Channel 4 donates £1.5m to the National Film and Television School

13 January 2016

Channel 4 today announced plans to donate £1.5m to the National Film and Television School (NFTS) to help boost and widen the pipeline of new industry talent in the creative industries.

One million pounds of the Channel 4 investment will help fund a vital new expansion of the NFTS to accommodate its new Creative Industries Skills Academy – increasing the capacity of its historic Beaconsfield Studios site in Buckinghamshire.

A further £500,000 will fund a Channel 4 bursary scheme at the school to run over five years – directly aimed at increasing social mobility within the creative industries. This will be used to enable 20 students a year from socially disadvantaged backgrounds, particularly in the Nations and Regions, to study at the world famous school.

David Abraham, Chief Executive of Channel 4 said: “The NFTS is a world leader and a vital source of talent for the UK creative industries and Channel 4 has the further development of that talent at the heart of its remit. I’m extremely proud that Channel 4’s investment means the school will be able to support more students from diverse and socially disadvantaged backgrounds – which will help increase social mobility within the creative and media industries.”

Commenting on the new agreement with Channel 4, NFTS Director Nik Powell said: “We are absolutely delighted by these two gifts which signify a major strengthening of our relationship with Channel 4.

“The capital gift of £1 million is key to the development financing arrangements for two vitally needed new school buildings, adding to the support already received from the DCMS, BFI, Skillset, the Broccoli Foundation and others. These new teaching facilities will enable us to maintain our position as the world’s number one film school and the leading provider of film, TV and games craft skills for the UK’s audio-visual sector.

“C4's generous five year provision of £100,000 a year for bursaries and scholarships will enable more students with limited means than ever to attend the school’s courses, thereby widening student access to the world class facilities now in development.”

The new £1.5m investment is in addition to a significant range of skills commitments already funded by Channel 4. These include the broadcaster’s award-winning 4-Talent scheme – which encompasses industry wide pop-ups attended by young people seeking careers in the creative industries; a work experience programme; apprenticeships, graduate placements and a PHD scheme.

Channel 4 also already runs bespoke training programmes including a Production Trainee Scheme – in 2016 focused on training disabled production staff for the Rio 2016 Paralympics; a screenwriting training scheme; and the Dispatches investigative journalism scheme.

The corporation has a number of partnerships with higher education institutions including UCL, Abertay, Westminster and De Montfort Universities. It also contributes regular funding to leading educational and skills-focussed organisations including Creative Skillset, the NFTS, and The Research Centre.

Channel 4 also supports emerging production companies, writers and directors with on-screen opportunities through its Alpha Fund, Growth Fund, Creative Diversity team and dedicated on-screen talent strands such as First Cut and Comedy Blaps.

 

Notes to editors

Previous graduates of the NFTS include Nick Park (Wallace and Gromit), David Yates (Harry Potter films), Lynne Ramsay (We Need to Talk About Kevin, Morvern Callar, Ratcatcher), Kim Longinotto (Rough Aunties, Sisters in Law, The Day I will Never Forget), and Roger Deakins (007:Skyfall, True Grit, No Country for Old Men).

More information about the NFTS is available at its website http://nfts.co.uk