Screen Australia and VicScreen have announced a new initiative – Screen Careers – to address skills shortages in the Australian screen industry.

Over the next four years, the agencies will provide a combined $1.4 million to support the initiative, which will be based out of Melbourne. Screen Careers, they say, will deliver ‘tailored, industry-led training programs and skills development opportunities for below-the-line crew across Australia, leveraging partnerships with ScreenSkills UK, BFI and BAFTA’.

For aspiring screen practitioners, including school leavers, TAFE and university students, Screen Careers is intended as ‘a gateway into the screen industry, providing foundational training’. For established
professionals, it will offer career support, ‘enabling individuals to progress and grow their careers within their respective fields through in-person workshops and e-learning programs’.

Media Mentors Co-Founders Denise Eriksen and Esther Coleman-Hawkins will lead the initiative, alongside the ABC’s Head of Content Chris Oliver Taylor, who has been appointed as the inaugural Chair.

Joining them are Fiona Gilroy as Head of Business Development and Communications and Megan Mohell as Chief Operating Officer.

Federal Minister for the Arts, Tony Burke said: ‘We always talk about screen being one of the main ways
that our stories are told to each other and to the world. I want one of those stories to be jobs. Not just jobs for the people who are on screen, but all the people around them who make it happen.’

VicScreen CEO Caroline Pitcher said: ‘Industry has told us that more below-the-line skills and training is
needed as a matter of urgency and we are proud to be leading the charge in addressing this strategic need through our partnership with Screen Careers and Screen Australia.’

Visit the Screen Careers website for more information.