Screen Yorkshire Trainees Land Roles on Major Films

Screen Yorkshire is excited to congratulate a number of former participants of its Bootcamp training schemes, who have recently been utilising the career and networking tips to great effect by landing themselves roles on numerous high profile productions made with investment from the Yorkshire Content Fund!

Joe Gradwell from Sheffield has worked as location assistant on Official Secrets, starring Keira Knightley, Matt Smith, Ralph Fiennes and Matthew Goode. The spy thriller, directed by Gavin Hood (Eye in the Sky, Tsotsi) is currently filming across the region with investment from Screen Yorkshire. A number of other former Screen Yorkshire trainees have landed dailies or trainee positions on Official Secrets in the locations department; including Paul Coverdale, Rebecca Wright and Michaela Lewis-Pope.

Sara Kuna and Beki Goulding have picked up art department assistant and Make Up Artist credits on Harry Michell’s black comedy Ilkley. The feature film, inspired in part by the Ilkley Literature Festival, stars Derek Jacobi, Harry Melling, Roger Allam and Anna Maxwell Martin. Darryl Peat also secured dailies on Ilkley in the sound department and Neil McClarty as script supervisor.

Screen Yorkshire Bootcampers Charlotte Croft (camera trainee), Max Goldberg (trainee AD) and Steven Langfield (locations daily / drone EPK) all worked on the hotly anticipated Ghost Stories, starring Martin Freeman, Alex Lawther, Andy Nyman and Paul Whitehouse. The supernatural thriller co-written and directed by Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman, is out now on Blue-ray, DVD, and Digital HD from Amazon Video and iTunes .

Screen Yorkshire’s Head of Production Richard Knight says:

“Every production attracted to the region through Screen Yorkshire’s investment comes with wider opportunities for work placements, employment or career development for local crew.  Thanks to some generous productions happy to engage and provide opportunities, and a high calibre of participants coming through the bootcamp schemes, we’ve been able to link training directly to opportunities for a number of local people.  This is a trend I’m hoping will increase further in the coming months and years.”

Former Screen Yorkshire trainee Joe Gradwell, locations assistant on Official Secrets, said “Following an extended break from the film industry to raise a family, it’s been an incredible twelve months of getting back into it which started with the bootcamp.  I saw an opportunity in locations and I was able to find work last year on several commercials, a low budget feature film and Doctor Who when it filmed briefly in Sheffield over the winter months. Landing the Official Secrets role is the icing on the cake, and should help cement my place back into the industry full time.”

Screen Yorkshire’s Bootcamp schemes were supported by Creative Skillset’s Film Skills Fund, which is funded by the BFI with National Lottery funds, through the Skills Investment Fund.