Tag: creative industries

Delivery Partners confirmed for £5 million Hardship Fund for Creative Freelancers

 Fund Guidance to be published: Thursday 22 October 

Applications invited from: 12 noon, Monday 26 October 

Crafts Council & Craft Scotland, Help Musicians, Society of Authors and Visual Arts Scotland have been confirmed as partners to assist Creative Scotland in the delivery of the Scottish Government’s £5million Hardship Fund for Creative Freelancers. 

Subject to confirmation, BECTU will also be partnering with Creative Scotland on the delivery of this funding. 

The specific sector expertise of these partners will help ensure the hardship funds reach as many freelancers across different creative sectors as possible, working with Creative Scotland who will deliver the funds to creative freelancers who work in the sectors not covered by the partner organisations 

Eligibility criteria for the fund will be published on Thursday 22 October followed by the fund opening for application at 12noon, Monday 26 October.  

Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop said: “Culture is vitally important to all of our lives in Scotland. This is an extremely worrying time for many people involved in culture and creative industries, particularly creative freelancers and practitioners whose work is integral not only to the economy, but to the wellbeing of individuals and communities. 

“Many continue to face uncertain futures while much of their sectors remain unable to operate, and it is important that we can offer financial support while we continue to navigate our way through the pandemic. 

“This fund will provide emergency support to creative freelancers in Scotland who are experiencing hardship as a result of the pandemic. Working closely with partners in industry to deliver this fund will help Creative Scotland ensure support reaches people as quickly as possible.” 

Iain Munro, CEO at Creative Scotland said: “There is no end in sight to the COVID-19 pandemic and the significant impact it is having on Scotland’s creative sector. 

“With welcome financial support from the Scottish Government, this Hardship Fund offers much needed support for creative freelancers who have been particularly hard hit by the inability to work due to necessary restrictions. Creative Scotland is working hard with our partners to ensure this support reaches those in need as quickly as possible.” 

CraftsCouncil’s Executive Director, Rosy Greenlees OBE said: “We are delighted to partner with Craft Scotland to deliver much needed financial support to craft freelancers in Scotland.

“We know that craft professionals from curators, and educators to individual makers and businesses are struggling. Creative Scotland’s investment will offer a lifeline to ensure the Scottish craft sector remains a thriving and creative force.”

 Help Musicians’ Chief Executive, James Ainscough said: “With no end in sight to the restrictions that prevent musicians earning a living from live performance, we are delighted to see Creative Scotland providing this much needed funding for the community of Scottish musicians. 

“The team at Help Musicians are pleased to play a supporting role by administering this funding, ensuring that musicians experiencing financial hardship are given a real financial boost as quickly as possible.” 

Society of Authors Chief Executive, Nicola Solomon said: “This funding will be invaluable to the many Scottish writers, illustrators and translators who have fallen between the gaps in financial support during the health crisis. 

The grants we will now be able to distribute through the Authors’ Contingency Fund will enable some authors to keep working in spite of financial losses, others to stay afloat while dealing with their own ill health, others to fulfil caring responsibilities – and others simply to keep a roof over their heads. We are grateful for the opportunity to make a difference for Scottish authors.” 

Sarah Calmus, President of Visual Arts Scotland said: “Visual Arts Scotland are proud to be partnering with Creative Scotland to help deliver these new funds which follow on from our own Emergency Art Workers Support Fund.

“In this unprecedented period, Visual Arts Scotland are dedicated to helping the creative community and are committed to stand in solidarity through distributing funds to Visual Artists who are most in need of support at this time.” 

The Hardship Fund for Creative Freelancers is one of a series of Scottish Government emergency funds for creativity and culture being administered through Creative Scotland. 

These funds have been put in place to help mitigate the immediate impacts of COVID-19 on the creative and cultural sector. There are five new emergency funds which were announced by the First Minister on Friday 28 August and which are being delivered through Creative Scotland as follows: 

  • £15million Culture Organisation and Venues Recovery Fund which opened for applications on Thursday 17 September with a deadline of Thursday 24 September. 348 applications have been received totalling over £22million. Application assessments are now taking place and decisions will be communicated early November. 
  • £5million Hardship Fund for Creative Freelancers, for which an open call for partner organisations to help us distribute this fund was launched on Friday 11 September, with a deadline of Friday 25 September.  18 Expressions of Interest were received with five organisations now selected.  The £700,000 Screen element of these Hardship Funds opened for applications on Tuesday 22 September and closed on Friday 2 October.  Assessments are taking place and decisions being communicated to applicants. 
  • £3.5million Independent Cinemas Recovery and Resilience Fund, which opened for applications on Monday 14 September with a deadline of Monday 5 October.  27 applications have been received totalling £3.55million. Assessments are taking place and decisions will be announced w/c 26 October. 
  • £3.5million additional funds for Creative Scotland’s Open Fund which is open for applications to individuals and organisations now.  The application threshold has recently been increased from £50K to £100K. 
  • £3million Youth Arts funding package comprises of at least £1.2million through the Access to Youth Arts Fund which will be open to applications until Thursday 12 November; the £700,000 Small Grants Scheme which launched onThursday 24 September and will be open to applications until Monday 2 November; £50,000 assigned to the Time to Shine Nurturing Talent Fund, and anadditional £1,050,000 allocated to support a number of targeted national and local area youth music and wider youth arts organisations. These organisations will be invited to apply for the Youth Arts Targeted Fund by Tuesday 13 October. 
  • £1.5million for the Culture Collective programme (part of the £5million Sustaining Creative Practice Fund, referred to in the Scottish Government’s Programme for Government), supporting organisations employing freelance artists to work in and with communities across Scotland. More details to be announced in the coming weeks. 

Previously announced funds from the Scottish Government are: 

Updates on all emergency funds are being published regularly on the Creative Scotland website and publicised through media and social media communications. 

Game Over! Future jobs don’t have parents’ approval

75% of Parents value traditional subjects over creativity

OUT OF TOUCH parents are trying to steer their children away from pursuing lucrative 21st century careers, because they don’t understand the opportunities, a study shows.

Three quarters of mums and dads believe that conventional academic subjects such as Maths and English taught at school and beyond, are more valuable than creative and new technology subjects.

New research has revealed that despite the creative industries being one of the fastest growing sectors, with an estimated 2 million jobs available, there is still a sentiment from parents that they wouldn’t be happy if their child chose to pursue a creative career.

Parents appear to have overlooked the opportunities available within expanding fields such as game development, visual effects, art, music and social media, according to a poll of 1,000 parents of under 18 year olds, commissioned by Escape Studios.

When asked which degrees would be most valuable from a lifelong career perspective – parents identified as their top three choices – Computing (13%), Medicine (12%) and Engineering (11%). The arts ranked last at 2%.  These findings showcase the importance of educating parents in the growth of the creative sector, as the future workforce will help to build our  growing creative industries, which as of 2018 contributes £101.5 billion to the economy[2].

Due to parents’ lack of understanding of the career options available within the creative industries, almost half said they would try to influence the degree their teenager chooses to study at university. Dads (49%) are more likely to influence this than mums (39%).

Parents stated that they would be happier if their children opted for career paths such as training to become an Engineer (29%), a Doctor (37%) or a Scientist (23%), while the most disliked future career paths were identified as Social Media Influencer (35%), Bloggers (31%) and Gamers (27%).

Only 8% of parents wanted their child to pursue being a Visual Effects Artist or Animator, even though the creative industries can offer many lucrative job opportunities. Forecasts predict the UK could create up to 1 million new jobs in the sector by 2030[3].

Parents believe that the most important subjects for their children to study in school are Maths (67%), English (62%) and Computing (54%). Crafts, Music, Art and Design each received less than 20%.

Parents need more support when it comes to understanding the opportunities available within the creative industries. The classical boundaries between industries are also rapidly becoming blurred, due to advancements in technology; as a result, there is a need for digital skills in more conventional roles too. Indeed, recruiters within the creative industries are sourcing talent from varied backgrounds, such as science, art and engineering.

The parents participating in the poll acknowledged that allowing their children to play video games offered some benefits, including the development of theirproblem-solving skills (53%), logic skills (51%) and communication skills (25%).

Commenting on these abilities, Director of Escape Studios Dr. Ian Palmer, said: “Skills such as problem-solving, decision making, risk-taking, and communication can all be used in jobs across the creative industries. Alongside storytelling and imagination. 

“Children that adopt to technology at an early age learn skills that offer them a better chance of getting a job in the digital sectors. We know there is a wealth of opportunity in terms of roles that are also future-proof. It’s predicted that 87% of creative jobs are resistant to automation, creating a very resilient creative workforce.”

Despite this, nearly half of parents (47%) think that smartphones shouldn’t be allowed in school, as a tool for learning. However, 71% admit that allowing their children to use technology from an early age, is beneficial for their development.

The top 5 jobs that parents would ideally like their children to pursue, are:

  1. Engineer (29%)

  2. Doctor (27%)

  3. Scientist (23%)

  4. Lawyer (18%)

  5. Architect (16%)

The top 5 jobs that parents ideally don’t want their children to pursue, are:

  1. Social media influencer (35%)

  • Blogger (31%)

  • Gamer (27%)

  • Stockbroker (15%)

  • Banker (13%)

    • Dr. Ian Palmer, Director of Escape Studios added: “The creative industries continue to grow at a substantial rate; despite this, not enough parents are aware of the opportunities available to their children within this sector. 

    “At Escape Studios, we offer courses in Game Art, Animation, Visual Effects, and Motion Graphics. We have a wealth of alumni who have gone on to have successful careers working on everything from Avengers: Infinity War, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom,Guardians of The Galaxy: Vol 2, and the Oscar winning film, The Jungle Book. This is a rapidly growing industry that’s ready to welcome talent from all backgrounds and with a wealth of skill sets.”

    Creative Industries Employability Day at Edinburgh College

    Creative Industries students get tips from industry experts

    Edinburgh College’s students gained insight into what it takes to make it in the creative industries as the College hosted some of the country’s top professionals at its sixth annual Creative Industries Employability Day. Continue reading Creative Industries Employability Day at Edinburgh College

    Ready, steady, Glow! Edinburgh College creative students get set for annual festival  

       

    Edinburgh College’s creative students are about to give the city a taste of creative magic as they take over venues across Edinburgh for Glow festival 2018. The students launched the festival with sneak-peek performances at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery last night. Continue reading Ready, steady, Glow! Edinburgh College creative students get set for annual festival  

    Students have their finger on the creative pulse

    • 16-18 year olds set to explore creative courses in spite of an absence of careers guidance and support from ill-informed parents and schools
    • 70% of 16-18 year olds cite they would like to pursue a career in the creative industries
    • 62% of UK students feel they have not been made aware of a future within the creative industries by teachers or career advisors
    • 47% pressured to select a career path to please parents

    With the UCAS deadline looming, new research exploring the future of the creative industries, from leading VFX academy Escape Studios, highlights how students are turning their back on traditional careers and their parents’ wishes in favour of the burgeoning creative industries. Continue reading Students have their finger on the creative pulse

    Outlander develops next generation of skilled Scottish screen talent

    A team of twenty Scottish-based trainees have been selected for an intensive skills development training programme on season four of the award-winning TV production, Outlander, 15 of whom will be taking their first step into the film and TV industry. Continue reading Outlander develops next generation of skilled Scottish screen talent

    Edinburgh College students to launch Let’s Glow festival

    Lets Glow

    Edinburgh College invites you to join students and staff from our Creative Industries courses as they launch this year’s Let’s Glow festival!

    The launch event takes place at La Belle Angele off Guthrie Street this Thursday evening at 6.30pm

    Let’s Glow is a two-month celebration of the dazzling creative talents of Edinburgh College students, with a programme of performances and exhibitions around the city.

    The launch event at La Belle Angele will feature performances by student musicians, actors and dancers.

    The Let’s Glow festival will give Edinburgh the chance to enjoy performances and exhibitions from college students covering everything from music, theatre and dance to photography, film, art, animation, textiles and design. The programme of events will showcase the skills and talents of the students, demonstrating the work they have been undertaking at college over the last year.

    Let’s Glow runs from 4 May to 22 June, with events taking place at venues across Edinburgh – including the college’s campuses and the likes of Summerhall and The Queen’s Hall.

    www.edinburghcollege.ac.uk/letsglow

    #letsglow