Former Amazon Studios Europe boss Georgia Brown has revealed her first industry role since leaving the streamer last year. She is set to chair a skills task force for the U.K. screen industry with the intention of focusing on critical labor shortages in the production sector.
Joining her on the task force will be senior representatives from major U.K. broadcasters BBC, ITV and Channel 4 as well as international studios and streamers including Prime Video, Netflix, Disney and NBCUniversal, key orgs such as ScreenSkills, PACT and the British Film Commission and national screen agencies.
The British Film Institute (BFI) have convened the task force following a skills review commissioned by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport showing crew shortfalls will soon reach breaking point. Its remit is to produce and support a plan of action that will result in growth, training and increased retention in the screen sector as well as improvements in equity, diversity and inclusion and mental health. Where appropriate, the task force will make recommendations to the U.K. government.
“In order to implement the step change needed to address the skills gap and ensure our workforce can meet the demands of our growing industry, the Skills Review made it very clear that an industry-led response was fundamental,” said Ben Roberts, BFI CEO. “We are therefore really pleased with the commitment and dedication of these key industry players, and with an executive of Georgia’s calibre and experience at the helm, we believe industry working with key partners such as ScreenSkills, can come together to drive this work forward and help ensure sustainable change.”
Brown added: “The U.K. has an important and well-earned reputation for being the centre of creative excellence, however if we want to accelerate growth and build a sustainable industry, we must accelerate change by creating a robust framework to develop, support, train and ignite the next generation of talent. This task force will build on and complement the essential strategic work already undertaken by industry, ScreenSkills, the BFI and public bodies across the U.K. and it’s an honour to work collaboratively with colleagues from across the industry to lead this important work.”
