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Netflix contributes to UK fund designed to support future production talent

L-R: Entertainment Partners’ Joe Francis, the PGGB’s Lyndsay Duthie and Netflix’s Alison Small

Netflix and the UK’s Entertainment Partners have pledged £500,000 (US$616,000) towards a Production Guild of Great Britain (PGGB) Talent Development Fund to support the development and progression of film and high-end TV production talent across the UK.

The streamer and Entertainment Partners have each contributed £250,000 to the fund, which will invest in specialist training for below-the-line professionals working in roles represented by its members.

These include production accountants, production managers, line producers and assistant directors, all of which are in high demand as the UK’s production sector enjoys a boom period, in part thanks to streamers such as Netflix. This has led to what some have dubbed the ‘crew crunch.’

Lyndsay Duthie, PGGB CEO, said the fund will “help upskill future production talent,” while Mark Goldstein, president and CEO of Entertainment Partners, said it will “immediately help build a more inclusive industry while providing the qualified, trained crew that is critically needed to support the explosion of film and high-end television production in the British market.”

Alison Small, Netflix Grow Creative UK manager, added: “Nurturing future production talent, particularly in these sought-after roles, not only helps bridge the skills gap and improve diversity, but builds on our long-term ambition to be the studio that provides the most meaningful training opportunities in the UK.”

Elsewhere in the UK, creative freelancers and small and medium enterprises in Cardiff and across Wales with an idea for new products, services or experiences in the media sector can apply for up to £10,000 of seed funding as part of the Media Cymru Innovation Pipeline.

Media Cymru is keen to receive applications from creators operating in a range of disciplines and industries, with particular interest in ideas relating to virtual production, new formats and ways of creating content, gaming, immersive storytelling, bilingual production and fresh approaches to delivering the news.

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