HRH The Duke Of Cambridge Officially Launches Bafta ‘Give Something Back’ Industry Campaign
The President of BAFTA meets young beneficiaries, including schoolchildren at a games design workshop
London, Monday 18 November: The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) today welcomed BAFTA President, HRH The Duke of Cambridge, to formally launch a major new campaign to support young people from all backgrounds to enter the film, television and games industries.
The BAFTA ‘Give Something Back’ campaign calls on BAFTA members, award winners and industry organisations to contribute towards BAFTA’s charitable activities that share the knowledge and expertise of industry practitioners with new and emerging talent. These initiatives include mentoring, scholarships, guest lectures and summer work placements. Full details of the campaign, and how to contribute, are available at www.bafta.org/about/giving.
During his visit to BAFTA headquarters, 195 Piccadilly in London, The Duke heard from recent beneficiaries of BAFTA initiatives, and dropped in on a games design workshop where students from five London schools – Paddington Academy, Westminster Academy, The Charter School, Highgate Wood School and The BRIT School – were given an insight into the craft of game creation by professionals at leading UK-based games companies. The workshop marks the re-launch of the BAFTA Young Game Designers initiative, which includes a UK-wide annual competition and uses workshops and online resources to inspire the game-makers of the future.
The Duke also spoke to previous BAFTA Young Game Designers winners Dan Pearce, Christopher Purdy and Charlie Hutton-Pattemore, and played their winning games, and met the three recipients of the first ever Prince William Scholarships in Film, Television and Games, supported by BAFTA and Warner Bros., which were awarded to students Rienkje Attoh, Sam Coleman and Sam Hughes in September.
In a speech to formally launch the ‘Give Something Back’ campaign, The Duke said: “I sincerely hope everyone working in the UK film, television and games industries will support this fantastic new initiative… ‘Give Something Back’ is a special opportunity for our supremely talented professionals to offer a small amount of their time, or money, to contribute to BAFTA’s learning programme.”
Speaking of the workshop that re-launched the BAFTA Young Game Designers initiative today, The Duke said: “It is a brilliant scheme to get young people started in games… I hope the young people take inspiration from today's workshop, and get a taste for what a career in games might be like. I know that I, for one, as an enthusiastic but quite useless gamer, look forward to playing the weird and wonderful games which these young people dream up in the future!”
John Willis, Chairman of BAFTA, said: “We are grateful for the support of our President, HRH The Duke of Cambridge, as we launch the ‘Give Something Back’ campaign. The launch comes one year after the BAFTA Career Pathways survey of 2,000 young people demonstrated the importance of contact with practitioners who can demystify the industry, offer guidance, and champion new talent. We’re calling on BAFTA members, award-winners and industry colleagues to get involved in three ways: volunteer their time to talk to or mentor young people; make a donation to support our charitable activity; or offer paid summer work placements to help talented individuals take their first steps in a career in film, television or games.”
BAFTA will work with a range of partners to deliver the ‘Give Something Back’ campaign, including: BFI Film Academy, Creative Skillset, FILM NATION UK, IdeasTap and Speakers for Schools in the UK, as well as Inner City Cinema and Washington Preparatory High School in South Central Los Angeles.
Partners for BAFTA Young Game Designers in 2013/2014 include: EA, Jagex, King, Sony Computer Entertainment UK, SEGA, Tesco, Unity, University of Abertay Dundee and Warner Bros. UK.
- Ends -
For further information about the Give Something Back launch event, please contact:
Vicky Grayson at freuds
T: 020 3003 6327
E: vicky.grayson@freuds.com
For further information about BAFTA Young Game Designers, please contact: Hollie Rendall or Rosie Mann at Kindred
T: 020 7010 0829 / 020 7010 0843
E: hollie.rendall@kindredagency.com / rosie.mann@kindredagency.com
About BAFTA
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is an independent charity that supports, develops and promotes the art forms of the moving image by identifying and rewarding excellence, inspiring practitioners and benefiting the public. In addition to its Awards ceremonies, BAFTA has a year-round Learning & Events programme that offers unique access to some of the world’s most inspiring talent through workshops, masterclasses, lectures, scholarships and mentoring schemes, connecting with audiences of all ages and backgrounds across the UK, Los Angeles and New York. BAFTA relies on income from membership subscriptions, individual donations, trusts, foundations and corporate partnerships to support its ongoing outreach work. For further information, visit http://www.bafta.org and www.bafta.org/guru
About the BAFTA Give Something Back Campaign
Give Something Back is a major new campaign from BAFTA that aims to support young people from all backgrounds to enter the film, television and games industries. The campaign calls on BAFTA members, award winners and industry organisations to contribute towards BAFTA’s charitable activities in three ways: volunteering their time to talk to young people through activity such as school visits, guest lectures, and one-to-one mentoring; making a donation to support BAFTA’s charitable initiatives, including scholarships; or offering a paid summer work placement.
BAFTA will work with a range of partners to deliver the ‘Give Something Back’ campaign, including: BFI Film Academy, Creative Skillset, FILM NATION UK, IdeasTap and Speakers for Schools in the UK, as well as Inner City Cinema and Washington Preparatory High School in South Central Los Angeles.
For more information visit: www.bafta.org/about/giving.
About BAFTA Young Game Designers
BAFTA Young Game Designers was first launched in 2010 as a game design competition for 11-16 year-olds. Three years later it has evolved into a destination for careers advice and behind the scenes access to the games industry, where BAFTA members, award winners and nominees share their insights and advice through interviews and exclusive video content, in addition to hosting workshops around the country.
The competition remains an integral part of the initiative, opening in March 2014, with the winners announced at a special ceremony at BAFTA in summer 2014. It consists of two strands for teams of up to three young people: The Game Design Concept Competition, to create a concept for a new video game; and the Game Making Competition, to submit a game created using freely available software.
Industry partners include EA, Jagex, King, Sony Computer Entertainment UK, SEGA, Unity, Warner Bros. UK and University of Abertay Dundee. Tesco will support the initiative as a Mentoring Partner, offering opportunities for young people to be mentored by Tesco technology companies to create a game app.
For more information visit www.bafta.org/ygd.
The BAFTA ‘Give Something Back’ campaign calls on BAFTA members, award winners and industry organisations to contribute towards BAFTA’s charitable activities that share the knowledge and expertise of industry practitioners with new and emerging talent. These initiatives include mentoring, scholarships, guest lectures and summer work placements. Full details of the campaign, and how to contribute, are available at www.bafta.org/about/giving.
During his visit to BAFTA headquarters, 195 Piccadilly in London, The Duke heard from recent beneficiaries of BAFTA initiatives, and dropped in on a games design workshop where students from five London schools – Paddington Academy, Westminster Academy, The Charter School, Highgate Wood School and The BRIT School – were given an insight into the craft of game creation by professionals at leading UK-based games companies. The workshop marks the re-launch of the BAFTA Young Game Designers initiative, which includes a UK-wide annual competition and uses workshops and online resources to inspire the game-makers of the future.
The Duke also spoke to previous BAFTA Young Game Designers winners Dan Pearce, Christopher Purdy and Charlie Hutton-Pattemore, and played their winning games, and met the three recipients of the first ever Prince William Scholarships in Film, Television and Games, supported by BAFTA and Warner Bros., which were awarded to students Rienkje Attoh, Sam Coleman and Sam Hughes in September.
In a speech to formally launch the ‘Give Something Back’ campaign, The Duke said: “I sincerely hope everyone working in the UK film, television and games industries will support this fantastic new initiative… ‘Give Something Back’ is a special opportunity for our supremely talented professionals to offer a small amount of their time, or money, to contribute to BAFTA’s learning programme.”
Speaking of the workshop that re-launched the BAFTA Young Game Designers initiative today, The Duke said: “It is a brilliant scheme to get young people started in games… I hope the young people take inspiration from today's workshop, and get a taste for what a career in games might be like. I know that I, for one, as an enthusiastic but quite useless gamer, look forward to playing the weird and wonderful games which these young people dream up in the future!”
John Willis, Chairman of BAFTA, said: “We are grateful for the support of our President, HRH The Duke of Cambridge, as we launch the ‘Give Something Back’ campaign. The launch comes one year after the BAFTA Career Pathways survey of 2,000 young people demonstrated the importance of contact with practitioners who can demystify the industry, offer guidance, and champion new talent. We’re calling on BAFTA members, award-winners and industry colleagues to get involved in three ways: volunteer their time to talk to or mentor young people; make a donation to support our charitable activity; or offer paid summer work placements to help talented individuals take their first steps in a career in film, television or games.”
BAFTA will work with a range of partners to deliver the ‘Give Something Back’ campaign, including: BFI Film Academy, Creative Skillset, FILM NATION UK, IdeasTap and Speakers for Schools in the UK, as well as Inner City Cinema and Washington Preparatory High School in South Central Los Angeles.
Partners for BAFTA Young Game Designers in 2013/2014 include: EA, Jagex, King, Sony Computer Entertainment UK, SEGA, Tesco, Unity, University of Abertay Dundee and Warner Bros. UK.
- Ends -
For further information about the Give Something Back launch event, please contact:
Vicky Grayson at freuds
T: 020 3003 6327
E: vicky.grayson@freuds.com
For further information about BAFTA Young Game Designers, please contact: Hollie Rendall or Rosie Mann at Kindred
T: 020 7010 0829 / 020 7010 0843
E: hollie.rendall@kindredagency.com / rosie.mann@kindredagency.com
About BAFTA
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is an independent charity that supports, develops and promotes the art forms of the moving image by identifying and rewarding excellence, inspiring practitioners and benefiting the public. In addition to its Awards ceremonies, BAFTA has a year-round Learning & Events programme that offers unique access to some of the world’s most inspiring talent through workshops, masterclasses, lectures, scholarships and mentoring schemes, connecting with audiences of all ages and backgrounds across the UK, Los Angeles and New York. BAFTA relies on income from membership subscriptions, individual donations, trusts, foundations and corporate partnerships to support its ongoing outreach work. For further information, visit http://www.bafta.org and www.bafta.org/guru
About the BAFTA Give Something Back Campaign
Give Something Back is a major new campaign from BAFTA that aims to support young people from all backgrounds to enter the film, television and games industries. The campaign calls on BAFTA members, award winners and industry organisations to contribute towards BAFTA’s charitable activities in three ways: volunteering their time to talk to young people through activity such as school visits, guest lectures, and one-to-one mentoring; making a donation to support BAFTA’s charitable initiatives, including scholarships; or offering a paid summer work placement.
BAFTA will work with a range of partners to deliver the ‘Give Something Back’ campaign, including: BFI Film Academy, Creative Skillset, FILM NATION UK, IdeasTap and Speakers for Schools in the UK, as well as Inner City Cinema and Washington Preparatory High School in South Central Los Angeles.
For more information visit: www.bafta.org/about/giving.
About BAFTA Young Game Designers
BAFTA Young Game Designers was first launched in 2010 as a game design competition for 11-16 year-olds. Three years later it has evolved into a destination for careers advice and behind the scenes access to the games industry, where BAFTA members, award winners and nominees share their insights and advice through interviews and exclusive video content, in addition to hosting workshops around the country.
The competition remains an integral part of the initiative, opening in March 2014, with the winners announced at a special ceremony at BAFTA in summer 2014. It consists of two strands for teams of up to three young people: The Game Design Concept Competition, to create a concept for a new video game; and the Game Making Competition, to submit a game created using freely available software.
Industry partners include EA, Jagex, King, Sony Computer Entertainment UK, SEGA, Unity, Warner Bros. UK and University of Abertay Dundee. Tesco will support the initiative as a Mentoring Partner, offering opportunities for young people to be mentored by Tesco technology companies to create a game app.
For more information visit www.bafta.org/ygd.
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