Posted 4 March 2021
On Wednesday 3 March 2021, Media Trust hosted a virtual graduation showcase for the 116 mentors and mentees graduating from the Media Trust & ScreenSkills Emerging Talent Mentoring Programme.
In August 2020, we began recruiting for our new mentoring programme which we were able to launch thanks to funding support from ScreenSkills from National Lottery funds awarded by the BFI as part of the Future Film Skills programme and Sky Sports.
Applications were open to 18–30-year-olds interested in a behind-the-camera career in film, TV and gaming. As part of the programme, we were particularly keen to recruit mentees from groups that are traditionally under-represented in the screen industries – women, Black, Asian and minority ethnic and disabled talent were particularly encouraged to apply.
We received many more applicants than we had places for and ended up expanding the cohort slightly in order to accommodate as many mentees as possible.
The programme kicked off in September with a series of group induction sessions which set the tone for the strong cohort-based approach we adopted from the start. Over the course of four weeks, our mentors and mentees received expert training in making authentic values-led self introductions, goal setting, giving and receiving feedback, safeguarding and effective mentoring.
The mentees were then matched with their mentors who worked alongside them over the six months, providing one-on-one mentoring, CV and interview advice as well as giving guidance on completing a practical project for their mentee’s CV/portfolio.
Last night’s high-octane graduation ceremony was hosted by two of our mentees, Fayida Jailler and Ellie Meechan, and included numerous mentor and mentee testimonials about their experiences on the programme as well as a talent reel featuring some of the mentees’ practical projects.
With the help of Media Trust and my mentor Rosie’s continued support and guidance, I am so happy to say that I am now currently working full time on a television drama in Scotland.
Libby Cavaye, 2020 mentee
Media Trust & ScreenSkills Emerging Talent Mentoring Programme mentees Fayida, Paige, Luke and Libby speak about their mentoring partnerships
Media Trust has a long history of empowering diverse and often disadvantaged young talent to achieve their full potential by giving them a voice, boosting their confidence, helping them to become more employable through creative digital media skills training and providing them with connections to find mentors and work placements. We know that this combination of personal empowerment and employability skills can transform the prospects of young people, especially from diverse and under-represented communities, but we can only do the work we do with the support of dedicated industry bodies like ScreenSkills, committed industry partners like Sky and of course, the willingness of seasoned industry professionals to generously give up their time to nurture and develop young talent struggling to break into the sector. I particularly want to thank all of our brilliant mentors and to encourage especially the many first-time mentors we had on this programme to think of mentoring as a lifelong pursuit.
Su-Mei Thompson, Media Trust CEO
A huge thank you to all our freelance mentors as well as those who joined us from Activision Blizzard Media, BBC, BBC Sport, Caixim Global Media, Carpe Diem Media Production, Channel 4, E9th Productions, Hello Halo, ITN, ITV News Leeds, ITV Studios, Little Bit Productions, NigriConsulting, Playdeo Ltd, Plimsoll Productions, RAW TV, Ricochet, SkySports, Somesuch, UCL, Wall to Wall, Warner Bros and Warner Bros International TV Production. Your expertise and mentoring was invaluable to our mentees.
Congratulations to all our Emerging Talent graduates! Media Trust is delighted to have been a part of your journey within the screen industries and we look forward to seeing you thrive!
Find out more about our Media Trust & ScreenSkills Mentoring Programmes here.
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