In a classroom below London’s BFI, something very unusual is happening: middle-aged people are showing young people how to use technology. The students are taking part in a Get Started with Film course. It’s a free, week-long class for people aged 16-25 and not in education or employment, which, as part of ŠKODA’s Driver’s Seat Initiative aims to celebrate independently minded people who want to make a positive difference to the world. The course aims to impart practical video-making skills and provide a leg-up on to the creative career ladder.
Huddled around laptops in groups of five, they’re putting the finishing touches to short films that, during the course of the week, they’ve devised, location scouted, directed, shot and edited. As the clock ticks down to screening time, there’s an anxious energy in the air; opinions clash over the best takes for a dialogue scene and fonts for opening titles are disputed.
As they talk, the variety of accents in the room highlights one of the biggest challenges facing young British people with creative ambitions: geography. With London acting as the hub for so many creative industries, a large number of young people are forced to consider the gamble of upping sticks and heading to the capital – with all the risks and financial difficulties that entails.
Lewis Robinson, a 20-year-old from Harrogate, North Yorkshire, is one of them. He left a comfortable job with his father’s business to seek a career in the film industry. “There’s not a lot of film stuff that goes on around where I’m from, it’s pretty isolated. I know coming to London there’s more opportunity. I want to move here permanently and progress my film career, but the cost of living in the city is holding me back.”
There are institutional barriers for today’s young creatives, too. The national curriculum hasn’t exactly encouraged them to explore creative career paths. “I think the education system puts more emphasis on academic success, things like maths, English and science,” says 18-year-old Dylan Brayford. Charlie Denton, also 18, agrees. “Going through school, a lot of kids don’t know what they want to do with their lives and they don’t show them the exciting sides of the creative careers, so kids don’t know what they want to do until they leave and it might be too late for some.”
It’s always been the case that launching a creative career requires a certain amount of independence, and it might seem that this ought to be easier than ever for the youth of today. But while the variety and accessibility of digital platforms mean young people can connect with potentially huge audiences relatively quickly and simply, these tools come with their own problems. The pressure to succeed is amplified, for a start, while the DIY aesthetic of digital content makes it seem as though anyone can do it. The truth, says course tutor Christopher Woolford, is very different.
“A lot of successful YouTubers put out a good message, but they make it sound like it should be so easy, which I think for a young person can be really demoralising,” he says. “When someone tries it and success isn’t instant, they get that knock to their confidence. They’re being sold an over-simplified version of the practical things you need to succeed.”
With so much adversity to deal with, why does creativity still matter to these young people? Why not just do something better paid and simpler to get into?
For aspiring actor Charlie, it’s about standing out. “It’s important to me to be different,” he says. “I don’t want to be a sheep and I don’t want to do what everyone else is doing.” Xane Richards, 18, agrees, and says that social media can stifle, rather than support creativity. “People are afraid to stand out because they’re too worried about what other people think and worried about their social image – they just want to be someone normal. One-hundred percent social media is part of that.”
It seems the group’s desire to be creative, then, is driven by some pretty deep philosophical notions of identity. That and, as 20-year-old Hollie Iannaccone adds, the fact that the alternative is just too dull to even consider. “I can’t imagine sitting at a desk nine to five,” she says. “It’s just not how I roll.”
To find out more about ŠKODA’s Driver’s Seat Initiative visit skoda.co.uk/dsi
