I am really honoured to share that I have joined the Board of Governors at BOA Stage and Screen Academy.
I was first introduced to BOA when the original school building was a hard hat zone, and my company then was part of an original team of workshop facilitators and trainers that supported BOA in its first half term prior to its building being completed. In 2019 I found another opportunity to work with BOA broadcast students when we produced a live capture of the BOA Old Rep Production of The Snow Queen where the Year 12 students were in the driving seat – live directing and vision-mixing a show with a paying audience, plus operating cameras and rigging sound. They were an awesome production team and demonstrated how passionate, Year 12 students who are given professional guidance and support could deliver a good quality film.
From this project, I was asked to do some visioning consultancy for the upcoming BOA Stage and Screen Academy and how it would link to industry and prepare students for industry. And this led on to delivering a programme of workshops when the school opened (and the building wasn’t quite ready) to develop their filmmaking skills and again produce a live capture of the BOA Old Rep Production, Alice. Again, my team and I were blown away by the ability of the students to respond to working professionals and work as professionals in creating the film content throughout that first term.
So, when it came to producing some video and audio content for a project of my own it was a no-brainer to see if the BOA Stage and Screen students would be up for working with me. The great news is that, they were and they did, and together we created all the video and audio assets for The Freelance Bible course which is now live on FutureLearn the global online learning platform.
When I was approached and asked if I would consider joining the board of governors, I was delighted to offer my services and be able to formally support the school at what is an exciting time in the West Midlands region, especially for the screen sector.
What gets me excited about BOA Stage and Screen Production is how they understand the real needs of industry and help their students to work out what the right path is for them and support them with taking those first steps beyond the academy, whether they are aiming for work or further studies.
It’s exciting and inspiring to be able to play even a small part in this.
