As part of the Services for Young People (SfYP) Dacorum and St Albans Team 2025 summer Holiday Activity Programme, young people had the opportunity to visit Sky Up Academy Studios in Elstree. They got to take part in an inspiring, hands-on experience that immersed them in the exciting world of film and television. Working with a team of experts, they took on real media roles and created their own short film using the latest digital technology.
In preparation for the visit, SfYP Youth Workers ran a session on how to create a storyboard and enabled the young people to share their ideas and plan the film they would produce on the day. On arrival at the studios, the young people were given a tour, and had their photo taken with the original jeep from the first Jurassic Park film. They were able to see how a real studio operates and hear about films and TV shows that had been made there. They then took part in a ‘careers challenge’ through which they learnt about the many different roles at the studio and were given time to think about what roles would suit them, and how their personality or preferred ways of working can be fitted into a career.
They were then put into two groups and allocated their roles: director, editor, camera operator or actor. The groups discussed how they would work cohesively together to make sure the filming went well. Everyone took their roles seriously, the actors making sure they followed the director’s orders, and the camera operators ensuring they captured all the best bits.
After the filmmaking, the two teams came together to meet Derin Adetosoye, a presenter for the Formula 1 Academy. Derin spoke about how she became interested in presenting after attending a Sky Studios visit with her school when she was a teenager. She talked about how interesting her career has been and how she has now relocated to New York. To end the day, the young people got to watch the results of their filming in the onsite cinema.
The young people all gave positive feedback about their experience, saying:
"I didn’t realise how many jobs there are at Sky. It’s been great to start thinking about my future!"
"It was so fun to be an actor for the day!"
One of the SfYP Youth Workers said: "The day was great! Really interesting to learn about all the different jobs and opportunities at Sky. The young people got to learn about different job roles and experience a real working studio."
SfYP youth work projects enable young people to develop important life skills, raise their aspirations and make a successful transition to adulthood. Get full details of SfYP projects in your area. If you know or work with a young person who benefit from our support, please use the SfYP referral form or contact your local SfYP team.
Young people who are not at school or college can come to the 11-5 Hubs at SfYP young people's centres for help with progressing into education, training or finding a job or apprenticeship. Our qualified Advisers support with identifying and developing skills needed for work and help with CV writing, searching for jobs and preparing for interviews.
