Arts@Work
Twenty-five undergraduate students from the departments of English Literature and Film Studies took part in an innovative new King's course called arts@work on 28th and 29th June 2012 . The course aims to get students thinking about the connections between their current degrees and potential future careers in the arts, as well as providing an opportunity to network with those already working in the arts and take advantage of their insights and advice.
Six speakers from across the creative industries gave talks and ran workshops across the two day course.
On the first day, Fran Poletti from the National Film and Television School (NFTS) gave a workshop on screenwriting. Fran was a film student at King’s herself, so she also gave a talk on her path from graduating to her career in the film industry. Director and screenwriter Will Frears was in conversation with Andrew O’Hagan talking about his career in film and theatre. And James Spinney, an alumni of the English Department, gave a talk on working as an independent film director. James really went the extra mile, discussing various ways of securing arts funding and inviting participants to work as runners on his next film.
The following day students heard from Dominic Power, head of Film Arts at the NFTS and curator of a film programme at the BFI, gave a lecture and answered questions on film programming. In the afternoon students heard from Julia Ziemer, Events and Development Officer at literary charity English PEN, who talked about organising literary events and then led a workshop on organising a literature festival. Then Sarah Crompton, the Daily Telegraph's Arts Editor in Chief, was interviewed by the students about her career in arts journalism before running a workshop on what comprises good arts journalism.
These were two lively and enjoyable days which enabled students to think about their degrees in a more practical, careers-focused way. Feedback from students was extremely positive, with the course described as ‘very detailed, helpful and varied’, 'well-organised' and a ‘good opportunity to think about where your passions might lead you’, and the speakers rated as 'excellent'.