Inspiring young people into film and TV careers through the Sunbelt Rentals Film and TV division

Aimed at 14 – 22-year-olds from all backgrounds across the UK, the Studio opened its doors in Buckinghamshire to showcase the breadth of roles available in the screen industries. Its aim was to bring young people closer to companies who operate within the industry and provide demonstrations, workshops and skills training to help attendees gain valuable insight and a little first-hand experience. It wanted to show that there are roles available to people from all backgrounds – helping to attract a diverse talent pool to the industry.

The Challenge

Pinewood Studios required support from companies and educational organisations to stage the careers focused festival. It sought partners to exhibit equipment, share personal career stories, provide masterclasses and training sessions, and crucially help to display the thousands of different types of roles and career paths available across the film and TV industry.

The Solution

The below video, produced by Pinewood Studios Group, shows how we managed to bring young people closer to companies who operate within the industry and enable attendees to gain valuable insight and some first-hand experience in the industry.

The opportunity to support the inspirational careers festival and help to attract a diverse workforce into the film and TV industry was a perfect fit for Sunbelt Rentals. Its social impact strategy focuses on supporting local employment, helping those from challenging and diverse backgrounds and assisting people to build a better future through skills, education and employment.

There were three main teams who lent their support for this event. The Sunbelt Rentals specialist Film and TV division has a base within Pinewoood Studios so teams from here led the way, with our survey teams who provide specialist equipment to this industry playing an active role, as well as support being given from those based near to the studios working for our customer the Align JV, who deliver for HS2. We also drew wider support from our Social Impact Champion networks and specialists who would add value from across the country.

Through the different specialist teams at Sunbelt Rentals collaborating, we provided equipment to help bring roles to life for the young people attending, gave expert time and support from our in-house specialists, as well as providing inspirational speakers to help career paths and options resonate with those who attended.

At the festival we showcased two Sony Venice camera set-ups for the students to interact with. These cameras are the latest products used in TV and movie production and have been hired on ‘Long form’ dramas, theatrical release movies, TV commercials and TV dramas.

• The first set up enabled two attendees to work together, with one operating the camera from the dolly system on 20 feet of track, whilst the other tried to keep the image in focus by controlling the Preston Lens Control system. As the image was transmitted live to a 55’ TV everyone could get involved and see the outcome, which was highly engaging for the students.
• The camera in the second set up was mounted remotely on a 14 ft crane to give a ‘bird’s eye view’ of the area we were exhibiting in. The image from the camera was sent by a wireless transmitter to a monitor at the base so students could help operate it and observe the image from a TV monitor.

The Result

The event was a great success. Nearly 4,000 young people attended, and our teams were heavily involved in helping inspire and engage them on potential careers in TV and Production.

In total Sunbelt Rentals provided 13 volunteers, seven of whom were experts lending specialist skills and support. This equates to 80 hours given of expert time and 60 hours of general volunteering time, which when added to the materials used on the day to help engage the young adults equals a social value donation of over £10,000.

Chloe Phillips, Field Sales Executive at Sunbelt Rentals presented her story to the students on the day and said “It was a pleasure to share my personal career path and my previous experience of being a graduate student in the film industry. I felt it important to showcase the career diversity we have at Sunbelt Rentals as it is vast, especially in our fast-paced and ever-growing Film and Production division.”

Alec West, Senior Camera Technician at Sunbelt Rentals provided the equipment and said “It was fantastic to provide moving, interactive exhibits for the students to get hands on. They really enjoyed getting involved and having a go at the set-ups we created. It was great to see our experts on hand helping to inspire future generations.”

Dan Burton, Community Engagement Manager, Pinewood Studios Group said “Over two days in November, Pinewood Studios held the largest free careers fair for the Film and Television Industry, accommodating nearly 4000 young people from across the UK. Among the many companies that were involved, Movietech, who are one of our tenant companies on the lot and part of Sunbelt Rentals, played a huge role in setting up and demonstrating their specialist skills within the sector. The young people visiting their stand were treated to talks from industry professionals and given the opportunity to use some of the incredible camera equipment that they supply to productions. The success of the two days was down to the enthusiasm and expertise of all those who took part, and we look forward to welcoming Sunbelt and Movietech back next year.”