Coleman TV and the Kickstart Scheme
Context
Coleman TV are primarily a maker of television programmes for global distribution, specialising in long form documentaries (in multiple languages). The majority of their documentaries are technology based, e.g. aircraft-related, and social interest with a historical bias, e.g. end of the war in Europe. Clients include the BBC, History Channel, UK TV, Channel 4 and PBS America.
Task / Brief
Coleman TV got to a critical point in November/December of 2020 where they were putting their own historical footage into new projects. They invested in some new software that allows input of multiple descriptive and technical items and needed somebody to do this. They decided to utilise the Government’s Kickstart Scheme to recruit a “Data Wrangler” and use UEA as a Kickstart Gateway.
Outcomes
Coleman TV were successful in recruiting a Data Wrangler and immediately saw an impact.
Testimony
“Our relationship with UEA has proved seamless and brilliant. Your work on this, in terms of understanding what we need and who we are, has been absolutely first class. It (Kickstart) would have been useless to us otherwise. To have you establish a cohort and for us to be part of that was great.
I would absolutely, totally recommend the UEA Gateway and the Kickstart Scheme to other organisations. You have been very real. Maybe because you are not an employment agency you bring in a different perspective that you maybe wouldn’t find in somebody who is perhaps looking to do 200-300 industrial placements.
It’s been an interesting trip, the situation in dealing with UEA is that sensible, relaxed, adult, good constructive conversation where you really understand things. You’ve just got to remember that UEA are the human, customer-facing front-end of it and the great machine of Government has to be coped with behind it. It’s a fire and forget really, once you’ve got it clicked in and in place, everything happens automatically and you stop worrying about it.
You just have to really think about what you are doing and you’ve got to put some effort into getting that person. You have got to commit to participating in it and then you will get the best out of the person involved.”
- Nik Coleman, Partner, Coleman TV
Personal Insights
“During meetings with my Work Coach they proposed the Kickstart Scheme. Eventually, this position was mentioned to me and it was probably the first one that they had described to me that actually sounded like it was a good fit.
The interaction we’ve had after starting, does really put into perspective how important a good pipeline is when running a television company or a media company, being able to recognise the impact that has and how important it is to have everything organised and be working as efficiently and streamlined as you possibly can. It has also opened my eyes to how you can run a company in this way and it doesn’t have to be working around the clock 24/7. You are able to have a more relaxed atmosphere and still get all the work done that you need to. It’s my first time being able to experience that and not be half miserable in my workplace.
A Data Wrangling position is a very, very common way of getting into the visual effects industry and so that alone makes this all worthwhile. It’s very, very valuable to me. It’s probably the biggest advantage I’ve ever had since leaving university and getting to where I want to go.
All the stuff I’ve been doing so far in terms of the tasks I was brought in for is relevant and it can definitely go on my CV. As long as this lasts, this is quite close to my dream job. It makes it possible.”
- Will, Kickstart ‘Young Person’, Data Wrangler for Coleman TV