Make Shift is Watershed's place for early career creatives who are interested in creative technology and/or film practice. Through free events and creative development opportunities, it is a space to:

• CONNECT with peers and potential collaborators
• LEARN from each other and established practitioners
• DEVELOP skills and knowledge
• IMAGINE possibilities for your practice and how your work intersects with the wider world
• CREATE new work or develop existing ideas
• SHARE your work at Watershed
• REFLECT on your practice considering where you have been and where you could go

Who is it for and how can you get involved?

Make Shift is open to anyone who considers themselves to be an early career creative. It is aimed at those interested in film and creative technology, but you don’t need to be working in these fields to get involved. If you are curious, then there is a space for you. You can get involved in the following ways:

Make Shift Opportunities

Throughout the year we offer a range of opportunities to make work and shift practice. This includes things like:

• BFI Film Academy - courses, events, resources and opportunities for those who want to learn about or work in film. For more info check out our Academy page. (Note: BFI Film Academy is aimed at those aged 16-25 years, however there are lots of online resources available that could be useful to anyone starting out).
• Summer Camp - an opportunity to collaboratively develop experimental artistic ideas
• Residencies - supporting individual development of early ideas
• Commissioning opportunities - such as designing artwork to promote Watershed's Monthly Rep Film Seasons

When callouts are live, you can find them on our jobs and opportunities page.

Make Shift Events

Monthly Meetups - These drop-in sessions are free to attend and happen on the first Tuesday of every month. They run at Watershed’s Pervasive Media Studio. Each Meetup involves a guest speaker who hosts part of the session (so topics change from month to month), and a space to meet other attendees. Meetups are really friendly and informal. Upcoming events are posted here.

BFI Film Academy Events: Ongoing events are available through BFI Film Academy, check out our Academy page for the latest news.

Family Workshops and Screenings - for younger creatives, we offer a range of fantastic films and free holiday workshops.

Family Workshops are available to book just prior to school holidays, they are posted here.

Upcoming cinema screenings are listed here.

If you're aged 24 or under, any cinema screening, any time is £5.00 (plus 12% booking fee).

Make Shift on Instagram

Keep up with the latest news and updates by following Make Shift on Instagram.

Make Shift Mailing List

This is a place where we share details of all upcoming Watershed events and opportunities that are relevant for early career creatives (including, for example, BFI Film Academy which supports filmmakers aged 16-25 to break into the screen industries), plus things that you would like to share with others for example opportunities you’ve spotted, links to events, work you would like to share or things you might have published online. SIGN UP HERE

You can read more about why we invented Make Shift here.

We look forward to welcoming you!

Make Shift is made possible with support from Arts Council England and BFI Film Academy. Our Summer Camp is additionally supported by our partners in Pervasive Media Studio, UWE Bristol and University of Bristol.

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