Stablemates, Residence Pictures and Coffee & TV are launching a “first of its kind” training and employability scheme for the post production and VFX industry, Pixel Pathway.
Pixel Pathway provides free training up to an entry level standard in colour grading, post production producing and visual effects.
The initiative aims to tackle both the diversity and inclusion crisis and the skills gap “in one hit” and is working with specialist outreach partners to seek fresh talent from underrepresented and marginalised communities.
“Founded on the concept that in post production and VFX we do our best learning on the job”, Pixel Pathway is attached to a working facility, with training provided by professionals that work in the industry right now, on equipment used day to day.
Pixel Pathway is for anyone with a passion for post production and VFX who perceives these opportunities as beyond their reach or not accessible to them. The only barrier to entry is that all applicants must be 18+ years old and legally allowed to work within the UK.
Industry leaders and craft specialists have been invited to form a Founding Board to use their experience to provide general industry counsel on how to ensure that Pixel Pathway will be a success for the industry and to approve the curriculum.
The self-funded pilot launches in London in June with an initial cohort of 6 people. The course will run part time for the first 7 weeks, extending to a final 8th week where the cohort will be paid London Living Wage to do the job that they have been trained for. On completing a pathway, the cohort will be able to actively support working teams within post production facilities and VFX studios.
Once the pilot is complete, there will be an evaluation period to assess recruitment, curriculum, approach, scalability and industry engagement prior to a formal roll out of courses in the UK and beyond.
Pixel Pathway is being spearheaded by Cara Kotschy, Residence Pictures Co-Founder and MD, who said: ‘I’m so excited to launch Pixel Pathway for the post and VFX community. It’s been a long journey and a lot of hard work from our small, hardworking team to take the fruits of a great idea into an industry-defining initiative. A lack of investment in DE&I and training future talent alongside a culture of nepotism has maintained an industry full of people from similar socio-economic backgrounds with similar lived experiences which needs to stop. If the amazing creative hub in the UK is to continue to be a world leader, we need to start telling our stories through more diverse eyes. Pixel Pathway is leading the way in post and VFX. There isn’t an institution like this that exists yet within the UK.’
Derek Moore, Coffee & TV Group CEO, continued: ‘Through various volunteering opportunities I have been lucky enough to witness some of the amazing young creative talent we have on our doorstep. Visual arts in all their forms should not be the preserve of an elite few. Creative companies have hid behind the fact that it is hard to find well-trained diverse talent in the traditional education system. Pixel Pathway aims to help redress this balance.’
Jon Creamer
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