Reposted from Channel 5 website
Channel 5 will become the first broadcaster to commission, develop, produce and broadcast a student TV project from the National TV and Film School’s TV Entertainment department, as part of a new partnership that aims to give talented students a great start in the television industry. Channel 5 will work with NFTS staff and students to nurture a new TV project or format that will be developed for broadcast, and will also offer a series of work placements for NFTS students that will give them extensive work experience. The deal was put together after Northern & Shell chairman Richard Desmond visited the school in Beaconsfield.
Under the partnership:
Channel 5 will commit to commissioning and broadcasting a developed and produced show by students from the TV entertainment department of the National Film and Television School. Ideas will be developed over the coming months and will be pitched to the channel in Autumn 2012 for broadcast in 2013. This opportunity is open to second year students as well as alumni who have graduated from the school in the last two years.
Channel 5 will offer a series of placements for second-year students. One of these will be for a four week period with the channel itself within the commissioning department and Channel 5’s in-house production company. The other will be a paid internship for a period of between 3 to 6 months for graduating students with a production company working with Channel 5.
Richard Desmond, chairman of Northern and Shell said: “When I visited the NFTS I was hugely impressed by the skills and opportunities it offers its students, and by the efforts that Nick Powell and David Croft go to give them the best chance to break into an incredibly tough industry. I thought a great way that we could do our part to help was to take some of the best students and show them how to get their ideas on air. There’s no substitute for real experience – and they will learn a huge amount from working with Jeff and his team. The pitches I saw from first and second-year students were original, dramatic and exciting ideas, just the sort of projects I can see having a future on Channel 5.”
Jeff Ford, Programme Director Channel 5 said “It's crucial the TV industry nurtures new talent and this partnership does exactly that. My team and I are looking forward to seeing some really interesting and innovative programme ideas from the students.”
David Croft, Head of Television at The National Film and Television School said "This partnership is a fantastic opportunity for our students and a massive vote of confidence in what the NFTS TV Department is doing – training the TV talent of tomorrow. We know our students are very talented but getting their first step into the industry is always the hardest part. I applaud Channel 5 for reaching out to young people to develop ideas for the next generation of TV entertainment.”
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