A TRAINING programme to help ensure that Scotland is ready to take advantage of future digital developments in television has chosen its first bunch of participants.
Gen Up has been set up in the belief that network television production is soon set to grow in Scotland but that it could be hampered by a possible shortage of digital skills.
The programme has been set up by Glasgow-based TRC Media, in association with Channel 4, Scottish Screen and the BBC and the participants will spend time with Channel 4 and BBC Scotland, a games company, an independent television production company and an advertising agency, during what’s being described as “an intensive learning programme”.
The six participants chosen for what is a seven-week, full-time pilot are all recent graduates from Scottish higher education: three from Abertay University, two from the University of the West of Scotland, and one from Edinburgh University.
Says Carol Sinclair, director of TRC: “We launched this new programme after a lot of consultation with the sector on the need to create a pipeline of talent equipped with the right combination of digital skills, creativity and entrepreneurship for the emerging platforms and markets.”
The delegates are Angela McEwan – University of Abertay Dundee: BA Hons in Computer Arts; Faranak Jorshari – University of Edinburgh: MSc in Design and Digital Media, plus BS in Software Engineering, Kish Island University (Iran); Searra Dodds – University of Abertay Dundee: BA Hons in Computer Arts; Steven Gray – University of the West of Scotland: BSc Hons in Computer Animation and Digital Art; Craig Jackson – University of the West of Scotland: BA Hons in Digital Art; and Naomi Rimmer – University of Abertay Dundee: BA Hons in Computer Arts.
A charity, TRC Media works in partnership with major UK and international broadcasters, including Channel 4 and the BBC, public agencies and content creators, to develop talent and build the business base of the sector.
