Adobe Brings $6M Diversity Film & TV Fund To UK Via ScreenSkills Partnership

Posted by Admin April 23, 2024 Entertainment

Adobe Brings M Diversity Film & TV Fund To UK Via ScreenSkills Partnership

The $6M Adobe Film and TV Fund supporting under-represented communities in film and TV has been extended to the UK.

Adobe has partnered with UK training body ScreenSkills on the extension of the fund and around $250,000 will be spent in the nation in 2024 and 2025, helping 350 people from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Adobe and ScreenSkills have already devised a number of training programs including:

First Break for Unscripted Television: Creating career pathways for people from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds in unscripted.
Dream Big: A training program delivered by the Children’s TV Skills Fund in partnership with ThinkBigger!, which provides practical training in production, industry masterclasses and mentoring for underrepresented groups.
Film Forward: A new pilot program – based on the existing and successful Film Skills Fund Film Forward program – designed specifically to support film professionals who have declared a disability.
Film Skills Fund Inclusion and Diversity Conference – a one-day, free-to-attend conference to mark the 25^th anniversary of the Film Skills Fund, focused on promoting the benefits of diversity and inclusion in film and TV. Additionally, the Film Skills Fund, in partnership with Discover! Creative Careers, will undertake a series of visits to schools across England.

There will also be bursaries for women from minority ethnic groups and a podcast series discussing the importance of increasing diversity and inclusion in the screen industries.

New ScreenSkills CEO Laura Mansfield, who used to run Remarkable Places to Eat producer Outline Productions, will detail the programs further during a Creative Cities Convention keynote in Bristol tomorrow.

The $6M Adobe Film & TV Fund launched in January in the U.S. to address the inequality in funding and career and training opportunities across multiple communities with grants, contributions, and fellowships. Adobe and the Adobe Foundation are collaborating with a cohort of global organizations that are committed to empowering underrepresented communities including Easterseals, Gold House, Latinx House, NAACP, Sundance Institute and Yuvaa.

Adobe VP Marketing Strategy and Communications Stacy Martinet said: “Diversity in front of and behind the camera is key to unlocking more diverse and inclusive storytelling across TV and film. Bringing our global Film & TV Fund to the UK underscores our commitment to opening doors for underrepresented and marginalised communities around the world and empowering those already in the industry to grow and further their careers.”