BFI pledges £11.85M for film, TV training clusters

The BFI has announced £11.85m funding over three years to support skills development and training across the UK’s key production hubs.

£9m will go to the existing “Skills Clusters” with a further £2.85m allocated to new geographical skills clusters “where there is evidence of a need to build strong crew bases.”

Informed initially by the 2022 BFI Skills Review and developed in response to below-the-line production skills gaps and shortages across the UK screen sector, The BFI Skills Clusters Fund will continue to enable lead organisations to work with local industry, education, and training providers. The Fund will continue to support the existing seven regional clusters to “identify local skills needs, strengthen regional skills data and evidence, deliver tailored training to new and existing workers, and create clearer routes into local work opportunities in film and television production.”

For each Cluster, funding is awarded to a lead delivery partner who will work with other organisations and leverage additional local funding to maximise the impact of BFI National Lottery funding. To date, seven BFI Skills Clusters have been awarded a total of £9m over three years covering the following areas:

BFI Skills Cluster Berkshire (Screen Berkshire): £0.6m

Lead delivery partner: Resource Productions

Key partners include: University of Reading, Shadowbox Studios Shinfield, Berkshire Film Office, Amazon MGM Studios

BFI Skills Cluster Metro London: £2.2m

Lead delivery partner: Film London

Key partners include: NFTS, London Higher, New City College

BFI Skills Cluster North of England (Screen Alliance North): £2.3m

Lead delivery partner: Screen Yorkshire

Key partners include: Liverpool Film Office, North East Screen, Screen Manchester

BFI Skills Cluster Northern Ireland: £0.9m

Lead delivery partner: Northern Ireland Screen

Key partners include: Studio Ulster, QUB MediaLab

BFI Skills Cluster Scotland: £1.1m

Lead delivery partner: Screen Scotland

Key partners include: BECTU Vision, MG ALBA, Final Pixel Academy

Also co-funded by the Scottish Government

BFI Skills Cluster Wales (Siop Un Stop-One Stop Shop): £0.9m

Lead delivery partner: Sgil Cymru

Key partners include: Screen Alliance Wales

Also co-funded by Creative Wales and BBC Studios

BFI Skills Cluster West Midlands (Create Central Skills Accelerator): £1m

Lead delivery partner: Create Central

Key partners include: WMCA, WMGC, Production Central West Midlands

Also co-funded by the West Midlands Combined Authority

In addition to funding the existing Skills Clusters, a further £2.85m will be invested in broadening the geographical reach of the programme, introducing further BFI Skills Clusters where there is evidence of a need to build strong crew bases. The BFI will open the additional Skills Clusters funding for applications from early July 2026.

Sara Whybrew, Director of Skills and Workforce Development at BFI, said, “The first three years of the BFI Skills Clusters has shown us that supporting localised training and work-based-learning opportunities is vital to building a workforce that better reflects local populations and ensuring our production hubs have ready access to the breadth of skills needed to support both domestic and inward-investment production. Earning and spending in the same place is good for local economies, and enabling more people to pursue, develop, and sustain a career in screen on their doorstep also makes the sector accessible to a greater diversity of people. We’d like to thank the Skills Clusters for the impactful work they have achieved since 2023, and we look forward to the next three years and to welcoming new delivery partners as we grow the portfolio and geographical footprint of the Clusters.”

Creative Industries Minister, Ian Murray, said: “The UK’s film and TV industry provides an invaluable contribution to our country. It generates billions for our economy, employs thousands of people and demonstrates this country’s talents on a global stage. This investment through the BFI Skills Clusters programme will ensure that people across the whole country have the opportunity to build real careers in this industry, which is one of the key aims of the government’s Creative Industries Sector Plan.”