Film Business Academy launched at Cass

The first dedicated film business centre in UK housed at Cass

Monday, 11 July, 2005

The Film Business Academy, launched at Cass Business School last week, will be the first dedicated film business centre in the UK.  It will receive £1million in funding over two years, and is endorsed by the UK film industry as providing the best education and skills development for the future workforce at a higher level.  It will start with full and part-time specialist MSc programmes in 2006, and will lead to a customised executive film MBA in the future.

The Film Business Academy is one of the seven institutions that form the Screen Academy Network, a concept driven by educating and training talent in the audio-visual industries.  The network was officially opened in partnership with Skillset, the Sector Skills Council for broadcast, film, video, interactive media and photo imaging.

The seven-strong Screen Academy Network in England, Scotland, and Wales will share over £5m funding.  They will have exclusive use of the Skillset 100, a database resource of 100 top industry professionals committed to sharing their knowledge and expertise through master classes, workshops and guest lectures. The institutions will work together to provide new courses, summer schools, work placements, bursaries, online learning resources and a talent scout programme to help develop the brightest and the best from the next generation. 

Professor David Currie, Dean of Cass, said:

“I applaud Skillset and the UK Film Council for taking this exciting move to invest more heavily into the business of film.  Our creative industries are world-renowned and in order to remain world leaders there is a need for forward thinking and flexible business education that is tailored specifically for the needs of a unique sector.

“The rapid growth of new mediums such as the internet and wireless phone technology means that traditional business models applied to the creative industries need constant revision.  This, as well as the move towards a convergence of many of these mediums means that those working in the creative industry need world-class business education to survive in an incredibly competitive and fast-changing market place.  Our location in the City means we can help to build greater ties between the City and our creative industries.”

Stewart Till, Deputy Chair of Skillset, Chair of the UK Film Council, and CEO and Chairman of United International Pictures stressed that the UK has “superior skills and talent unrivalled anywhere in the world”.  The Screen Academy Network and Film Business Academy will cultivate such resources in order to bring the industry and the education system much closer together: “This will ensure UK film gets the skilled talent it needs for a strong and healthy business. It will help us build an aggressively competitive industry in an increasingly tough global market.”

James Purnell MP, Minister for Film echoed similar sentiments in his keynote speech:

"The Screen Academy Network is an outstanding achievement and great news for the film industry. It puts the UK right at the forefront in terms of film skills development and goes a long way towards ensuring the long term success and sustainability of our film industry. Despite its detractors, the UK film industry is now the third biggest film industry in the world. To build on this success it is vital that we equip people with the right creative, technical, and commercial know-how to forge successful careers in the screen industries - and this is exactly what the network will do, giving new talent the world class skills needed for UK film to compete on the global stage."

Further information

Professor David Rhind, Vice Chancellor of City University (left) and James Purnell MP, Minister for Film (right)

The launch transforms Cass into a Hollywood premiere

The Cass team (from left): Peter Bloore, Chief Operating Officer designate, Joseph Lampel, Professor of Strategy, Professor Chris Brady, Associate Dean at Cass, Professor David Rhind

Phil Hope MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Lifelong Learning

Representatives from the Screen Academy Network