This year Directors UK launched a unique new training initiative designed to provide six young directors with the creative, editorial and technical knowledge they need to become the next generation of multi-camera directors.
This training not only aims to raise the bar of excellence among the industry’s rising talent, but with 50% of the selected candidates from BAME backgrounds and with 50% women, it’s also helping to create a truly diverse and inclusive workforce for the future.
Developed by some of the UK’s top multi-camera practitioners, in conjunction with Creative Skillset, and in creative partnership with Pinewood Studios, The London Studios and Cloudbass, graduation from this course will be seen as the ultimate affirmation of the skills and talent required to become one of the best in the field.
Watch this short video and see just how exciting and important this training course was:
The candidates have written a number of blogposts over the last few weeks, telling us about the training they received and what they’d learnt:
- Kelly Sparks gave us an update on day three of the course, listing her key takeaways from the course so far
- Jan Genesis and Lewis Wright wrote about their highlights and the importance of feedback in an overview of week one
- Abigail Dankwa and Dionne Weston wrote about directing music performances, magazine programmes and OBs during the second week
- Stuart Earl took an in-depth look at the scripted music masterclass they received from trainers including Geoff Posner and Steve Smith
You can also read a full introduction to the course.
THE CANDIDATES
Abigail Dankwa
Abigail started off as one of the stage managers of the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics opening and closing ceremonies. Abigail then moved from Floor Managing the UEFA Champions League Finals (Lisbon 2014 and Berlin 2015) to London Live’s Live Launch Show, and a range of breakfast entertainment, news and current affairs shows, and fixed-rig multi-camera entertainment directing on Big Brother and Celebrity Big Brother (2015). Prior to graduating from the National Film and Television School with an MA in Producing and Directing Television Entertainment in 2012, Abigail worked in Acquisitions at Community Channel where she was promoted to Managing Editor.
Twitter: @Abigail_Dankwa.
Website: linkedin.com/in/abigaildankwa.
Stuart Earl
Until December last year, Stuart was working full-time as a director at the BBC. He started his career at CBBC presentation – directing the bits between the programmes – before progressing to BBC News. There, he directed a variety of shows including BBC Breakfast, Newsnight and The Andrew Marr Show. Now a freelancer, Stuart is excited to widen his directing experience across a range of other genres.
Twitter: @stuart_earl.
Website: stuartearl.tv.
Jan Genesis
Jan has worked with some of the UK’s top production companies including ITV Studios and Sky, across news, sport, reality and observational documentaries. Jan started as a Technical Operator for Bloomberg, gaining experience in vision mixing, sound and cameras. He completed a short BBC Multi-Camera Directing course and developed as a Studio Director with Bloomberg and Sky Sports News as well as reality directing on Celebrity Big Brother, Love Island and 24 Hours in Police Custody.
Twitter: @genesisjan1.
Website: vimeo.com/user36713254.
Kelly Sparks
Kelly has been working as a producer and director for 14 years. In that time she has directed numerous multi-camera shoots including live OBs for shows like Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway, Surprise Surprise and numerous single-camera and multi-camera PSC shoots.
As a trusted and experienced director, Kelly has often been brought in to set the style on new series and to work with high profile talent. She has worked across genres and for various channels including BBC1, BBC2, ITV1, ITV2 and Channel 4. Kelly recently directed a chat show series called Gossip Match for Trace TV, a 3-camera set up with two presenters and various guests.
Website: linkedin.com/in/kelly-sparks-925b151b.
Dionne Weston
Dionne’s interest in multi-camera directing was sparked by an intensive summer course she took at New York University whilst on sabbatical from her corporate career. She returned to Europe, quit her job and applied for a place at the National Film and Television School. After graduating from the two-year Producing and Directing Television Entertainment MA course in 2015, Dionne has spent the last year working for TBN UK and Nine Lives Media.
Twitter: @dionneweston.
Website: linkedin.com/in/dionneweston.
Lewis Wright
After graduating from the University of Westminster, Lewis started working as an edit assistant, working on case studies, branded content and live-streams. He went on to work for London Live. Starting as a technical runner, he worked his way up into engineering, but was soon directing live programmes. Since then, he has been directing live news, including live coverage of the Notting Hill Carnival, Live from London and most recently, Jimmy Bullard Kicks Off.
Twitter: @lewis_wrighty.
Website: lewiswrighttv.com.
To get in touch with any of the participating directors please click through to the links below their profiles. For more information about our various training schemes please contact [email protected].
This project has been partly supported by HM Government with Employer Ownership funding.
With thanks to our supporting partners.
