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Careers · Transferable skills
Your skills already have a place on set.
Film borrows from engineering, live events, broadcast, gaming, construction and the forces, and crews take what they learn back out again. It works both ways, at every level.
Every department has a trade behind it
Sparks are electricians. Grips and riggers work at height and with heavy kit. Locations is logistics. The production office is accounts and planning. Heads of department value people who bring a trade with them, and pass on the film-specific craft.
That goes for every level. An entry-level trainee with an electrical qualification, a best boy moving into LED and virtual production, a key grip with a construction ticket, a head of department who spent a gap between productions in live events: they all bring something the set can use.
Where skills come from
| From | Where it fits on set | Find out more |
|---|---|---|
| Electrical, theatre and event lighting | Lighting: spark, rigging electrician, LED technician | Spark · Rigging electrician · ScreenSkills |
| Construction, scaffolding, carpentry and plastering | Grips, rigging, construction and the art department | Grip · ScreenSkills names scaffolders who became riggers: ScreenSkills |
| Engineering: mechanical, electrical, electronic | Grip and camera support, remote heads, gimbals, camera tracking, technical R&D | Grip department · Virtual production |
| Live events, AV and LED screens | LED volume and virtual production stage crew | LED technician |
| Broadcast | Camera tracking, real-time graphics, engineering. Tracking systems serve both cinema and broadcast, so the skills carry both ways. | Sony on camera tracking |
| Games and real-time 3D | Virtual production, VFX and previs | Real-time operator · Escape Studios, Epic Games and ScreenSkills |
| The armed forces | Locations, health and safety, set medic, logistics | Locations · Set medic · Veterans in Focus |
| Fire and rescue, health and safety | Health and safety adviser | Health and safety adviser |
| Police and teaching | Assistant directors | Assistant directors |
| Accounts and finance | Production accounting | Production accountant |
| Sewing, fitting, admin and logistics | Costume, the production office and locations | Skills to Film at Pinewood |
Communication, teamwork and resilience carry across film, games and TV too. BAFTA calls them the skills that travel.
And back again
Freelance work comes in waves. Between productions, crew take their skills into events, broadcast, engineering and teaching, and bring new ones back. We help heads of department and mid-level crew keep current on new technology, so the craft travels with them.
Schools and colleges
Science, technology, engineering, art and maths all lead somewhere on a film set.
Lens optics, power distribution, camera tracking, colour science: every one is a school subject before it's a job on set. Into Film's Step into Screen Careers links school subjects to screen jobs for ages 11 to 18. For teachers, see schools and colleges and our work aligning industry with academia.
Where to go next
- Find your department. Every department page lists the grades, the tickets and the training: departments.
- Read the ScreenSkills guide to transferring your skills, with job profiles and career maps: ScreenSkills.
- Check the tickets your trade already holds, and the ones set work needs: tickets.
- Choose your route in by level: careers.
Last reviewed 14 November 2026