Round-up: NATPE unveils 2022 calendar; BBC orders Tom Daley challenge for Comic Relief; ScreenSkills launches UK apprenticeships

NATPE Budapest

NATPE unveils 2022 calendar

The National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE) has revealed its calendar of events, both in-person and virtual, planned for the content community in 2022.

NATPE has placed a focus on finding opportunities to bring the industry back together in-person and has scheduled multiple events in the US and Europe.

Upcoming virtual events include the NATPE Virtual: 2022 Station Group Summit “The Power of Local Television” on 17 February in which industry leaders will discuss the evolution and reinvention of the local television business.

NATPE Virtual: “The Evolution and Transformation of Television” on 17 April meanwhile includes a day of online sessions covering the changes in the industry including perspectives from the advertising community and programming dedicated to the Latin American market.

The physical 2022 IRIS Awards on 17 May, which was originally planned for NATPE Miami 2022, will now be invitation-only and take place during the Upfronts in New York City.

NATPE Hollywood will go ahead physically on 1 June at the W Hotel in Hollywood, featuring keynotes on international drama, a focus on unscripted, sessions on international co-productions, conversations on streaming, and audience acquisition discussions.

NATPE Budapest will run from 27-30 June in Budapest, Hungary, and will mark the return of NATPE’s international conference and marketplace highlighted with fresh international drama screenings.

Later in the year, on 12 September, the NATPE Streaming Plus event will return to the W Hotel in Hollywood with a focus on the ever-changing landscape of streaming entertainment.

JP Bommel, president and CEO of NATPE commented, “True to our mission to be the indispensable resource in the content evolution, NATPE returns in a big way with a collection of unmissable events on both coasts and internationally that continue to provide connectivity, business intelligence and business opportunities for our members.”

BBC orders Tom Daley challenge for Comic Relief

British pubcaster the BBC has ordered Tom Daley’s Hell Of A Homecoming for its upcoming Red Nose Day event on 18 February.

Produced by Twofour, the programme will follows British diving star Tom Daley as he take on an epic endurance challenge as he rows, cycles, swims and runs his way from the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford to his hometown of Plymouth– all to raise money for life-changing projects supported by the charity Comic Relief.

In a video released by the BBC, Daley said: “I’ve never done anything like this before. I mean I’ve trained for an Olympics, but I’ve never done any kind of endurance training, let alone swimming in that freezing water.

ScreenSkills launches UK apprenticeships

UK TV skills body ScreenSkills is to fund 40 apprenticeships for the UK screen sector, thanks to a grant announced today by the UK Department for Education.

ScreenSkills is among a number of national employers awarded a grant to run a flexi-job apprenticeship project, and will operate a programme alongside lead partner Prime Video, as well as Banijay UK, Lime Pictures and Sky with APX Content Ventures.

The programme intends to recruit apprentices as production assistants, assistant production accountants, production coordinators and production managers – all skills shortage areas in the current production boom. Prime Video are responsible for funding half the total places.

Recruitment will start this month with the ambition of having the first apprentices in place by May, with a second cohort starting in September. The industry partners are funding additional costs involved in enabling the programme to go ahead.

Announcing the new programme during National Apprenticeship Week, UK Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi said: “This country has a rich history of being a creative leader on the world stage, exporting talent and high-quality programming across the globe – and it is right that apprentices should lead the charge in delivering the skills needed to support our fantastic film and television industry.”