Article in Screen: Are the Children Our Digital Future?
A piece I wrote last month in this week’s Comment Page in Screen International. The topic is the worrying state of Digital Literacy in the UK Film Industry – even in its twenty-something, purportedly “digital native” recruits.
Full article (subscription required) here: 
August 28th, 2009 at 11:03
I agree with everything you have said Arvind. As a working practioner and a sometimes workshopper and mentor I have found the same thing. Much of this is down to the profusion of “Media” courses on offer in the UK that produce an over supply of students without even the most basic knowledge of how to use a camera ( digital or film) yet alone the rest of the digital technologies. Am now following you on twitter (cinematcimunity)
August 28th, 2009 at 12:33
“Teach them well…and let them lead the way.”
Thanks for this timely and provocative article.
Provided those responsible for delivering Digital Britain’s commitment to a ‘National Plan for Digital Participation’ (http://bit.ly/e122m) can come up with a clear-sighted and practical strategy, there is some hope that the issues you’ve raised may be tackled in the medium- to long-term.
In the short-term there are loads of ‘digital literacy’ initiatives underway up and down the country- as I found when I surveyed policy bodies about their media literacy activity in a report prepared for Ofcom. (http://bit.ly/3ftB4Q)
The challenge for a coordinated approach to improving digital literacy across the board is a lack of clarity about which core competencies and knowledge are required (and these will depend on the context of their application), plus the differences in approach taken within formal education in each of the home nations.
From the perspective of film industry new entrants I guess the only short-term solution is bespoke training and ‘familiarisation’ activities, in the hope of raising awareness of, and interest in, the powerful digital tools now available.
Is this something Slingshot might consider offering?
September 2nd, 2009 at 17:32
The observations in this article are both culturally acute and show good management: we should always try to learn from our interns. Indeed I find them so insightful that I will discuss some of them with my students tomorrow (hopefully leading to better applications for Slingshot Internships)
Thus Screen International should get you to contribute more regularly, that would also make my job easier.
September 4th, 2009 at 23:03
Thanks all for comments and kind words.
Jim: have added your excellent blog to my reader feed. Happy to think about how Slingshot could help, but as we are primarily a producer rather than a training organisation, we’ll have to think carefully about how to do that in a way that doesn’t distract from core activities. Drop me a mail and we can discuss.
Carl: will be writing a few more pieces for Screen before the end of the year. I fully expect to have bored / infuriated everyone before long.
September 9th, 2009 at 13:41
Hi Arvind,
I just read your article in the last edition of Screen and I have mixed feelings.
As a 20-something myself, and someone who has every intention of one day managing to infiltrate the film industry, I disagree that “youths take some strange, rueful pride in their lack of tech skills and experience”. Perhaps I’m not the best example – I blog, play MMORPGS, use my iphone for almost as much as it is capable of and spend much of my day using a computer in one way or another. However, any lack of experience in using programs such as google docs, wikis, and “everday software packages” such as Excel, Powerpoint and Project is derived simply from a lack of necessity to use them! Unless you are already in the industry (or in any office industry) the circumstances just don’t arise. Perhaps you are right and that these skills need to be taught earlier in school and college and I wouldn’t debate that, but since we’re not really in control of our educational curriculum would it not be unfair to hold it against us?
In addition, I can’t speak for my peers, but my attitude is more along the lines of: Is learning each new technology and keeping up with the technology race really the best spent use of my time and energies? Should I not instead be watching the movies I aspire to one day be making, writing the screenplays that I hope to get read and produced, or even totally unrelated – learning an instrument, a language…?
I initially wrote my feelings were mixed, which they are. For instances, I agree with the link between artistry and technology and the examples you gave, and I also liked your referencing Whitney Houston, when the sentiment expressed is so true, “Teach them well…let them lead the way”. But do you really consider that you are backing that ideology, helping teach and helping lead, when your next line is: “we’ll continue to recruit our interns from the US”?
Thanks for a thought provoking article either way. I’ll look forward to more!