A few days ago, PGGB announced the finalists of the Duke of Edinburgh Film & TV Inclusion Award 2025. The initiative recognises and celebrates the inspirational work of individuals or organisations that help make the UK Film & TV industry more inclusive. The award will be presented by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh at a live ceremony on Monday 24th March 2025 and is hosted in association with The Walt Disney Studios and supported by Sargent-Disc.
One of our five finalists is the Sara Putt Associates Trainee Scheme & Foundation, which was founded over 10 years ago to support new and diverse talent. Created by the leading UK independent agency that represents behind-the-camera production and technical talent, Sara Putt Associates, the scheme is a professional development and mentoring programme designed to support trainees working behind the camera in the film and TV industry. Each year, 25 candidates across all departments are selected and encouraged to form a peer group network and ten online workshops are delivered to candidates over Zoom, with topics including CV and cover letter writing, interview skills, career planning and strategy, negotiation skills, networking skills, as well as personal and professional finance for freelancers. The team provides newcomers to the film and TV industry with the soft skills needed for a successful freelance career.
The foundation, which runs alongside the trainee scheme and is led by Nicola Lees, aims to enable industry change and to connect individuals from under-represented groups to the wider film & television network. Foundationers are selected for their drive and talent rather than preexisting credits, and the scheme supports a diverse network of people who find themselves facing a range of additional challenges as they develop sustainable careers in all sectors and roles across film, TV, theatre, digital media and podcasting.
Sara Putt, Founder and Managing Director of Sara Putt Associates, told us why she set up the trainee scheme and foundation:
"About 12 years ago, it occurred to me that many people joining our industry were incredibly well-trained, both technically and creatively, but they had no idea how to be a freelancer. They lacked a sense of how to strategize around and progress in their careers, how to manage their finances, and how to negotiate or do interviews. So we decided – pretty much on the back of an envelope – to set up a trainee scheme to teach them all of those skills. After a couple of years, my amazing colleague Nicola Lees, who runs the scheme on a day-to-day basis, and I looked at the cohort and realised they were not particularly diverse. And it occurred to us that we could do better. So we set up our foundation, where we work with young people including those who are care-experienced, those who've been involved in the criminal justice system as well as families at risk and we help them to enter and build careers within the Film & TV industry."
For the past ten years, through the trainee scheme and the foundation, Sara Putt Associates have been quietly helping to improve diversity in our industry, making those new, underrepresented voices more relevant, and after being given a pathway into the industry, they are helping shape their future.
