Jayne Anderson (Costume Trainee)

What made you decide to apply for your trainee position on the Northern Routes Training Scheme?
It's hard to get your foot in the door of TV and training schemes are a great way to do this. I was also extremely keen to be involved in TV production in the North of England, so this was a great opportunity.

Please give a brief outline of your previous experience, related to this training position.
I have worked in costume and wardrobe in short films and on many theatre productions around the country, including the UK tour of Miss Saigon.

There were nearly 500 applications for 22 places across the north of England, how did it feel to be chosen?
Very nice! It gave me a real boost of confidence after having tried to make this break into TV for so long. It was also great to be invited along for interview and meet Alex, the Costume Designer on the production and Carolyn, the Northern Routes Project Manager and chat to them about the scheme.

What have you been up to so far on your placement?
A bit of everything in the Costume Department, it was so good to be involved straight away. I've been setting up in the costume truck and getting actors ready first thing in the morning, worked with a lot of extras who we need to start dressing at 7am.

What's been the best bit(s)?
I've learnt a lot about costumes, particularly military and police. It's also great being on set, observing everything that's going on, feeling involved in the real hub of it all.

What are your long term career aims and how do you feel this scheme will help you achieve them?
More design, creating character costumes, working on period pieces/productions, continuing to get experience and learning more, how it all works and progressing to working in films.

Case StudyProducer - Lokesh Kaushal

As a latecomer to the industry,
Screen Yorkshire's Fast Track
scheme was exactly what Lokesh
Kaushal needed to give him that
extra impetus in the early stages
of his career, which is now
flourishing. "I went on to
work with Yorkshire indies on
productions like God's Waiting
Room (Century North: Channel 4)
and Building Britain (True North:
BBC 2 & BBC North) and mentors
based in the region, including
those introduced to me through
Screen Yorkshire, have since
become good friends and invaluable
sounding boards," says Lokesh.


He's clear about what Yorkshire
and Humber has to offer productions
and what ultimately is the source
of a sustainable industry in the
region: "The size and wealth of
the region puts it alongside any
other area of the country in terms
of locations and diversity, but
the key resource for any ambitious
sector is talent and there's plenty
of it in the region (experienced
and new). The trick is to continue
nurturing and feeding that talent
so it stays in the region to exploit
Yorkshire's undoubted resources
through indigenous productions.
My experience of indies and most
of the people I've worked with in
Yorkshire has been positive and
enjoyable, so I hope the region can
continue to hold its own and pull in more production."