One of Scotland’s most beloved film and TV directors has teamed up with local young people from Renfrewshire to share his expertise and inspire the next generation of filmmakers.
Michael Hines, director of Still Game and Chewin’ the Fat, hosted a session with a group of young people at Kibble Group’s Skills Academy in Hillington where he revealed his creative process, offered industry insight and outlined his career journey – including how he turned his hand to magic in order to earn enough for his directing course.
The workshop delved in to Michael’s career but also provided the young people with advice on how to confidently share ideas and creative thinking and how to budget effectively, as well as lessons around why time management is paramount when managing multiple projects. Michael was able to share insight into moviemaking on the back of launching his debut feature film, Man and Witch, in the US.
The Skills Academy is part of children and young people’s care charity, Kibble Group, and is an education and training centre for young people to learn vocational skills while gaining an education to create pathways into the world of work. The Skills Academy works with organisations from a wide range of sectors allowing young people to understand the careers available to them within different industries and the route to accessing the roles they want to secure.
Michael’s visit was part of a wider summer programme run by the Skills Academy called ‘Future Ready’. The purpose of the programme is to offer young people across Renfrewshire an insight into a range of industries including film and tv as well as horticulture, science, creative arts, entrepreneurship and AI and Technology. The project is supported by the Renfrewshire Local Employability Partnership.
Photo: Michael Hines
Lisa Wardlaw, Head of the Skills Academy, Kibble said: “The Future Ready programme has been incredibly popular with young people across Renfrewshire and we are thrilled there has been such a good uptake from professionals to come into the centre and share their skills and insight in order to inspire our future generations.
“Many of our young people at the Skills Academy were very familiar with Michael’s work and came armed with a host of questions to ask him. Within the workshop group we had young people who aspired to work in film and TV in a range of roles including; filming, editing and costume and set design.
“Michael’s workshop was very insightful and incredibly well-received by the attendees and we would like to thank him for giving up his time to come and join us on our Future Ready venture.”
Michael Hines, Film and TV Director, added, ““I really enjoyed talking to the group at the Skills Academy. They were engaged, interested and inquisitive. I would urge any professional to give a little of their time – you’ll get so much in return.”
In addition to the industry workshops, the Future Ready programme is also offering young people guidance on CV writing and interview techniques.
For more information, or to learn more about Kibble and The Skills Academy, please visit www.kibble.org.
Photo: Michael Hines at Skills Academy
Photo Credit: Kibble