MetFilm School to open new campus in Leeds

Opening in autumn 2022, and based at Prime Studios, MetFilm School’s Leeds campus will offer five undergraduate and postgraduate courses.

Jonny Persey, director at MetFilm School said: “Yorkshire’s Film and TV sector is thriving, and we want to ensure it has a dynamic, talented, and diverse workforce to meet all its needs.

“On MetFilm School courses, students learn by doing, participating in workshops, working within the industry, attending Masterclasses and turning their knowledge into practical experience. All our courses are taught by award-winning professionals who are actually working in the industry.”

MetFilm School Leeds will be offering the following courses:

• BA (Hons) Acting for Screen* (ScreenSpace)
• BA (Hons) Content, Media & Film Production (ScreenSpace)
• MA Cinematography
• MA Directing
• MA Screenwriting

As a world-leading film, television and online media school, MetFilm School’s mission as an educational institution is to provide students with a practical, high-quality learning experience, grounded in professional industry practice and preparation.

Mr Persey explained: “We are so proud to be launching MetFilm School Leeds. It has long been an ambition of the school to open a campus in a second UK city. Our strategic decision making since the school’s inception some eighteen years ago has been driven by a desire to make the unique education that we offer available to more people. That’s why we started running undergraduate programmes and later postgraduate programmes, and it’s why we opened in Berlin, Germany. And it is also why we are opening now in Leeds.

“Digital technologies in production and distribution, the subsequent emergence of the streamers, and the continued growth and support of the creative sector, have all made the film and TV sector across the UK ever hungrier for talented people in front and behind the camera. We are proud to do our bit in educating and supporting that talent and in turn in supporting the industry.

“We are already proud of our association with Yorkshire. In 2017 we helped produce the multiple award winning and BAFTA nominated film God’s Own Country. It is indeed no accident that Yorkshire has long been described as God’s Own Country, and its picturesque locations have made it a favourite haunt for artists and filmmakers.

“This is something that the industry is waking up to. Channel 4 moved its headquarters into Leeds a few weeks ago, joining ITV and BBC in having a permanent presence in the region, and a host of production companies have also made similar moves. When the industry grows, it needs space as well as talent, and the county is proud to boast several new studio developments.”

One production which recognised the value of shooting in Leeds was MetFilm School tutor’s Prano Bailey-Bond’s acclaimed film Censor, also exec-produced by another MetFilm School tutor, Naomi Wright, which released in UK cinemas in August. This commercial interest in the production sector in Leeds is well supported by Screen Yorkshire and Leeds City Council, who are putting significant resource into supporting the sector.

Like the specialist school’s London and Berlin campuses, MetFilm School’s new campus is situated in a working film studio complex – Prime Studios, which plays host to professional film and television productions on an ongoing basis, and is next door to ITV Studios, the home of its flagship soap Emmerdale Farm, one of whose current directors is MetFilm School tutor, Emma Lindley.

“Thankfully”, said Mr Persey, “Leeds is already a brilliant place to be a student, it’s one of the Largest student centres in the UK, and the campus is surrounded by student accommodation and… also happens to be just a 10-minute walk from the vibrant city centre.”

MetFilm School Leeds be offering two undergraduate programmes and three postgraduate programmes, from September 2022 and will offer a range of short courses to support talent gaps in the local industry.

Mr Persey said: “We’re grateful for the welcome the industry is already showing us and look forward to working in this exciting space over the coming years and contributing to developments in film and TV which promise to offer careers, work, and in turn fantastic entertainment to so many.”