BAFTA Youth Mentoring Showcase

10 September 09

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BAFTA brings together the best talent from across the film and television industries. As an Academy, we aim to share this wealth of expertise to inspire and educate others.

In June 2008 we partnered with Media Trust to pilot a Youth Mentoring Programme for young people in London. BAFTA members were asked to share their skills and expert knowledge with young people working on a variety of media projects.

Following on from the success of the pilot, BAFTA and Media Trust have re-launched the scheme with the support of the RBS group and the Paul Hamlyn Foundation. Our 2010, wider reaching, nationwide remit and programme is now underway.

BAFTA has already recruited over 60 mentors to work with youth organisations in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Bristol, Leeds and Nottingham. Additional mentors are still being recruited outside London, and the programme will be extended to Scotland in the autumn.

The Young people involved in the programme in the past have identified both personal and careers-based positive outcomes. They include: increased confidence, new transferable and media-related skills, and a new willingness to engage in media-related training and education. Eddy (24), who was involved in the programme commented:

Before starting I’d lost interest in my dreams. I was lost. I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I still don’t know but now I have options.

Showcasing Success

In September 2009 we held a showcase event at BAFTA heaquarters to celebrate the achievements and work of the young people who took part in the pilot year of the Mentoring Programme.

Krish Majumdar, Chair of BAFTA's Learning and Events Committee, and Caroline Diehl, Chief Executive of the Media Trust, introduced the event to a packed audience that included the BAFTA mentors and representatives from the ten youth organizations.

Many of the young people were also present to introduce their projects and share their experiences of working with the mentors.

Watch the Projects

DNA Mix Young Fathers Project (7 mins)
Filmmakers: Brian, Emmanuel, Kyal, Nathan (Ideas Foundation)
BAFTA Mentor: Basi Akpabio

It was really, really powerful to meet young people and the leaders who live just down the road but are living very different lives from me and to get a window into a different world. The experience was one of the best things I’ve done all year.

Basi Akpabio, BAFTA mentor

BAFTA/Jonathan Birch
Mentors from Left to Right: Colin Izod, Brad Blackbourn, Sam McCarthy, Tricia Cooklin, Clive Bradley, Eve Gutierrez, Adam Leese, Simon Ardizzone, Chris Rodmell, Gwenan Edwards, Charles Palmer

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