This session explores the experience of Future Flames through the eyes of three Level 3 Creative Media students. They highlight the transformative impact the creative enterprise has had on their prospects, confidence and early steps into their careers.
Confidence, Technical Skills and Work Opportunities
All three students highlighted confidence and work readiness as the most significant benefits of Future Flames:
- The opportunities Future Flames offers – such as creating a podcast with Sacha Jones from Channel 4 or production work with Walsall FC – are far greater than students expected at this stage in their careers.
- One student describes being quiet when he started college – Future Flames dramatically boosted his confidence.
- Working with Future Flames develops practical skills such as camera operation, editing and lighting, in a way that classroom assignments cannot.
- When applying for jobs, students recognise that Future Flames offers them concrete work examples to give to prospective employers.
- One student explains how he has taken the plunge into freelance work, offering wedding videography services.
- Demonstrating the power of networking, another student explains how he secured a paid job at a boxing event, directly from a connection that stemmed from Future Flames.
- Students note that Future Flames didn’t simply help them overcome fears about the industry but created a genuine eagerness to enter it.