Meet the Industry Partner: ScreenDog, Brighton

Over the early months of 2022 we were delighted to introduce you to a number of our expert lecturers, from across our three locations at Screen and Film School, in a series called ‘Meet the Lecturers.’ Now, as we approach spring and the heart of the awards season for the film industry, we would like to carry on with that theme by introducing you to some of our many Industry Partners.

What is an Industry Partner?

As well as having the very best industry lecturers, Screen and Film School are dedicated to giving students the skills, experience, contacts and confidence to let them thrive in the British film industry. We have unique access to film, TV and digital marketing companies across our three cities: Brighton, Birmingham and Manchester. Our aim is always to find opportunities that give our students an understanding of how the industry works, what there is out there for them and to initiate tailored work placements.

We have built up a network of partners that offer students a work placement in their second year, and they will then have the very real chance of converting that experience into a production internship after graduation. There is a wide selection of placement opportunities to choose from due to our ever-expanding list of partners and we would like to take some time to shine a spotlight on a selection of these companies over the coming weeks. With that in mind, we’re kicking off this new series down at Screen and Film School Brighton and we are delighted to introduce their first Industry Partner nomination: ScreenDog.

ScreenDog is a Brighton-based, independent production company, who are set up to make entertaining adventure and mischievous factual programmes for television and digital. In their first 18 months they had an impressive list of commissions, including Steve Backshall vs The Vertical Mile (BBC), Hurricane Man (UKTV, BBC) and Smuggled (Channel 4). Their remit is to find new stories that viewers will fall in love with, and to tell these stories in the most gripping way possible. As well as this, their on-going ambition is to make documentary series and formats that compete with the best dramas and sitcoms. To achieve this, they draw on the skills of their talented team, skills which have been gathered over the course of 20 years on the frontline of TV production.

The relationship that Screen and Film School Brighton share with ScreenDog is extremely important to us, and we feel very fortunate that they are actively supporting our students in the present day. As well as having one of our graduates currently working with them (Ollie Maltby, as a Production Secretary), we have a very collaborative relationship with them, and most recently they used our Brighton Film Studios to conduct a test shoot.

ScreenDog spent the morning in one of our brand-new studios, to film a test for an upcoming documentary. This was a 360-degree camera test, to trial a series of technologies, and to see which would work best for this top-secret project. Throughout the shoot, our level 5 students, and a recent graduate, had the opportunity to support in multiple capacities, from Runner/Production Assistant, to Lighting Assistant, and Sound Assistant. The collaboration was a great success, and our students gained valuable insight into a new kind of camera technology, as well as the opportunity to work closely alongside one of our Industry Partners.

Here is what Ollie Maltby and Ed Kellie from ScreenDog had to say about their recent experience of collaborating with the Film School:

“Working with Screen & Film School felt like a win-win for us: it was great not only to use the space at Brighton Film Studios, but to have a have help from a good group of enthusiastic students as well. It was exciting to be able to share our professional experience working with them and we hope they gained as much from the day as much as we did.”

This opening example of a Screen and Film School Industry Partner was the perfect way to start this spring series: the synthesis between the company, which is local to Brighton, and the Film School itself is a key factor in creating a successful, sustainable partnership. Not only that, but there is clear and recent evidence of the routes that our students can make into the world of industry by tapping into these resources.

All of this is underpinned by the hard work of our talented and dedicated local Industry Engagement teams, all of whom contributed to making this Meet the Industry Partner series. We will explore further examples of these successes in our next installment of Meet the Industry Partner, this time we will be hearing from Screen and Film School Manchester.