Lighting the path for screen talent - North East Screen joins forces with North East Universities Screen Network

North East Screen, in partnership with the North East Universities Screen Network (NEUSN), is proud to announce the launch of Connected Campus@NEUSN programme - an ambitious programme designed to bridge the gap between academic study and real-world experience in the screen industries.

This launch with the five North East universities: Durham University, Newcastle University, Northumbria University, University of Sunderland and Teesside University – follows swiftly off the back of Connected Campus@NSoA partnership established between North East Screen and The Northern School of Art.

Connected Campus @NEUSN consists of two high profile events in this academic year. The first, Frame your Future, devised by all partners and led by North East Screen’s Education Partnerships Manager, Catriona McAvoy, was held on Wednesday 5 November in Durham. This gave students from all five universities exclusive access to industry experts, practical workshops, career understanding and networking opportunities.

The practical elements of the event saw students learn about digital content from a local content creator working with big brands and creating short-form engaging vertical content; about scripted productions with a presentation and task from two regional location managers and a presentation about pitching unscripted ideas for factual TV programmes

Gayle Woodruffe, Operations Director at North East Screen, said: “We’re committed to nurturing a thriving, inclusive, and sustainable screen industry in the region. This collaboration with the North East Universities Screen Network is a powerful step forward to ensuring we have multiple pathways into the industry.

"By directly connecting students with leading industry professionals, North East Screen are not only equipping them with the knowledge and confidence they need to succeed, but also fostering a talent pipeline that will ensure people can have a career in the screen industries and stay in the North East.”

Connected Campus is part of the BFI Skills Cluster partnership work of Screen Alliance North, a unique partnership between the northern screen agencies (Liverpool Film Office, North East Screen, Screen Manchester, Screen Yorkshire) driving inclusive growth, skills development, and sustainable screen production across the North of England. The aims of the programme are to equip students with the skills, confidence, and networks needed to thrive in film, television, and digital production.

Dr Neil Percival, Chair of the North East Universities Screen Network and Co-Director of Cultural Partnerships at Northumbria University, said: "This partnership is real, tangible evidence of what we can achieve when universities work together with the sector to support the creative industries and build a robust skills pipeline for the future. The collaboration mirrors the work we're doing through the Universities of the North East of England (UNEE), where these same five institutions recently established a creative industries group.

"By pooling our resources and expertise, we're able to provide opportunities for our students that no single institution could offer alone. We're competing as a region, not as individual universities, to make the North East a destination where talented young people actively want to come and study film. With production in the region growing significantly over the past two years, there's never been a better time to be training for a career in the screen industries here in the North East."

NEUSN is a network set up to generate collaboration between staff and students from the five North East Universities in subject areas related to screen-based media, production and industries, in order to maximise the potential benefits of joint research, teaching, employability activities, skills development and income generation, in support of regional and national screen sector partnership, resilience and growth. The network holds joint research development events for academic colleagues as well as careers focused events for students from all five institutions.

This project has been part-funded by Screen Alliance North with the support of BFI, awarding National Lottery funding.

To find out more about the Connected Campus opportunities available for education establishments in the North East, visit www.northeastscreen.org/education-partnerships