Producer and director Daniel Dempster praises his ScreenSkills bursary

With credits on shows made by some of the UK’s leading independent production companies, producer and director Daniel Dempster is achieving big. A ScreenSkills bursary helped him progress even further.

Daniel’s repertoire extends all realms of the film and television industry,  from The Rap Game and First Dates to SAS: Who Dares Wins to Come Dine With Me. He was helped into the industry by ScreenSkills (then known as Creative Skillset) in 2012 via a diversity internship scheme co-run with producers’ alliance Pact.

He had studied media technogogy at Kingston University, followed by an IT course a couple of years later. However, he realised he wanted to work in production, so when the opportunity for the diversity internship came up, he seized his chance. Following the internship – which was supported by Pact and ScreenSkills – he started off as a runner then climbed up the ladder, working with companies including Lion TV, Spun Gold and ITN Productions on Dispatches for Channel 4.

He began self-shooting as an assistant producer on MTV’s Geordie Shore and as his career continued to rocket, he realised he required more equipment in order to step up to the role of producer director. Although Dempster admitted “the money is getting better,” as he progresses in his career, he pointed out, “living in London and doing what we do, it’s not easy” to afford the expensive equipment he needed.

In 2020 he heard about ScreenSkills’ bursary scheme through a friend of his who was also applying. He made an application in November 2020 for £3,500 to help buy two cameras and “a couple of expensive lenses which just wouldn’t have been possible [without the bursary] and some sound equipment so I can self-shoot in a quick and mobile way”. It took just under a month to get the kit.

Dempster is full of praise for the process, he said: “It’s not some kind of thing where people are keeping tabs on you or giving you false promises. It was really straightforward and smooth, the process. Obviously, they need information from us to verify who we are, but it seemed non-judgmental [and] quite wholesome, like we were working together.”

He added: “It’s not just the money though, ScreenSkills give you support and they’ve got your back. I know friends who’ve had advice. It’s definitely a prominent name in the space to help people trying to find their way in this mad media industry.”

He is currently working on BBC3’s make-up reality series Glow Up where he is using his new equipment behind the scenes and his next role is on another premium BBC show.

ScreenSkills bursaries are supported by BFI-awarded National Lottery funds, by industry contributions to the Film, High-end TV, Children’s TV and Animation Skills Funds and through money from the Television Skills Fund targeted at improving diversity and inclusivity.