Case studies - consultancy services
Project: Women in Broadcast
Organisation: Connections Communications Centre
Area: west London boroughs
Funding: £51,383 (ESF Objective 3)
Funding body: ALG Co-financing Programme
The Women in Broadcast project aims to address the under-representation of women in the media industry by providing further development and training in broadcast.
Under Objective 3 measure 5.1, Connections Communications Centre, a registered charity that provides high quality, best value media services to help tackle social and economic deprivation and promote cultural diversity within the media industry, received £51,383 from the ALG Co-financing Programme.
The project was delivered in partnership with the BBC and the Community Channel. The project provided mentors and gave job advice and guidance to
the beneficiaries to tackle female under-representation in the technical area
of industry. The programme provided the opportunity to get women skills in order
to secure jobs in technical areas currently dominated by men.
The programme
provided the scope for beneficiaries to attend workshops in camera, lighting,
editing, production and web design as well as mentoring and one-to-one advice
and guidance. For those that required it, there was ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) provision as well.
All beneficiaries had the opportunity to produce a short film during their time
on the course. A number of the beneficiaries progressed to achieve a London
Open College Network (LOCN) qualification in video and web production.
The Women in Broadcast project anticipates supporting five beneficiaries into full-time work, four beneficiaries into part-time employment and one into further education. The beneficiaries were also commissioned by the Community Channel to create a series of short films on the theme of inspirational women. These films were screened at the BAFTAs in December 2003 where the beneficiaries were presented with their Connections certificates, to demonstrate completing the course by Anna Home OBE, Patron of Connections.
Vanita Eden, Women in Broadcast
Vanita joined Connection’s Women in Broadcast (WIB) programme to advance her skills and allow her to move further into production or post production. Vanita had experience in working as an office manager for a production company, as a production co-ordinator for Breakthru Films on a short film, and had also volunteered at London Film Festival and London Screenings International Film Sales Fair.
Vanita is a single mother who has completed a BA in Spanish and French. The WIB course was ideal to give her more technical experience in using cameras and editing packages and thus gave her the confidence to apply for better jobs. For three years Vanita had an incomplete film which she had shot, but did not have the skills to edit. As a result of the Women in Broadcast course, Vanita was able to complete her film.
As part of the course, the Community Channel commissioned the beneficiaries of the Women in Broadcast programme to produce a series of short films on the theme of Inspirational Women. Under this initiative, Vanita co-wrote and directed a short film during the project entitled “My First Blockbuster.”
Since completing the course in December, Vanita has found a position as a production manager for a company producing the opening titles for the 2004 Athens Olympics.