Personally, seeing many of the films nominated this year has been an experience, and the variety has shown there are so many stories yet to be told.

Technically they have been extremely diverse, with the high-tech photography on Top Gun: Maverick and All Quiet on the Western Front, along with the extraordinary visually stunning imagination and CGI on Avatar: The Way of Water. All of the many specialist areas were represented brilliantly again, in production design, sound, music, makeup and hair, costume, editing, screenplay. The story is vitally important, of course, and The Banshees of Inisherin and Empire of Light contrasted to All Quiet on the Western Front, adapted from a literary classic, and Everything Everywhere All At Once. This all goes to show a good, well told story, with a team of professionals in charge in every department makes a wide variety of entertainment that can make us laugh, cry, shock or scare us, or make us feel exhilarated when we leave the cinema.  

Having the skills to be at this level takes training, experience and dedication, and getting the first step on the ladder is often the most difficult and competitive. The GBCT Trainee scheme mentioned earlier by Tim shows there are many keen, bright and committed enthusiastic young people out there wanting to learn their craft. The nature of the business means it is highly competitive, and there will undoubtedly be many who were not chosen for this year’s entry and will undoubtedly be disappointed. However, the way to stand out is apply for the next round of admissions and in the meantime find out everything they can about the role, and even ask to shadow experts for a while, watching what they do. This can often be in your own time, and may cost you to get around, yet this can lead to a few new connections and you can get noticed. A few weeks watching what happens at a camera or lighting rental business, or how a costume designer or production designer works is worth the small cost in terms of time, as long as you can get your foot in the door. This can be easy for me to say, and more difficult to get a “Yes”, yet you can learn so much in a very short time. In the words of my late dad: “If you don’t ask, you don’t get.”   

In other areas, the BSC 2023 show has just ended, and there were some very interesting new techniques, working ideas and technical equipment demonstrated there. It also shows there are many clever people who are finding innovative ways of helping film makers tell their story, improve on an idea, or radically alter the way we will be doing things soon. They are equally as passionate about what they achieve. One person exhibiting at the show said to me “I get to experiment, try new things, and come up with something that works to help other people. It’s not like work, I love it so much.” The amount of smaller British engineering companies who have this passion to innovate was truly inspiring and is what makes breakthroughs in different areas to create more tools for the filmmaker to use to tell their story.  

This all goes to show the business of film making is a collaborative venture, and has many moving parts, with incredible technology and passionate people often wanting to push the boundaries of what has been done.    

Now it is time to look forward to 2023 and what it will bring. There are many positives going forward. There are several new bright GBCT trainees on film sets going forward, getting the very best experience on a set and being taught by a team of motivated and experienced professionals the correct way of working. This is highly valuable experience, and we wish you all the very best in your chosen career. 

The amount of pictures in pre-production is at fantastic levels, and the new year will bring equipment houses, technicians and studios into full speed. With many movies already shooting and others being shot abroad, this can only be fantastic news for the future. The restrictions of COVID are now mostly gone, and the world is finally starting to be moving again. There are still massive issues with the availability of microchips and in other areas such as studio space, and this is often holding back many areas, yet this should begin to improve. Closing the world down for two years clearly makes it difficult to start up production again.   

From the GBCT to you. We wish you the very best in your chosen business going forwards into 2023 and beyond!