Unscripted: Step Up to Development Producer
Calling all Development APs!
If you answered yes, then Step Up to Development Producer is the course for you.
Stepping up to a Producer role can be daunting. As a Development Producer, your approach and thinking needs to develop as you begin to lead a team and take on significant extra responsibility for winning commissions and keeping the production pipeline flowing.
Led by expert development consultant, Sophie Morgan, with guest speaker sessions from a range of exciting industry experts, this training course is designed to:
Following the training, each participant will be matched with an industry expert mentor for a six-month mentoring relationship (approximately 1 hour per month).
The course is open to a total of 30 people and will run twice with two cohorts of 15 people. On applying, you will be asked to confirm your availability for the fixed dates and you are expected to be available for the duration of your chosen set.
To attend this training programme, there is a fee of £250 + VAT (£300 inclusive of VAT), payable upon acceptance to the course. For freelancers self-funding the training and those not currently on contract with a production company, we can support up to 50% of participants with FREE bursary places on this training.
If you would like to apply for a bursary please check the bursary box on the application form.
Please note this training is in a hybrid format, with approximately 50% delivered live online and 50% live in-person in Birmingham. The training will take place during office hours, so it is expected that you have the support of your current company to attend.
Participants (or their company) will be responsible for paying the course fees and arranging any travel / accommodation costs incurred attending the training. In order to make this course accessible to the widest possible audience, there is limited support available to contribute to travel and accommodation costs on top of bursary support for course fees. Evidence of hardship will be required.
Closing date for applications to course 2: 13th December 2023, 11.59pm
This programme is supported by the ScreenSkills Unscripted TV Skills Fund which invests in training for the unscripted workforce thanks to contributions from BBC, Channel 4, Sky, A+E Networks UK, Discovery UK, Channel 5, Netflix, ITV, Amazon, UKTV and S4C matched by production companies.
We welcome applications from all individuals. If you would like support completing the application form and/or would like us to send it to you in an alternative format, please email training@mission.guru
WHO IS THE COURSE FOR?
This course is open to participants in the UK who regularly work in development and have:
- 2+ years’ experience in an Unscripted Development AP role, OR
- Have less than 6 months experience as a Development Producer
- Are looking to return to work following a career break who have equivalent development experience
COURSE DATES
Group 1:
- Tuesday 24th October 2023; 12-4pm (Zoom)
- Friday 10th November 2023; 12-4pm (Zoom)
- Monday 13th November 2023; 10.30am-7pm (In-person, Birmingham)
- Tuesday 14th November 2023; 9am-4pm (In-person, Birmingham)
- Friday 24th November 2023; 12-4pm (Zoom)
- Friday 1st December 2023; 12-4pm (Zoom)
Group 2:
- Friday 12th January 2024; 12-4pm (Zoom)
- Friday 19th January 2024; 12-4pm (Zoom)
- Monday 22nd January 2024; 10.30am-7pm (In-person, Birmingham)
- Tuesday 23rd January 2024; 9am-4pm (In-person, Birmingham)
- Friday 2nd February 2024; 12-4pm (Zoom)
- Friday 9th February 2024; 12-4pm (Zoom)
Following the training, each participant will receive mentoring of approximately 1 hour per month for 6 months from an industry mentor. We will work with participants to identify and secure industry mentors.
Course 1
- Final closing date for applications is 8th October 2023
- All applications will be reviewed at this time (for both courses)
- Applicants will be notified by 13th October 2023
Course 2
- Final closing date for applications is 13th December 2023
- Applicants will be notified by 20th December 2023
We anticipate both courses will be heavily subscribed we therefore recommend that you submit an application as early as possible as we will be reviewing all applications submitted across both courses at the first deadline.
COURSE OUTLINE
The full course outline is currently being finalised. Please check back for further details, including confirmation of our extensive list of guest speakers!
Sessions include:
- Knowing Yourself and Building your Creative Identity
- Knowing Your Buyer: Channels, SVoDs and How to Crack Them
- Reading the commissioning landscape
- Ideation and Upscaling Your Creative Processes
- Using AI as a creative tool for development
- Access, Assets and Selling Yourself
- Getting the Best from You and Your Team
BY THE END OF THE COURSE…
By the end of the training course, participants will:
- Understand the role and responsibilities of a Development Producer
- Have the skills and knowledge to take on a role at Development Producer level
- Know themselves and their creative identity
- Know their buyers (channels / SVODs) and how to crack them
- Understand the need to look at ideas afresh and be continually challenging their thinking
- Have developed Leadership and Management skills needed for the role
- Have developed their brainstorming and ideation skills and upscaled their creative processes
- Understand access, talent, their assets and how to sell them
- Have strategies and tactics for managing a development team and a slate
MENTORING OUTLINE
Following the training, each participant will receive mentoring 1 hour monthly from an industry mentor. This process will happen for six months.
Mission Accomplished have extensive a networks of production companies and expert developers across the country and will support in matching each participant up with one person who will be able to support them.
Participants may recommend their own mentor, if they already have somebody who is willing to support them. We recommend that these mentors do not work within your current organisation, to encourage more objective support.
This course is delivered by Film and TV Industry Professionals and sector experts
Alison Grade | Course Director
Alison founded and runs Mission Accomplished. The company regularly delivers training courses for ScreenSkills. Alison is an experienced Line Producer and Production Manager as well as a Nesta Accredited Creative Enterprise Trainer. She regularly delivers training that enables creatives to take their careers to the next level. Alison is the author of Penguin published book, The Freelance Bible and offer many workshops and training programmes to support freelancers.
Sophie Morgan | Course Tutor
Sophie is a BAFTA nominated and RTS award-winning film and TV producer and commissioning editor. As Head of Development for production companies like September Films, Cineflix and World of Wonder she has developed, pitched, won and exec produced hundreds of hours of TV content for all major broadcasters across all genres with credits that include series Star Lives (ITV Saturday night Entertainment), European Nightmare (BBC Daytime), Pete Burns Unspun (Channel 4 Popular Docs), Haunted Homes (ITV2 Entertainment), Clubbing On The Frontline (Channel 4 Current Affairs) as well as originating and exec producing Channel 4’s first digital content This is a Knife. She also set up and ran September Films’ LA Development Department and ran LA-based indie World of Wonder’s (Ru Paul’s Drag Race) UK division. As Commissioning Editor for Living TV, she commissioned and Exec Produced the channel’s two highest rating series of Britain’s Next Top Model and Jade: With Love following Jade Goody’s battle with cancer. Sophie is a vocal champion of neurodiverse talent in the industry and a ScreenSkills mentor for neurodiverse talent.
(Charlie Wainwright, Development AP at Air TV)
After attending Mission Accomplished’s ‘Development Summit’ earlier in the year I was really excited to get another opportunity to learn more from Sophie and Alison with their ‘Step Up To Development Producer Course’. Sophie is a wonderful person to lead the training as she’s passionate, friendly and bursting with industry knowledge. She is always open to questions – there’s nothing you can’t ask! The mix of Zoom and in person training has really inspired me to further my career and has been flexible around my work. It’s great to learn and develop alongside others from companies across the UK.