Intern of the Jedi Studios exploit franchises to attract young talent

A careers fair presented by Star Wars characters at Pinewood is among initiatives to lure people to production jobs in an industry buffeted by cost inflation and the legacy of past strikes.

- Mark Sweney reports

In a corner of a cavernous hangar in Buckinghamshire, a group of Jedi are honing their lightsaber skills, Deadpool and Chewbacca are posing for photos, while a squad of Imperial stormtroopers make their presence felt by arresting a passing reporter.

Pinewood Studios is pulling out all the stops including a stunt display at the underwater stage famous for scenes including the sinking villa in the 2006 James Bond film Casino Royale to wow young attendees at the third edition of Europe's largest free careers fair for the film industry.

And just a few miles down the road at Warner Bros studios in Leavesden, home of the Harry Potter franchise and where the latest DC blockbuster Supergirl is being filmed, training facility CrewHQ is almost 18 months into its mission to upskill workers and entice the next generation of film and TV production talent.

Behind the scenes of the UK's £6bn film and high-end TV production industry, second only in size to the US, the industry is battling with an increasing shortage of skills.

The issue is with so-called below-the-line jobs, behind the camera - carpentry and set building, hair and makeup, accountancy and, in the words of one executive, "anything with the words 'artificial intelligence".

"Skills is a big issue, second only to the potential impact of AI that I have seen come up the most," says Dame Caroline Dinenage, chair of the select committee of MPs conducting an inquiry into the state of the UK film and high-end TV production sector.

"The sector relies on a huge army of talented people behind the scenes. We keep having skills mentioned as a big issue, but below-the-line skills don't get spoken about. We need a masterplan and a widening of the net to get people from a more diverse range of backgrounds into the industry."