74% of females over the age of 30 working in animation and vfx in the UK feel that they have or will experience career barriers relating to their gender.*

The Helen North Achieve Programme is an intensive introduction to strategic career management for women working in VFX and animation. Hosted by AWUK and supported by the ScreenSkills Animation Skills Fund with contributions from UK animation productions and with additional support from Escape Studios the programme addresses real challenges and barriers in order to help women fulfil their potential.

Applications are currently closed while we work on planning the next programme. Please join our mailing list and check socials for updates.

Now in its fifth year, the programme is run by acknowledged career development experts, informed by in-depth industry research* with input Louise Hussey, Executive VFX Producer at Industrial Light and Magic and Dara McGarry, Operations Manager of Feature Animation at DNEG

This year’s Achieve programme will be run as a hybrid model comprising 2 of the workshops in person, with five online sessions.

The programme will run twice this year. Spring 2022 aiming at participants in South of England/Wales with in person workshops in London, and Autumn (dates tbd) aiming at North of England & Scotland with in person workshops in Scotland.

The goal of this highly interactive programme is to help participants to help themselves by developing a much greater understanding of how to manage their own careers within a supportive network of like-minded professionals

Animated Women are offering the opportunity for 24 of their members (12 women from each sector) to take part in The Helen North Achieve Programme.

We are seeking:

• 8 women at an early stage in their career;
• 8 experienced practitioners looking to progress their careers; and

• 8 senior women who have already achieved a lot but are still seeking to reach their full potential, with a genuine interest in helping less experienced women to build fulfilling careers in their sector.

The programme is open to all Animated Women UK members, regardless of career stage, who want to progress within the animation or vfx industries, but don’t currently feel armed to do so effectively.

Programme details can be found below.

Not a member yet? Why not join? It's only £30 per year.

The Spring course has been specially timetabled from 5.30-8.30pm, and the 2 x IN PERSON sessions will be at a central London location to enable participants to slot it in around work.

Launch/Foundation Workshop: Wednesday, 27th April. ONLINE
Workshop 1: Wednesday 4th May. IN PERSON
Workshop 2: Wednesday 18th May. ONLINE
Workshop 3: Wednesday 8th June. ONLINE
Workshop 4: Thursday 16th June. ONLINE
Senior Group Presentation Skills workshop: Wednesday 29th June. ONLINE
Workshop 5: Wednesday 6th July. IN PERSON

Autumn dates for Scotland will be announced in the summer

See below for full workshop details

Thanks to our sponsors, the course costs just:

£275 for senior applicants
£225 for experienced applicants
£150 for early career stage applicants

You can apply for a bursary if you need assistance with fees, childcare or travel.

It is also worth checking with your company HR team as your employer may choose to fund your place as part of your personal development.

*Successful applicants will be required to register with ScreenSkills on their website before beginning the programme. This allows them to monitor the success and ongoing impact of their work. This account will be private by default and all data entered will only be used anonymously, e.g. for reporting to funders. You can find more information here.

If you have any questions relating to the programme please email info@animatedwomenuk.com

If you have a marketing or press enquiry, please email Carrie Mok.

*AWUK survey 2014/15

Jan is an experienced coach, facilitator and trainer specialising in women’s leadership development and helping individuals achieve their full potential.

Jan has spent her career in the creative and media sectors. She has worked closely with AWUK for five years and as well as Achieve, she has led development programmes for ILM, DNEG and Google.

She is passionate about building new talent and works with universities to give graduates and post grads the confidence and communication skills needed to hit the ground running.

Before her career in people development, Jan was a successful BBC news journalist. She spent 2 years as Community Correspondent with a focus on diversity and has anchored a variety of BBC TV and radio news programmes.

Jan is also a published author, and her book ‘Unleashing your Creativity’ (Bloomsbury) helps organisations to come up with big ideas to grow their people and their brand.

Marianne O’Connor is an accredited executive coach with a diploma in Leadership Mentoring and Executive Coaching from The Institute of Leadership and Management.

Originally an actor, she combines her coaching and communication skills to help professionals develop their personal impact and influence.

An experienced and highly skilled trainer, facilitator and coach, Marianne specialises in female leadership development and has a track record of working with senior and high potential women on how they can enhance their personal brand to raise their profile.

Clients include the AWUK, ILM, DNEG, and BBC.

Helen was Career Development Director on the AWUK Board. She spent her early career at Skillset pioneering training programmes across the Creative industries. Her determination to drive for gender equality led her to AWUK. She became one of the original board members in 2014 and her voice was always a vital, caring and direct contribution to any discussion. Helen was the architect and driving force behind our Achieve Programme, which focuses on career development for women in VFX and Animation, and we are incredibly proud to continue the great work she started in her name.

From VFX to Game Art, Animation to Motion Graphics, Escape Studios is recognised as a first-class education provider for the creative industries.

We take students with raw talent and shape them into the creative professionals demanded by today’s employers. With courses developed by industry experts, at Escape Studios you learn from the best.

We offer undergraduate degrees in VFX, Animation and Game Art. Plus a range of postgraduate degrees and short courses such as Motion Graphics, Storyboarding and VR. We don’t just love the creative industries, we live and breathe them; our focus is on ensuring all of our students leave studio-ready.

pearsoncollegelondon.ac.uk/escape

ScreenSkills is the industry-led skills body for the UK's screen-based creative industries - animation, film, games, television including children's TV and high-end drama, VFX and immersive technology. We work across the whole of the country to ensure that UK screen has access now, and in the future, to the skills and talent needed for continued success.