How UK Star Wars productions are boosting UK skills

The Star Wars franchise has always had a home in the UK, be it much of the studios shoots in the original trilogy, The Phantom Menace and reshoots on Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith and all of the Disney era films and that presence has only had a positive effect on the UK film industry where skills and knowledge are among the best in the world and only improving.

The blockbusting franchise has utilised the UK’s facilities, locations and talent for over four decades, and, when The Walt Disney Company acquired Lucasfilm Ltd in 2012, the franchise further rooted itself in UK soil by making Pinewood its permanent home

The British Film Commission (BFC) has played a crucial role in Lucasfilm’s investment in the UK, ever since they worked with the company and UK government in 2013 to secure the Star Wars franchise for the UK, and also assisted with the establishment of ILM’s London office. Since then, says Samantha Perahia, the BFC’s head of UK production, “the BFC has proudly provided support on all episodes of the Saga, from crew and stage space availability to UK wide industry introductions and troubleshooting.”

Alongside its studios and infrastructure, a major part of the UK’s offering to franchises like Star Wars is its extensive talent base, and strengthening and widening that base is now a key issue for the UK industry. Future Film Skills, the BFI action plan supported by industry leaders like Eon head Barbara Broccoli, Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy and producer and BFC Chairman, Iain Smith, launched in 2017 with a £20m BFI National Lottery investment. The plan aims to bring in the 10,000 new entrants needed in key craft areas to meet growing demand. ScreenSkills, the organisation responsible for investing in training and education for the screen industry at every career stage, was appointed to lead the delivery of this plan, and has funded and partnered on countless skills development initiatives since the launch.

Another key initiative in the UK’s skills ecosystem is the BFI’s Film Academy which offers opportunities to young people from anywhere in the UK and from any background to be part of the future film industry. This scheme provided an ideal opportunity for Lucasfilm, which was looking to expand its talent pool.

And with candidates being chosen from across the breadth of BFI Film Academy network, the programme’s focus on inclusion yielded immediate results; of the 28 trainees placed on Solo: A Star Wars Story, which shot at Pinewood in 2017, 75% were women, 45% came from BAME backgrounds and 68% were recruited from outside of London.