New television unit for AFTRS
The Australian Film, Television and Radio School is setting up a new Television Unit in response to a skills’ shortage in the industry.
- Published by David Knox
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The Australian Film, Television and Radio School is setting up a new Television Unit with a slate of new short courses in 2012 following an extensive industry consultation.
In 2011 AFTRS consulted with more than 50 organisations in the television factual and entertainment sector, including broadcasters and production companies, and concluded that there is a skills’ shortage in this sector.
Many organisations were found to be recruiting staff from overseas to fill the gap.
The new Television Unit will be headed up by Wendy Gray whose background includes website producer, location tour manager and Industry Liaison for Australian Screen Online, directing and series producing roles across ABC New Media and ABC TV and most recently the Marketing and Communications Department at Southern Cross University.
Additional appointments will be made to the TV Unit in the coming months.
20 Responses
Hey Paul – Final Cut Pro may Not be the industry standard but it Should be. Avid is bluddy well out of date! I bought and learned Final Cut Pro and it counts for nothing and the reason I bought FCP was because it’s what major motion pictures are edited on, which made me believe it would be the industry standard. Working at a tv station now (in a completely office admin type job) I realise the equipment hasn’t been updated since the 80’s!
There’s absolutely no shortage of Aus people for jobs in the Aus TV or film industry, that’d employ less than TV does. Has anyone actually tried applying to the AFTRS, as they get heaps of applications annually from people submitting portfolios and reject most of them. They should open branches in Brisbane and Melbourne, instead of being based only in Sydney.
All they are looking for is cheap labour thats all. If their is a shortage it is because people dont want to work for less money while their employers make more then they do all year, so they quit and go do something else mayeb open up their own company etc. No company at the moment wants to invest in talent or in the future anymore it now or never.
“Many organisations were found to be recruiting staff from overseas to fill the gap.” Sounds like an excuse to import cheap labour. There are hundreds of skilled TV practitioners already here who struggle to find work, or accept insulting wages just to survive. So who’s telling porkies here? Certainly not those commenting on this story who have exposed the truth about the alleged “skills shortage”.
with the constant turnover of staff in the television industry, I don”t believe there has ever been a shortage of qualified staff.
What the industry does need is to Keep these skilled employees and pay them appropriately, so as they don”t all go corporate and freelance to make a decent buck! For too long all the money has gone to the “Top” whilst those with the true artistic talents and skills of making brilliant Australian broadcasts are left with the scraps!
dont agree that there is a skill shortage…too many people …good people are losing their jobs…this is wrong
It’s about time the industry stops laying to waste good, talented people, through redundancies, downsizing and out-sourcing. The commercial channels have ‘slashed’ numbers over the last 10 years all in the name of “budgets”. All it has done is drive talented people out of the industry, to such a point where there is very little “in house ” production done anymore. And the crap that is fed to us today is testament to it. By the way, would you mind telling the precious little darlings that come out of Uni’s TAFE and industry colleges, that it is not their ‘ God given right’ that they should be given the role of ‘writer, producer, director’ straight out of college…there is always the studio broom that needs to be mastered first!!!! And….Final Cut Pro is Not the industry standard.
A shortage in skills?? Like all the other comments here, I have a cv as long as the nullabor, but have struggled to find any tv jobs in the last 3 years.
What i find more annoying is a government run facility like AFTRS is pushing out graduates year after year, but do nothing much else to support our industry to place them or the rest of us looking for work. Moving ABC production off station to private companies, means that even getting a government job in this industry is nigh on impossible now.
Each year after the graduates hit the market, there is more and more of us chasing the few positions available. I would love to hear more about this “skills shortage”
I hope one the courses on offer is how to program and keep loyal viewers. There is definetly a skill shortage in that area
To some extent I would agree with Nick but then again isn’t this true for every industry? Especially if we are considering big networks and large production companies?
Getting a foot in the door has always been an issue and australian media and entertainment industry has its own specific problems in this respect; but the fact is that it also has a long tradition of contracting out work and somewhat decentralised mode of production which has huge potentials for small and medium range companies and production houses.
So even though networking and strong connections might always be the best way of getting one’s foot in the door, we have to remember that it is now fairly easy to develop such relationships and that there is a number of platforms like Media Match Australia or Metro Screen which make the process of networking with other professionals / companies active on the market even easier.
If I had a dollar for every skilled TV person out of work I would be very rich. The unskilled get hired because they do as they’re told. And Daveinprogress this is about more than the one person you know at AFTRS, who may very well be skilled. There are so many people teaching screenwriting who have either never written a script or have only written the odd soap.
We also need to look at the staff with places like filmvic or NSW who are making decisons on funding. What qualifies them?
Brian & Kingstar are right. I consider myself very skilled and experienced at what I do but like my peers, I am finding it increasingly difficult to find work. The sad irony is that so much of the work that is on offer is for cheap, downmarket, high turnover drivel that hardly requires any real skill to make.
Its rubbish there is a skills shortage, and its a cop out thats been used many times over the years. I first heard this over 14 years ago said by a manager of one of the tv stations to a crowd, which he went on to say “we just cant find people to fill the positions” – I spoke up and said “funny i have the skills you need and been harassing this station for years for employment so why do you keep saying you cant find the people?” to which he didnt know what to say…- I also, have done many courses over the years, trained many students etc, but the industry does tend to employ those whom are favourites of the boss, rather than what skills they posses and how much they know. If you dont suck up to the right people, and stick with the “in” crowd at all times, your chances of getting employment are next to zero.
Some valid points made by others here about the state of the industry, but have to address Donald’s comment, while i ‘m sure he does not know the named industry figure in this story – Wendy Gray, but I do, and she does indeed have skills, as i fathom most of the teaching staff at AFTRS. It is an antiquated notion that those that can’t…. teach!”
“I’ve been calling…looking for any sort of position”
Unfortunately, getting a foot in the door is more about who you know than what you know.
Don’t be too quick to disregard the courses Brian. A number of my colleagues are ex TV Prod students from CSU Riverina. If the course has close ties to industry there are definite benefits it obtaining a degree.
I agree with Brian. There is no skills shortage in the television industry. At least in Australia.
As regional television is virtually non-existant now and the ABC is slowly closing down, it is no wonder there is a shortage of opportunities for people to get their foot in the door anymore. Is sad that networks are importing more people than ever to fill jobs, even though there are stacks of people locally who can fill them.
Skills shortage?! I’ve been calling prod companies and the big broadcasters all year looking for any sort of position. They all claim there are no positions and they are all cutting staff, not hiring.
Film/tv degree’s are practically useless, and it seems AFTRS are using cheap tactics to entice stuidents. When I see tv job ads start picking up, ill believe these courses are worth the cost
What I have found is that people without skills are often the teachers so what’s the point?