Featured Work: His Dark Materials

His Dark Materials is a Bad Wolf production. Through their not-for-profit educational initiative Screen Alliance Wales (SAW), Bad Wolf continues to develop relationships with local schools, colleges and universities, including The University of South Wales (USW), building career pathways and supporting young Welsh talent.

Working with USW’s Film & TV School Wales, SAW promotes a wide range of skills needed to work in the film industry, including traineeships, placements and shadowing, and an online networking and jobs portal.

This unique partnership enables students and graduates to work on leading TV productions, including 'His Dark Materials'. Students from our Film & Visual Effects courses, TV & Film Set Design courses and Animation & Games courses all played their part in bringing this production to life.

Andrew Creak, Caerphilly, BA (Hons) Film Graduate

Andrew is a production assistant trainee on His Dark Materials. Last year, he was on a work placement on season one, which led to a subsequent interview for his current role.

Andrew said: “My degree involved different aspects of industry from film theory, history of film, to practical assignments making short films etc. We learnt all the different aspects of production – all working together to make something beautiful.

“It feels amazing to go from graduating to working on a high-quality BBC/HBO production. Studying at USW gave me the confidence to apply for work experience. During my first week, I got to work with one of my favourite actors but my favourite part of my role is being able to see every single part of the production – from pre-production through to post-production.

“This is my first proper job working in the industry. I never thought I would go into a role like this. I didn’t even know this job existed when I started studying film."

Ben Jenkins, Cwmbran, MA Film (Production Management) Graduate

Ben Jenkins has always had an avid interest in the business side of television. Since graduating from the Masters course, Ben has worked on productions such as; Bargain Hunt, Casualty, and Da Vinci’s Demons. From there he went on to work as Jane Tranter’s Executive Assistant at Bad Wolf. Ben is now Operations Executive on His Dark Materials.

Ben said: “My advice to anyone thinking about working in this industry would be to grab any opportunity that is offered to you. These experiences will set you above your competitors."

“The film industry in Wales has exploded over the past four years. It is an incredible opportunity for Wales that we can build something like His Dark Materials. Viewers can expect a highly enjoyable visual experience with gripping drama.”

USW Film & TV School Wales has a unique partnership with Screen Alliance Wales.

The partnership gives USW students the chance to work on leading television productions made in Wales such as His Dark Materials and Discovery of Witches.

Watch the video to hear about how the partnership works, and how Screen Alliance Wales is working with USW to grow and produce the talent, crew and services of the film and TV industry in Wales.