Sam Fray, Beyond Brontës' Programme Manager at Screen Yorkshire
Sam Fray manages the Beyond Brontës programme, her understanding of the industry needs as well as what drives young people and her passion to support them, has enabled the programme to be so successful to date. Find out more about her here…
What has been the most rewarding thing about working in your role with Beyond Brontës to date?
I’m so proud of how to programme is progressing and developing, we have 50 amazing young people from across the Leeds City Region. Seeing them grow in confidence is really rewarding for everyone at Screen Yorkshire.
What feedback have you had from the recruits in terms of education/knowledge gaps and their experience to date in learning about the screen industries as a possible career opportunity?
Feedback is a really important element to our programme, we know from the surveys we’ve conducted and the one to one chats we’ve had that having access to industry professionals, bootcamps, CV workshops and skills-based learning is really important to them. Our role is to signpost all the vast roles available to them from the freelance, contract and staff roles. The screen industries like many other industries need lots of people with varying skills to make it work.
What was your first job?
My first entry-level screen Industry job was at ITV working for Emmerdale, I was a print and admin assist. Initially, my role was to print and distribute scripts to cast and crew but over the 18 months I was there it progressed to provide cover across the script and post-production departments. I was even lucky enough to cover the Series producers PA from time to time. Such an amazing insight into how production works.
What was your favourite subject at school?
I really loved business studies, mainly because we had access to the school computers and the work just made sense to me.
What advice would you give to your 18 year old self?
Simply… You’ve got this, don’t doubt your abilities you have all the tools just trust yourself you use them.
How do you think we can/should best celebrate diversity?
Understanding that difference isn’t a bad thing and connecting with colleagues and friends from different backgrounds and experiences can bring different perspectives and importantly for the creative industries authentic views and ideas. Simply put we celebrate by being open to learning and understanding.