Young Film Academy (YFA) believe that young people from all backgrounds should have the opportunity to develop skills, experiences and careers in the creative sectors. The YFA Scholarship Fund will enable promising students aged 13-17 to have access to crucial developmental opportunities, irrespective of their financial situation.
Since 2020, YFA has worked with the UK’s leading film & TV talent agency Hamilton Hoddell to champion inclusion in the film and TV industry and eliminate financial barriers to our filmmaking programmes. This year, we are expanding our efforts with the YFA Scholarship Fund, working with our adopted charity partner Prospero World.
The YFA Scholarship Fund aims to offer 20 promising students aged 13-17, from low-income backgrounds, with the opportunity to attend either YFA’s 4 Day Film School, OR YFA’s Filmmaking and Screen Acting Residential Summer Camp. YFA will help scholars to identify which of the courses is right for them and enable them to access it without financial barriers.
The YFA team will work with a specialist, wide network to identify potential scholars and create an application and selection procedure. We are also working with vetted Partners to include young Ukrainians who have been living under extreme stress and are urgently in need of respite. Once identified, students will be fully supported by the Scholarship Coordinator to identify whether the 4 Day Film School or the Summer Residential Camp are the best fit for them. We anticipate that there will be 8 scholarships for the 4 Day Film School and 12 for the Residential Summer Camp.
Your donation will help promising students aged 13-17 from low income backgrounds, to have a formative experience attending either YFA’s 4 Day Film School, OR YFA’s Filmmaking and Screen Acting Residential Summer Camp in summer 2025. YFA is the UK’s leading provider of filmmaking courses, schools film making programmes, community filmmaking projects, helping over 15,000 young people each year complete their first digital films. Our courses, prioritising practical learning, offer young people a unique opportunity to build their experience in an encouraging and inclusive environment and nurture their passion for telling stories on screen. Participants engage (often for the first time) with what a career in film and TV looks like and work with like-minded young people to create their own short films, guided by industry professionals, using professional equipment.
The scholarship for the 4 Day Film School includes the full costs of the course as well as a travel bursary to enable scholars to reach the Chelsea Academy, London, SW10, where the course is held. The 4 Day Film School runs from 10am-5pm over 4 days.
Each course includes up to 16 participants who learn about screen acting, writing, editing, camerawork and even fight choreography – before they get out there and make a short film themselves. Everyone has a chance to develop his or her own role and no one escapes without saying “Action!”.
The cost of one scholarship is £850.
The scholarship for the Residential Summer Camp covers the full costs of our one week camp, as well as providing a travel bursary to enable scholars to reach Culford School in Suffolk, where the camp is held.
Students choose whether they want to be in the Filmmaking Crew or the Acting Crew. Each Crew will develop invaluable skills in their own disciplines though practical exercises, workshops and masterclasses with film industry professionals. Actors will learn how to perform with impact on screen and filmmakers will learn the technical skills they need to take a movie from start to finish. The crews will then join together in teams to shoot their short films at the amazing facilities at Culford School.
The cost of one Scholarship, including a travel bursary, food, accommodation and the course itself, is £1,600.
“My experience at YFA camp has been one that I definitely won’t forget. From the beginning the staff as well as the pupils have all been friendly and inclusive, making the atmosphere welcoming and easy to settle into. I’ve met with different circles of people from different parts of the world, throughout the week and it’s been really lovely sharing our love for film.
I’ve learned a lot of new things in regards to film making and it has been a great privilege to work with high-tech equipment as well as a staff of industry experts who have also given me advice on my further steps after my GCSEs.
Both socially and educationally, I have really enjoyed my time at YFA and it has enabled me to be more clear in seeing that the film industry is the path that I want to take.”
Sarah Moyo – Hamilton Hodell Scholarship Awardee 2023
“I went to Young Film Academy’s summer camp in 2017 through the Hamilton Hodell scholarship. It was a really unforgettable experience I would recommend, especially if you want to learn about the film industry or you’re passionate about movies and film. It inspires you to pursue film as a career as you meet professionals in the industry. I met new people who have the same interests and I’m still in contact with them today. I got to learn about how the film industry works in a nutshell. I went on to learn more about the film industry through other YFA short courses including their BFI Academy. I am currently doing a filmmaking course at Birmingham university and I am also part of the Focus on Females programme ran by YFA. Once a YFA member, always a YFA member!”
Harriet Aoko – Hamilton Hodell Scholarship Awardee 2017
The Film and TV industry needs better representation among its workforce – with filmmakers from a wider range of backgrounds comes more diverse storytelling.
While diversity levels are improving, there is still a lot of work to be done in the UK Film & TV industry: A 2024 study revealed that only 8% of creatives in TV and film are from working class backgrounds, whereas 60% are from middle- and upper-class backgrounds.* Many craft roles remain highly gendered. In 2024, the highest proportion of contributions by women were in Hair and Make-Up (95.8%) and Costume and Wardrobe (90.7%) roles. Lighting (90%), Sound (85.6%) and Camera (83.6%) are dominated by men.** Asian (including East Asian, South Asian and other Asian background) representation in off-screen roles (3.2%) was less than half the national population estimates (6.4%) in 2024. **
Students from a wide range of backgrounds should be given training and higher education opportunities in creative media, in the hopes they will progress into employable roles in the industry. In practice, this means stimulating and nurturing their talent EARLY, so an interest can develop into a PASSION. We want to be part of the solution by providing uniquely practical and transformative opportunities to young people under the age of 18 without financial barriers to access, inspiring their career direction and higher education decisions.
*Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre, 2024
** Diamond – The Seventh Cut Report
Donations from organisations to the YFA Scholarship Fund will sponsor successful applicants from low-income backgrounds, enabling them to benefit from 100% bursaries for YFA’s Filmmaking or Acting Courses, plus a travel bursary.
NOTE: Donations made to the YFA Scholarship Fund by UK businesses are tax deductible for corporation tax.
In return for your support, YFA can set set up a named bursary, providing your organisation with:
YFA will recruit students to benefit from this fund through an open application process distributed via YFA’s partner organisation networks.
Donations can also be made anonymously if preferred.
Sponsor 2 students (4 Day Film School) – £1,700
Sponsor 2 students (1-week programme Summer Camp) – £3,200
Sponsor 5 students (4 Day Film School) – £4,250
Sponsor 5 students (1-week programme Summer Camp) – £8,000
Sponsor 10 students (4 Day Film School) – £8,500
Sponsor 10 students (1-week programme Summer Camp) – £16,000
To express your interest in donating to YFA’s Open Access Fund, please contact Events & Partnerships Manager Nicole Russo on manager@youngfilmacademy.co.uk, or call 0207 387 4341.
