EXCLUSIVE: The London Screen Academy, which was founded by industry titans Barbara Broccoli, Michael G. Wilson, David Heyman, Eric Fellner, Tim Bevan and Last King of Scotland Producer Lisa Bryer will set up a new campus at the Camden Film Quarter, the film and TV-focused neighborhood being developed by Yoo Capital in central London, Deadline can reveal.
LSA is a free sixth-form academy that provides free education for youngsters who want careers in film and television. Its original site is in Islington, London. It was opened with much fanfare in 2018, not least because the growing production sector was stretched by the number of series and films being made in the UK. With that facility now oversubscribed, the LSA will add a new facility at the Camden Film Quarter.
Real estate firm Yoo Capital has given the LSA the space for the new college, which is for students aged 16-to-19-years-old. Privately held Yoo Capital’s ambition for the Camden Film Quarter, as first revealed and further documented by Deadline, is to create a new London neighborhood given over to the creative sector, with studios and stages, but also affordable housing, industry infrastructure and support at a skills level.
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Plans have already been unveiled for an NFTS campus that will cater for University-age students. The LSA caters for a scholars in the educational age bracket directly below that, meaning there will be facilities catering to a variety of age ranges.
Research conducted last year shows that despite the skills crunch, over 70% of school leavers still think the film and TV sector is difficult to get into without personal connections. The LSA is free and students will be able to gain practical experience with the companies and wider creative community that will be housed at Camden Film Quarter.
The LSA is part of Day One Trust, which operates schools and colleges focused on creative industry careers. “The LSA’s tremendous success to date has been because of its close partnership with the UK screen industries, building on the vision of its founders,” said Fred Sharrock, CEO, Day One. “Placing LSA’s second campus at the heart of an exciting new screen industry cluster will mean it can open even more doors to screen industry careers for young people from disadvantaged and under-represented backgrounds.”
Lloyd Lee, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Yoo Capital, said: “We are honored to be gifting a facility for the London Screen Academy as part of Camden Film Quarter’s commitment to providing genuine accessibility and equal opportunities to families and young people in our community who face severe financial and social disadvantage.”
John Hitchcox, Co-Founder and Chair, Yoo Capital said “the new campus at Camden Film Quarter will continue to build on the UK’s international reputation as a creative powerhouse platforming emerging world-class talent.”
The Camden Film Quarter is subject to planning permission and if successful, building is expected to get underway in the second half of 2025. The first phase of the educational campus would be delivered in 2027. The LSA facility needs final approval from the UK’s Department for Education.