BAFTA Guru Live Round Up

Searchlight were back at BAFTA Guru this year, offering guidance on CV’s, Cover letters, Showreels and much more. BAFTA Guru brings together BAFTA-winners, craftspeople and new creative talents, offering direct access to industry experience and an opportunity to hear from the best in the business.

This year things were different, sessions were run over Zoom and offered to those outside of the membership, meaning anyone with a passion or interest in media could join. The event being streamed meant we had our largest audience yet, with over 300 people in attendance.

Hosted this year by our Head of Development Amy Osterley, Senior Consultants Victoria Lugg and Suzanne Alden, we also had the pleasure of being joined by Freelance Film Trailer Editor Matt Falck to host our showreel do’s and don’ts. Opening with our CV do’s and don’ts, running through the many pitfalls those starting in their working careers could make – everything from improper layout, email address choice, skills and profile. It was great to see many of the participants engaging with the content asking insightful questions, looking for tips on the inclusion of photos (our rule is no), font and how to create a credit-based CV. The team stressed the importance of your CV – being your introduction to an employer (first impressions count). One insight the team passed on was that hiring managers spend minimal time looking at a CV, ‘anything from 8-30 seconds on average’, so candidates must do everything they can to be selected.

We asked Amy why she loves running the session for BAFTA – “Partnering with such a prestigious organisation such as BAFTA is a real honour. We love working with the members, but this year opening up the masterclasses’ to non-members was a great initiative from Bafta to make it more inclusive. We always look forward to taking part in Guru Live, we hope our sessions are helpful for the next generation or anyone changing career path.”

We were thrilled to have the brilliant Matt Falck join us, who shared his insights and experience. Matt was brilliant in stressing the importance of knowing your audience, keeping it brief, impactful and ensuring you aren’t making a showreel that is an epic. Sharing examples of top showreels, Matt demonstrated the different approaches taken for roles, whether you’re looking into film trailers, tv advertisements or sizzle reels. One lesson to take away was whatever the purpose of your work do your research, keep it brief and highlight your personality (show them who you are). If you don’t have footage go out there and film it if you’re looking to be a director. Looking to be an editor? Cut together some of your favourite clips.

We love opportunities to help those looking to start their careers in the media and we look forward to one-day possibly placing some of those that were in attendance. As always, a big thank you to the BAFTA Live Team and the Partnerships team for inviting us back year on year and helping with the organisation of the session – it wouldn’t have been such a success without you!

If you missed the session, do not worry! You can catch up on the BAFTA Guru Live YouTube channel. Any questions on CV’s, Showreels and Cover Letters please feel free to email the team and we will endeavour to advise you on your next steps.