A direct access route
into the film industry....

…a unique eight week training
course on the set of a
working feature film

The Jewson Film Foundation provides a total overview of how to make a professional feature film. The JFF is also a nest bed from which Jewson Film Productions hopes to discover new talent, whether it be directors, writers or cinematographers.

  • Five places per course available
  • Next course starts on the set of Born Of War 3rd October

Overview

Below is a short overview of the eight week course on offer.

Students will receive one-on-one training from a wide range of industry professionals, during which they will learn every role and process involved in the making of a feature film. Students will finish with enough knowledge, confidence and contacts to work as professionals in any particular role they should choose.

Students will learn in a hands-on manner on the set of Born Of War. We firmly believe that the best arena for learning how to make a professional film is on the set of a feature film.

Students will have access to and will work directly on all the camera, lighting and sound equipment, as well as top class studio facilities and post-production houses. Students will also work with the Cast and creative Heads Of Department.

This is NOT work experience. The course will function like an intensive apprenticeship integrated with a highly detailed training course, providing experience in all film departments and hands-on education.

Students will also have access to all Jewson Film Productions’ contacts and networking events, one of which will be held especially for them.

Students with the ambition to become directors or writers will be invited to submit their script to be considered for production in-house. Please see 'Mini Blockbusters' for more information.

For further details call us or download our brochure.

"I’m gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse"Don Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando), The Godfather (1972)

Without working with Vicky Jewson I cannot see how I would have entered the film industry. I haven’t been out of work since working on 8 feature films as Director Of Photography in the last 2 years since the Jewson course. I spent over £50k on prestigious film schools, but there is just no comparison to what real life experience on set teaches you. I think this is a great alternative, education AND experience in one. Feature film experience on your CV is second to none.



James Friend Director Of Photography
 
"He taught me without teaching. That's the best way." Nancy Dekker (Barbara Ruick), Apache War Smoke (1952)
Sabrina Dridge

Chief Course Coordinator

Sabrina Dridje

The Jewson Film Foundation Chief Course Coordinator will be the key link between the students and syllabus, to make sure their expectations are fulfilled and the training criteria are met.

Having completed an International Baccalaureate in France, Sabrina returned to the UK to study a degree in Psychology and an MA in Film theory. She went on to spend over three years as Business Affairs Manager for international film sales agent Hanway Films where she assisted the Director of Business Affairs in all day to day contractual activities.

At the same time Sabrina produced her own short film for which she raised the budget. Having recently gone freelance to pursue eclectic endeavors across the arts, she is now project managing creative work: from production managing film festivals to researching the world's weirdest restaurants for a TV show!

"The JFF is a hugely exciting project for me to be involved in, not least because of the trials and tribulations I experienced getting into the film industry. I am a huge advocate of hands-on work experience, which is invaluable in its ability to provide practical training, in a working context. The JFF is unique in its offer as the course is a veritable 360 degree process that will not only allow students to experience every facet of a production, but will also follow through with the sales and distribution elements that are often overlooked in more traditional training environments. It is the A - Z experience of the JFF which makes it unique."

"The future is whatever you make it, so make it a good one." Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd), Back To The Future III (1990)

The Mini-Blockbusters

The Mini-Blockbuster concept has been developed by JFP as a means to allow outstanding students from the JFF course to gain the opportunity to develop and direct their own feature film.

Named 'mini-blockbuster' due to the set budget, low-financial risk concept of this aspect of JFP, all JFF students will be invited to submit a feature-length script at the end of their time on the JFF programme. If a winning script is discovered it will be chosen both for it's creative potential and commercial viability. The student would then go on to develop and complete the script with the guidance of an established Screenwriter. JFP will then facilitate the production of the feature, with the student as director and industry professionals making up his or her crew.

The film will be released for the worldwide market place, giving the director a wide enough release pattern to launch their career as a feature director.

"You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me? Then who the hell else are
you talking... you talking to me? Well I'm the only one here." Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro), Taxi Driver (1976)

Contact us

For further information please
contact the JFF Course Coordinators,
Nina Brown or Daniel Gabriel on:


Jewson Film Foundation
Lane Barn
Eynsham Road
Farmoor
Oxfordshire
OX2 9NL

T 01865 863166
E ninabrown@jewsonfilmproductions.com
E danielgabriel@jewsonfilmproductions.com

"You know the Greeks didn't write obituaries, they only asked one question after a man died, 'Did he have passion?"Dean Kansky (Jeremy Piven) Serendipity, (2001)

Background

Why was the Foundation set up?

The Jewson Film Foundation was established by Vicky Jewson to help aspiring actors, camera crew, directors and producers to enter the film industry.

As Vicky Jewson explains: "I was always interested in films from a very young age and was determined to be a part of this exciting and vibrant industry and to make my own films, but it wasn't easy to meet the right people, assemble a crew, find a cast and most importantly of all, raise the necessary money. The whole purpose behind this course is to open up a far more accessible route into a job / career in the film industry. Therefore we can only offer five places as any more would jeopardise the intensity of the training and one-on-one attention we are advocating.

The Foundation was set up to create a direct access route into the film industry, to give new talent a platform for getting their dream job in the film industry or to write and direct their first feature film. Jewson Film Productions plans to produce industry professionals and to make up to five features per year from up and coming talent identified during our programme."

The opportunity for students to learn about the film industry and work alongside a film maker and director of the calibre of Vicky Jewson is very rare indeed. I will certainly encourage the media students at The Academy to apply. It's a bit like winning the X-Factor; the sort of opportunity that can change your life forever.

Sam Elms
Chief Executive
The Business Academy, Bexley
 
"It's a dirty job but I pay clean money for it" Steve Dallas (Martin Milner), Sweet Smell Of Success (1957)

Costs and Duration

£5,000 for eight weeks (£625/week)

The cost covers all training from industry professionals, equipment, travel, one-on-one tuition with Vicky Jewson, accommodation, breakfast and lunch each day.

Match funding has already been provided from Jewson Film Productions - £2250/student – and this has allowed us to keep fees as low as possible.

How do I apply?

Download application form
(latest entry 29th September)
"Never disregard anything no matter how trivial."Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) Dressed to Kill (1946)

What’s covered

The following elements will be covered over the course of eight weeks:
  • Fundraising
  • Pitching
  • Networking
  • Investors
  • Target market planning        
  • Sales analysis
  • Managing a development budget
  • Legal requirements
  • Contracts 
  • Casting          
  • Casting Director        
  • Working with actors  
  • Call Sheets
  • 1st Assistant Director
  • 2nd Assistant Director           
  • 3rd Assistant Director           
  • Production Manager
  • Production Co-ordinator       
  • Location Manager
    Art Director
  • Continuity      
  • Wardrobe
  • Make up
  • Winibagos Wigs       
  • Costume design        
  • Costume Houses i.e.  Angels 
  • Exhibitors screenings (cinemas)
  • Industry screenings
    Trailer
  • Distribution   
  • Sales Agent   
  • How to set up a company
  • Shares and what they mean
  • Business planning
  • Manage relationship with your bank           
    Bridging loans
  • UK Tax credit
  • EIS structure
  • Director Of Photography      
  • 1st Camera Assistant
  • 2nd Camera Assistant
  • Clapper loader          
  • Focus Puller
  • Grip   
  • Dolly  
  • Tripod
  • Crane
  • Set Construction        
  • Props houses 
  • Continuity      
  • Stunt Co-ordinator
  • Genny Operator
  • Line Producer
  • Stills Photographer
  • Transport       
  • Catering        
  • Accommodation
  • Co-productions
  • Shooting abroad
  • Set Construction        
  • Props houses
  • Marketing, PR and advertising         
  • Designing of Poster 
  • DVD Sleeve
  • Premiere
  • Events manager
  • Script writing
  • Script editing
  • Storyboarding           
  • Shot lists
  • Location recces
  • Scheduling
  • Sony 900        
  • Arri 35mm
  • Panavision 35mm     
  • Red Camera Prime Lenses
  • Spark
  • Gaffer
  • HMIs, red heads, gels etc
  • Editor Final Cut Pro   
  • Avid   
  • Composer (score)     
  • Orchestra
  • Air studios     
  • Grading
  • Post-production Co-ordinator
  • Non-original music © permissions
  • Music deals i.e. with Universal
  • Additional Dialogue Recording
  • Dolby Sound Mix
    Final Sound Mix        
  • Film laboratories
  • Digital Interneg         
  • Security
  • Booking celebrities
  • Film festivals
  • Market places
  • Film rights
For further details call us or download our brochure.
"You can bend the rules plenty once you get to the top, but not
while you're trying to get there. And if you're someone like me,
you can't get there without bending the rules." - Tess McGill (Melanie Griffith), Working Girl (1988)

Course Structure

How it will work:

The structure of the course will work on a rotation system throughout all
departments on the professional film set. In the course of one day, each student
will learn from an industry professional what their particular job entails and the
requisite skills. At the end of this day the student will take on this role for a single
take of the final scene of the day. In the major departments, students will not be
paired, and they will receive one-one-one training with the industry professional.
The short chunk rotations will involve the students working in pairs or as a group
in the smaller departments. The first week will also involve a series of seminars
covering central departments.

For further details of the course elements and rotations please download our brochure