Our short course kicked off In Oct 2025 with twenty-one 16-19 year olds coming to Watershed for 10 weeks of watching, learning, team-work and creating.
The course was delivered by lead mentors Jo Barker and Holly Black – industry expert documentary filmmakers who run production company Black Bark Films. Theo Watkins joined them as the third course mentor and brought his creative and professional experience, as a short film and music video director.
The students took part in sessions covering the business of the screen industry, career pathways, and the practical stages of planning a film production. Guest speakers came and gave fun and interesting insights, including television Producer-Director (and Yate native and SGS College alumni) Ash Burnham – who gave some brilliant tips for making factual tv – credits include Pilgrimage (BBC) and Charlie Cooper’s Myth Country (BBC). And Cicely Walmsley, of Latent Pictures, gave some great takes around what she has experienced and learned by producing behind the scenes packages for shows including Boarders (BBC).
The students were trained in technical production skills by Camera Operator Lottie Cripps and Sound Recordist Richard Maxwell, and then the course mentors supported the students to develop ideas and produce 3 short factual films in their production teams, each person taking on their own production role. You can see the completed films here:
The course ended with sessions around ‘next steps into the industry’ with programme lead Claire Simmons covering further training and opportunities under BFI Film Academy and BFI Network South-West; how to use LinkedIn; and national talent development opportunities. Jane Coulter from All Set West gave an introduction to joining the network for further opportunities. This was followed by a group visit and tour to Bottleyard studios, hosted by All Set West, and a session about writing your CV and creating a professional profile, delivered by Cine RPG.
The group met again for a celebration event and screening of their short films in the cinema at Watershed in February, attended by friends, family, mentors and our special guests from throughout the course. We’re looking forward to sharing the films as much as possible through festivals and other events.
