Priming recruits for Gold Coast Film and TV Industry

TAFE Queensland’s General Manager on the Gold Coast Karen Dickinson said the local screen industry needs talented people from a variety of industries.

“Whether you’re a chippy, beautician, accountant, project manager – the screen industry requires new recruits with this kind of talent,” said Ms Dickinson.

Delivered at TAFE Queensland’s Coomera Creative campus, the six-day Screen Industry Onboarding Program is for anyone from any sector who is looking to leverage their existing transferable skills.

Ms Dickinson said TAFE Queensland and the City of Gold Coast worked in consultation with the local film industry to develop a course that ensured students were ready to jump right on-set upon completion.

“There has been consistent feedback from the industry regarding new recruits not having that work-ready understanding of how everything runs on-set,” said Ms Dickinson.

“While we already have training for the sector, we need to assist those wanting to enter the industry by providing that core experience working in a unique and dynamic environment which is team oriented and time intensive.”

“Best of all - the program is presented and facilitated by industry experts who have the experience and have been in the game for many years. They know how it works, they’ve had input into the course development and know what the students will need to add value to the industry straight away.”

The industry-responsive course has been designed around the key pillars of a production including; pre-production, shoot, post-production as well as direction on how to work with each department and how to operate safely.

Ms Dickinson said on the last day of the course, students will be helped to be ‘CV ready’.

“At the end of the course we will have a pool of work-ready talent that the industry can immediately source from,” she said.

Mayor Tom Tate said the screen industry contributes $590 million annually to the local economy and creates 8,000 direct and indirect jobs per year.

“The Gold Coast screen industry continues to go from strength to strength, making us one of the world leaders in supporting international and local productions.”

“We have a successful history working with established film studios and TV networks, and we are seeing an extraordinary lift in content demand globally with streaming services like Netflix.”

“Training is essential to ensure the Coast is well equipped with the most skilled screen industry professionals, creating local jobs and meeting this growing demand,” said Mayor Tate.

The first course kicked off in March this year at TAFE Queensland’s Coomera Creative Campus and was the first of four intakes planned for 2022.

For more information on TAFE Queensland’s Screen Industry Onboarding Program please email BDadmin@tafeqld.edu.au