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Free online courses, then a practical on our unit

The Academy.

Free, from people who do it. Short courses from your first day on set to ready for a competency check: films from working crew, checks, and tasks a person marks. Then a practical on our unit, and the FIF Certificate.

Start Day One How it works

Open in the pilot · About 3 to 4 hours

Day One: ready for set

Six lessons, from never having been on a set to knowing where to stand, what the calls mean, how to read a call sheet and how to keep yourself and others safe.

Start the course

Open in the pilot · About 6 to 8 hours

Camera department Foundation

Eight lessons in the order a camera trainee meets the job: safety, who's who, prep, kit care, slates and camera reports, media, lenses and marks.

Start the course

Open in the pilot · About 2.5 to 3 hours

VP Day One: ready for the volume

Six lessons on LED volumes and in-camera VFX: the words, who's who on the stage, how a VP day runs, safety at the wall, and UK stages and routes in.

Start the course

Open in the pilot · About 6 to 8 hours

Virtual production Foundation

Six lessons in the order a VP crew meets the work: planning, plates and worlds, camera and tracking, colour and light on LED, Unreal for film-makers, and the roles. Each has a practice task.

Start the course

Open in the pilot · About 2.5 hours

AI Day One: using AI on a working unit

Six lessons on AI in production: what the tools are and aren't, the words you'll hear, where AI sits on a unit, consent for face, voice and body, copyright and labelling, and confidential data.

Start the course

Open in the pilot · About 6 to 8 hours

AI tools Foundation

Rules before tools, then AI in pre-production, the edit, VFX and clean-up, sound, generative video, and rights and disclosure. Optional practice task: one real clip through transcript search, clean-up and a mask, logged and labelled.

Start the course

Coming next · About 6 to 8 hours

Production office and AD Foundation

How a production runs from office to floor: call sheets and schedules, breakdowns, paperwork and releases, locations, risk assessments and insurance in a UK frame, and floor running on the radio.

See the course

Coming next · About 6 to 8 hours

Story to Screen Foundation

The story track for the Story to Screen Lab, with Screen Sisters CIC: idea, logline, one-page treatment, pitch, and the producing basics that get a short made.

See the course

Cost: Free
Accounts: 18 and over
Day One: 3 to 4 hours
Foundation: 6 to 8 hours
Pass mark: 80%, safety questions must be right
Window: 12 weeks, with extensions on request
You finish with: An online learning record, then a competency check and a practical on our unit. The FIF Certificate comes only from the practical. Not a qualification.

Online courses

Eight courses. Day One, Camera Foundation and the virtual production and AI courses work end to end; register interest in the others.

Step 1 · Learn online · All departmentsDay One: ready for setSix lessons, from never having been on a set to knowing where to stand, what the calls mean, how to read a call sheet and how to keep yourself and others safe.Pilot · demoAbout 3 to 4 hours · 6 lessonsStart the course

Step 1 · Learn online · CameraCamera department FoundationEight lessons in the order a camera trainee meets the job: safety, who's who, prep, kit care, slates and camera reports, media, lenses and marks.Pilot · demoAbout 6 to 8 hours · 8 lessonsStart the course

Step 1 · Learn online · Virtual productionVP Day One: ready for the volumeSix lessons on LED volumes and in-camera VFX: the words, who's who on the stage, how a VP day runs, safety at the wall, and UK stages and routes in.Pilot · demoAbout 2.5 to 3 hours · 6 lessonsStart the course

Step 1 · Learn online · Virtual productionVirtual production FoundationSix lessons in the order a VP crew meets the work: planning, plates and worlds, camera and tracking, colour and light on LED, Unreal for film-makers, and the roles. Each has a practice task.Pilot · demoAbout 6 to 8 hours · 6 lessonsStart the course

Step 1 · Learn online · AI toolsAI Day One: using AI on a working unitSix lessons on AI in production: what the tools are and aren't, the words you'll hear, where AI sits on a unit, consent for face, voice and body, copyright and labelling, and confidential data.Pilot · demoAbout 2.5 hours · 6 lessonsStart the course

Step 1 · Learn online · AI toolsAI tools FoundationRules before tools, then AI in pre-production, the edit, VFX and clean-up, sound, generative video, and rights and disclosure. Optional practice task: one real clip through transcript search, clean-up and a mask, logged and labelled.Pilot · demoAbout 6 to 8 hours · 6 lessonsStart the course

Step 1 · Learn online · Production and assistant directorsProduction office and AD FoundationHow a production runs from office to floor: call sheets and schedules, breakdowns, paperwork and releases, locations, risk assessments and insurance in a UK frame, and floor running on the radio.Register interestAbout 6 to 8 hours · 6 lessonsSee the course

Step 1 · Learn online · Writing and developmentStory to Screen FoundationThe story track for the Story to Screen Lab, with Screen Sisters CIC: idea, logline, one-page treatment, pitch, and the producing basics that get a short made.Register interestAbout 6 to 8 hours · 6 lessons · In partnership with Screen Sisters CICSee the course

The route

How learning with FIF works

Learn online, then a short check with us, then a practical on our unit, then the FIF Certificate. The certificate comes only from the practical.

Step1

Learn online

Watch and Learn and our Academy courses teach the job before you're on set: how a set runs, staying safe, and the first jobs in your department. No account needed to watch.

Free, any time. Day One first, then your department's course. Kit modules are optional.

Leads to: Your online learning record

Step2

A short competency check

When you're ready, someone from the department you're aiming at checks what you know, online or in person. A conversation and a few questions, not an exam. If it's "not yet", we tell you what to go back to, and you can book again.

Online or in person. When you're ready. Experienced crew can book the check directly.

Leads to: A practical on our unit, or "not yet" with what to go back to

Step3

In-person practical

You hold a grade on one of our units at Pinewood Studios or 3 Mills Studios, with working crew and current kit. A trainer watches you work.

On our unit. 18 and over, except programmes we arrange with schools, colleges and other institutions under their own safeguarding.

Leads to: Sign-off by the trainer who watched you

Step4

The FIF Certificate

Awarded only after the in-person practical, and only by the trainer who watched you. Online learning shows what you know. The practical shows you can do the job.

After the practical. Only for people who pass an in-person practical with us.

Leads to: The FIF Certificate. Not a qualification

Every lesson

Six steps in every lesson.

Same order online and in class. Teachers run it on the classroom screen; learners run it on their own.

OutcomeOne thing you'll be able to do, mapped to a ScreenSkills checklist line.
WatchFilms from working crew and UK bodies. 90% watched counts.
CheckThree questions drawn from eight. Safety questions must be right.
DoA short task that produces something a person can mark.
ReflectTwo lines, for you. Reviewers only see that you wrote them.
RecordWhat we keep: watched, passed, marked. Nothing more.

The rules in full

What you get

What you get.

Online

Online learning record

Every lesson watched and checked online. Shows what you've learned. Not a certificate.

Practical

The FIF Certificate

Only from an in-person practical on one of our units, signed off by the trainer who watched you work.

An online learning record shows you completed the lessons, passed the checks and had your tasks marked. The FIF Certificate comes only from an in-person practical with us. Credentials from other bodies, such as a safety passport or first aid, are shown as self-reported. Both are awarded by Futures in Film CIC. Neither is a qualification, accredited, or endorsed by ScreenSkills or any awarding body. Our outcomes are mapped to ScreenSkills skills checklists, which are guides, not accreditation.

Records and the certificate Check a record

Which door is yours?

18 and overI want to work on setStart with Day One. Free; no experience, CV or kit.Start Day One → Schools and collegesI teachRun any lesson on a classroom screen. No accounts, no student data.Use it in class → Parents and carersMy child is interestedWhat it is, who runs it, what it costs (nothing), and what it leads to.For parents → EmployersI want to check a recordType the ID from a learner's record. We never publish a list of learners.Check a record →

Want to make your own short? Making your own film: festivals, funding and shooting it properly

Who runs this

Learning provider: Futures in Film CIC. Partner: Screen Sisters CIC.

Futures in Film CIC

A community interest company at Pinewood Studios. Writes the courses, keeps the records, runs the competency checks and the in-person units the Academy leads to.

Screen Sisters CIC

Our partner. Its community uses the academy, and we run the Story to Screen Lab together. It sees totals, and named records only when a learner agrees.

The films

Made by the channels named on each lesson, embedded from YouTube. The outcomes, checks, tasks and marking are ours. A listing isn't a partnership.

About Futures in Film Your data in the academy