direct participation in the arts, enabling them to work with professional artists and creative practitioners, both in and outside school, with a particular focus on areas in London where our help is needed most. They deliver workshops to Primary, SEND and Secondary schools, and run programmes for 16-25 year olds.	eastside.org.uk
Ghetto Film School	14+	London	GFS equips students for top universities and careers in the creative industries through two tracks: an introductory education program for high school students and early-career support for alumni and young professionals. They offer an 18-month university-level pre-professional immersion in cinematic storytelling and production training, for 16-19 year olds. No prior filmmaking experience is required.	ghettofilm.org
London Screen Academy	16-18	London	LSA is a free sixth form academy for students who want to learn all the skills required for a career within the film + television industries.	lsa.ac.uk/
Mama Youth Project	18-25	London	MAMA Youth Project is dedicated to changing the lives of young people by providing relevant industry training and opening doors to the TV & Film industry. They offer a series of training programmes throughout the year.	mamayouth.org.uk
We Rise	16-19	London	We Rise is an award winning Brixton based community business, set up by a group of parents with a shared passion to tackle social disadvantage by helping young people make the difficult transition from school to work. They offer various creative projects for 16-19 year olds.	werise.org.uk
HOMEmcr	15-25	Manchester	HOME run an amazing series of workshops, projects and commissioning opportunities which are all free and specifically aimed at 15-25 year olds. Projects will always be led by industry professionals so you can expect to take advantage of high quality sessions that are relevant to real careers in the creative industries.	homemcr.org/young-people/
Access: VFX	15+	Nationwide	Access: VFX offers virtual events to help 15+ year old to understand more about careers in VFX, Animation, Games	accessvfx.org/
Bafta Guru	10+	Nationwide	A hub for inspirational career advice from the very best in film, games and television, including competitions and initiatives for children as young as 10.	guru.bafta.org/
BFI Education	8+	Nationwide	Offers various young filmmakers clubs offering filmmaking activities for children. They also run a variety of specialist courses for talented and committed young people aged 16 to 19 to develop new skills and build a career in the film	bfi.org.uk
Care Creatives	18+	Nationwide	A network of Care Leavers and Estranged people who work in Film and TV. job opportunities, placements and traineeships. Members also get access to our monthly Q&A’s and webinars with industry experts and employers, 1-2-1 CV clinics and mock interview sessions.	carecreatives.co.uk/
Into Film	11+	Nationwide	Into Film is a UK-wide film and education charity, which puts film at the heart of children and young people's learning. They offer classroom resources, competitions and training programmes for young people.	intofilm.org
My First Job in Film	18+	Nationwide	FJIF offers the latest resources and industry news, to professional training and job opportunities.	myfirstjobinfilm.com
National Saturday Club	13+	Nationwide	Saturday Clubs run a film and media club open to 13–16-year-olds of all abilities and are free to attend. They offer an opportunity to learn new skills, discover talents, meet new people, and find out more about further education, higher education and rewarding careers.	saturday-club.org/
No Film School	16+	Nationwide	A resource for all things filmmaking	nofilmschool.com/
Screenskills	18+	Nationwide	Screenskills is the industry-led skills body for the UK's screen-based creative industries - animation, film, games, television including children's TV and high-end drama, VFX and immersive technology. They offer training and resources.	screenskills.com/
Talent Manager	18+	Nationwide	The Talent Manager is the UK's biggest TV jobs searching and networking community for freelancers and companies.	thetalentmanager.com/
Young Film Academy	6-19	Nationwide	YFA is the UKʼs leading provider of filmmaking courses, filmmaking programmes for schools, community filmmaking projects, filmmaking outreach events and kids film parties to young people aged 5-19	youngfilmacademy.co.uk/
ALBERT	18+	Nationwide	Albert offers free training up and down the country focusing on sustainability across the industry.	wearealbert.org/events/training/
Beacon films	16+	Newcastle Upon Tyne	At Beacon Films, we want to:- a) improve our filmmaking skills, a) improve our filmmaking skills, c) inspire our communities and workplaces to support our independent participation, as equals.	beaconfilms.org.uk/
KinoKulture	16+	Shropshire	This indie cinema often runs educational events for young people interested in filmmaking and film programming	kinokulture.org.uk/
MediaActive	15-19	Shropshire	MediaActive works with local people, organisations and creative practitioners to co-design and produce an innovative programme of special projects, commissions, events and exhibitions. They run serveral filmmaking programmes for young people throughout the year.	mediaactive.org/
Arts Council of Wales	16+	Wales	Offering funding for arts related education as well as funding for film projects from Wales based filmmmakers	arts.wales/
Screen Yorkshire	18-30	Yorkshire	Screen Yorkshire offer various free, part-time training initiatives that aim to increase diversity in the screen industries by breaking down the barriers which can prevent young people from finding work in film and TV.	screenyorkshire.co.uk
Leeds Film	11-19	Yorkshire	Leeds film offer a BFI Film Academy programme and their Burberry Inspire programme to immerse young people in the arts as well as offering online educational content.	leedsfilm.com/leeds-young-film/
Courtyard	9-17	Hereford	Courtyard offers filmmaking classes for young people in Hereford	courtyard.org.uk/termly-classes/
Rural Media	14+	Hereford	Rural Media Charity works with communities, schools, groups and individuals to create issue-driven films, heritage and digital arts projects that raise awareness, influence change and celebrate rural life.	ruralmedia.co.uk/
Creative Youth Network	11-19	Bristol	Creative Youth Network helps young people, no matter what their background or circumstances, to reach their own potential.	creativeyouthnetwork.org.uk/
Factory Films	14+	Nationwide	A brand new podcast ‘Is TV For Me?’ which launched in June 2023 In each episode there is an interview with some of TV’s most experienced production talent to get the inside scoop on what they do, how they got there and what’s the best advice for people who’d love to follow in their footsteps. Initially, a series of 6, dropping each Tuesday and covering the roles of; Producer, Director of Photography (DoP), Casting Producer, Assistant Producer, Post-production Manager & Development Producer.	www.factoryfilms.tv/podcast

Software

Below are links to software you can use for free to develop and learn skills linked to many of the careers in the Film, TV and/or Games. The links at correct at time of publishing, we will review this list regularly to keep it as up to date as possible. 

Software	Type	Website
OpenToonz	2D Animation	opentoonz.github.io/e/
Blender	Animation & VFX	blender.org/download/
Audacity	Audio Editing	audacityteam.org/
Garageband	Audio Editing	apple.com/uk/mac/garageband/
GDevelop	Game Creator	gdevelop.io/en-gb
GameMaker	Game Creator	gamemaker.io/en/gamemaker
Gimp	Photo Editing	gimp.org/
Snapseed App	Photo Editing	snapseed.online/
iMovie	Video Editing	apple.com/uk/imovie/
Movie Maker	Video Editing	apps.microsoft.com/store/detail/movie-maker-video-editor-free/9MVFQ4LMZ6C9?hl=en-us&gl=US
Davinci Resolve	Video Editing & Colour Grading	blackmagicdesign.com/products/davinciresolve
Studiobinder	Screenwriting & Production	studiobinder.com
Canva	Graphic Design	canva.com/

Festivals

Below are links to Film Festival you can visit for free to watch films from a range of genres, made by people form a wide range of cultures and communities. Attending these types of events can help you develop and learn skills linked to many of the careers in the Film, TV and/or Games, as well as meet people in the industry. The links at correct at time of publishing, we will review this list regularly to keep it as up to date as possible. 

Festival	Month	Location	Genre	Website
Outburst Queer Arts Festival	November	Belfast	LGBTQ+	outburstarts.com/
Birmingham Indian Film Festival	June	Birmingham	Indian	birminghamindianfilmfestival.co.uk/
Shout Festival	November	Birmingham	LGBTQ+	shoutfestival.co.uk/
Queer Vision Film Festival	June	Bristol	LGBTQ+	bristolpride.co.uk/queervision/
Africa Eye	November	Bristol	African	afrikaeye.org.uk/#
Iris Film Festival	October	Cardiff	LGBTQ+	irisprize.org/
Women X Film Festival	September	Darlington	Women	riannepictures.com/womenx
Scottish Queer International Film Festival	October	Glasgow	LGBTQ+	sqiff.org/
Leeds Queer Film Festival	May	Leeds	LGBTQ+	leedsqueerfilmfestival.co.uk/
BFI Flare	March	London	LGBTQ+	whatson.bfi.org.uk/flare/Online/default.asp
Queer East	May	London	LGBTQ+ / East Asian	queereast.org.uk/
London Eurasian Film Festival	May	London	Eurasian	eurasianfilmfestival.uk/ivecgffeng
British Urban Film Festival	November	London	Urban	britishurbanfilmfestival.co.uk/about-us/
UK Jewish Film Festival	November	London	Jewish	ukjewishfilm.org/
London East Asian Film Festival	October	London	East Asian	leaff.org.uk/
Film Africa	October	London	African	filmafrica.org/
Scottish Mental Health Festival	May	Scotland	Mental Health	mhfestival.com
Africa In Motion	October	Scotland	African	africa-in-motion.org.uk/
Shropshire Rainbow Film Festival	October	Shropshire	LGBTQ+	rainbowfilmfestival.org.uk/
Celtic Media Festival	June	Various	Celtic	celticmediafestival.co.uk/

NFTS Google Archive

As part of its 50th Anniversary celebrations throughout 2021, The National Film and Television School (NFTS) collaborated with Google Arts & Culture to open the vaults of its extensive archive for the very first time, launching a new collection of over 200 digitised films and behind the scenes material.

After five decades training filmmakers across disciplines including fiction, documentary, animation, television and games, the NFTS Digital Archive (g.co/NFTS) features a curated selection of student films made at the NFTS, complimented by a range of multi-media resources including behind the scenes stills, trailers, original screenplays and recent interviews.

Filmmakers such as Nick Park (Wallace and Gromit), Lynne Ramsay (We Need to Talk About Kevin), Rose Glass (Saint Maud) Nick Broomfield (Kurt and Courtney) and many more, share memories of making their student films and reflect on their experiences while studying at the NFTS. The incredible work NFTS graduates have created over the last 50 years has helped shape the cultural life of the UK and contributed to the worldwide success of the British film and television industry.

Check it out and be inspired, you might even discover your dream career or at least find out more about the behind the camera work and huge range of roles available. 

Contact 

For more information on NFTS Outreach please contact Head of Outreach, Joe Bradbury-Walters | outreach@nfts.co.uk  

To stay up to date with all events, follow us on Instagram @accessnfts or sign up to our mailing list.