University Film Schools at the heart of creative collaborations with industry: A Case Study

This paper is a detailed case study of how the Bond Film and Television School
collaborated with external production companies to actively participate in, and support, the production of the feature film The Fear of Darkness (Fitchett 2015) as a means of providing unique student learning experience. This case study shows how the production not just provided a significant opportunity for academic staff to have senior production roles to further their professional development, but also enriched student education and knowledge. Students were able to take genuine on-set production roles, rather than conventional internships and work experience, contributing towards meeting the industry’s current skills gap. This collaboration challenges the notion that the ‘artist in residence’ must be an external, transient figure to the academy. Instead, it works from the principle that in many cases, academic staff with significant prior industry experience can function as ‘artists in residence’ within the film schools within which they work. This paper goes further and articulates how learning from that experience has informed a potential second collaboration between the Bond Film and Television School and external production companies to produce another feature film, The Strange Case of Emily Wilkinson (writer/producer Chris Fitchett) during 2023. The school will again be participating in, and supporting, the career advancement of staff, students, recent graduates, and emerging industry professionals. This second production is even more deeply embedded in the Bond Film and Television School, than was The Fear of Darkness (Fitchett 2015).