TV & Branded Entertainment production company, Firecracker Films, has produced six profile films for FCB Inferno and The Department of Business Innovation & Skills to update perceptions of Apprenticeships in the UK by highlighting the many varied and exciting career opportunities they provide for young people.
The first phase of the campaign, launched in May 2016, creating a huge surge in interest in the initiative (500,000 visits to the website and counting). The second phase of the campaign launches today with the latest short documentary on London IBM Apprentice, Chris Achiampong.
According to Claire Finn, Firecracker’s Head of Content: “Chris was such an interesting guy to work with. He was tipped to have a promising football career with Arsenal until he sustained a major injury. His brothers had all attended college, as was the family tradition, but he wanted to take his own path, earning money to help support his family.”
As part of its commitment to end youth unemployment, the
government wants to make three million apprenticeships available to young
people by the year 2020.
In order to find the right mix of relatable, inspirational
young men and women for the campaign, Firecracker’s specialist casting team
reached out to over 800 schools and colleges and 400 employers over the course
of six weeks. 450 apprentices were whittled down to a final 13 for the shoots.
“The casting process was as rigorous as any we would
undertake for a TV documentary. This was key in order to find a mix of people from
diverse backgrounds, working in a variety of industries, whom we knew would
appeal to a broad audience of peers,” says Claire. “We shot each of the 13 Apprentices
for five days and explored their background, their education and the details of
their own particular apprenticeship. We wanted to capture their experiences of
working for the first time, what it means to be young now and have aspirations
as well as their family’s thoughts on Apprenticeships.”
Firecracker enlisted established documentary filmmakers Andrea
Eisenhart and Ben Reid to ensure the films’ authenticity.
“Firecracker’s speciality is in capturing authentic human
journeys,” says Claire. “And we knew Andrea and Ben would be perfect at telling
the Apprentices story in their own words in a very real, relatable way.”
The latest ‘Get In Go Far’ films are online now. 30”
trailer-style TV ads launched on TV on Saturday the 20th August and
will run through to October 2016.