As the UK’s production boom continues unabated, the shortage of skilled crew is raising alarm across the industry, and instigating an urgent BFI-led review.“Tell your friends, we need people working and we need lots of them,” said Ben Roberts, chief executive of the British Film Institute (BFI), at a BFI Film Academy event in September of this year.
In issuing this clarion call to the young audience in attendance, Roberts hinted at what many in the UK industry have been warning for a while — that the inward-investment-driven production boom, in particular as the industry comes out the other side of Covid-19, is creating skills shortages that are leaving filmmakers and companies struggling to cope. In the eyes of many, the situation is reaching crisis levels — and even causing panic.
Source: “It’s tough out there”: UK crew shortage reaching crisis point | KFTV