As opportunities to break into the creative industries become rarer than ever, Perseverance Works is rapidly becoming the location to help harness future talent.
Through its attempts to create better links and foster collaborative working, PW is looking at ways to help people make that step into the industry. Three companies who each offer unique training, facilities and resources are Tandem Education, DV Talent and Photography Course London.
Set up in 2012 to provide part-time weekend taught courses in photography, Tandem specifically targets higher education learning, including Higher National Certificate and Higher National Diploma. DV Talent provides something slightly different, offering services for the film and television industry. DV Talent also runs lots of short courses, from directing to editing, producing to production management, research, storytelling, development and pitching too.
DV Talent has several parts to what they do, as we found out when we interviewed co-founder Matt last year. As well as training, they also run The Kit Room, a broadcast kit rental company for cameras,lights and sound equipment. The third element is The Talent Manager, a cross between a job site and a social network that has become the main site for freelancers in TV or film and production companies to find one another, and develop their careers.
The third of the three companies looking to harness talent through its connections at the creative hub are Photography Course London. An adult education centre, the business offers a wide range of beginner, intermediate and advanced DSLR Photography and Post-Production Courses, as well as one-to-one tuition to suit individual needs. There are evening, daytime and Saturday courses ranging from classroom-based to fully practical, on location or in the studio.
Collaborative working is something Perseverance Works believes is positive for the creative industry, particularly in London.
Speaking about how organisations can work together to benefit people, Matt Lane of DV Talent emphasised the importance of sharing resources available at PW, highlighting that a lot can be achieved by one hub working together to develop talent.
Matt said: “The creative industry offers huge scope and there are different ways people here can offer help in breaking into the industry. We do a lot of things in the television and film world and other people do more in terms of photography. jj Locations are offering studio space and locations so I think there is a lot – if not everything! – on offer here for people who are interested in it.”
Michael Grove, Centre Director for Tandem Education London, highlighted how courses could offer a natural progression for students who have been studying at a more introductory level elsewhere in PW, with Tandem running specialist one and two-day software training for Photoshop, Lightroom and Indesign.
Photography Course London’s Mikael Eliasson pointed to what they can do through partnership working, adding: “If you compare it to our previous location, we were a lot more isolated, here you have more creative companies, such as photographic companies, educational businesses working from the same location. Logistically that makes everything much easier, so it’s a lot more likely that things will happen.”
Mikael went on to add that although there are a few places in London that offer something similar to Photography Course London, where they excel is by offering a more complete package. The amount of tutors they have means they do not try to be a one-man band, with tutors specialising in specific areas allowing them to offer a complete set of course for people looking for more than just the basics.
With all three companies working to achieve the same outcome, there is a belief within the creative complex that if they continue to pursue collaborative working it will not only benefit the individuals looking to break into the industry but the industry itself.