MONDATUM CAREERS

RESEARCH

We conduct research into careers, education and employability that produces immediately actionable data. We ask young people about their attitudes towards pursuing a career in industries like film and television production, games development, advertising, marketing and live events.

We use this research to develop our careers guidance workshops, where we introduce these young people to the realities of work and employment. Ongoing research across the careers spectrum highlights trends and gaps, to keep us all on top of our technical, creative, business and operations roles.

Read more about our Research below, or ask us.

GUIDANCE

Our research creates the platform for a programme of engaging interactive careers workshops on in-demand transferable skills and employability skills.

Workshop activities include games, breakout sessions and quizzes. Sessions become gradually more intensive, preparing participants for the rigours of work and ensuring they are a good fit for any suitable role.

Read more about our Guidance below, or ask us.

EMPLOYABILITY

We also spend a lot of time talking to employers about our scheme and the capabilities and qualities of those we work with.

Businesses are invited to attend workshops as observers, to identify potential candidates for open vacancies and future roles.

Read more about Employability below, or ask us.

RESEARCH

We use digital and social media supported by direct marketing to recruit research participants at their schools, colleges and youth schemes.

We pay them to tell us what they think about the prospect of working in a range of attractive-sounding industries and job roles.

We divide research participants into groups to conduct interactive sessions. Sometimes we combine those groups, other times we subdivide them further.

Our industry-, work- and skills-focused activities are fresh and innovative and produce results that are hard to replicate and measure elsewhere.

We use data and insights from the research sessions to shape our instructional workshops.

Participants are more engaged in later workshops when they feel that their research contributions are acknowledged and valued.

GUIDANCE

For our instructional workshops, we recruit from the research sessions. Others join from the same schools, colleges and youth schemes.

Instructional workshop sessions focus on sets of in-demand transferable skills. We also spend time refining participants’ employability skills.

The Creative / Technical and Business / Operations programmes become more intensive as they progress.

Creative / Technical

  • Machine learning and AI, including generative AI

  • IT and network systems

  • Real-time content creation, including virtual production

Sessions can include hands-on activities, presentations and technology demonstrations.

Business / Operations

  • Business management

  • Net zero, carbon reduction and sustainability

  • Digital media marketing

Sessions are all about talking to participants about what is required to run businesses smoothly and profitably.

EMPLOYABILITY

Underfunded schools, colleges and even universities find themselves unable to properly address the transferable skills needed by employers in industries such as film, television, advertising and games. We fill that gap.

As our sessions are all about getting participants career-ready, we actively engage with employers. We invite heads of department, team leaders, HR teams and talent spotters to come along and meet the next generation of workers.

We encourage companies to promote themselves to our participants, to improve their brand awareness and help them to understand the increasingly complex industry ecosystems we talk about.

By design, our scheme’s research and guidance sessions relieve the burden on beleaguered careers advice teams. We also re-introduce a healthy dose of reality to the process of preparing for the world of work.

SOME OF OUR OTHER WORK

  • For the Spring and Summer terms, as part of his teaching activitie, Mondatum COO John Rowe is delivering careers guidance for undergraduate and postgraduate students centred on securing work in Animation, Games and VFX, where professional and interpersonal skills are as important as technical and creative.

  • We were invited to attend the third annual Future FWD education conference at John’s alma mater Warwick School in July. We enjoyed two days of presentations and some often in-depth and provocative group discussions on where to go next with formal education, especially in light of what is happening in the world of artificial intelligence that might disrupt it.

  • Mondatum was commissioned to develop and deliver a five-day in-person course to a team of broadcast production developers on how to use game engine technology to make the audience experience for programmes such as Monday Night Football on Sky Sports more exciting and immersive.

  • In March, John gave a talk at the Creative Media Skills Institute at Pinewood Studios to diverse group of Buckinghamshire-based business owners and other interested parties on the direction the creative and content industries are taking with machine learning and AI, including generative AI.

  • In front of packed audiences at both FOCUS 2023, and MPTS 2024, Colin participated in panel discussions with VFX and animation company CEOs and CTOs and a Director of Training to discuss machine learning and AI and particularly the perceived threat of generative AI in the workplace and to the VFX and animation industries in general.

  • Mondatum was commissioned by the UK Screen Alliance to research the availability of undergraduate and postgraduate VFX education in the UK. The data and information we provided informed the UKSA’s drive to engage employers and academics in a meaningful dialogue about the UK skills shortages in this sector.

  • Sponsored by Hewlett Packard Enterprise and NVIDIA, November’s ‘Deep Inside The Mind Of Media’ event was the third of what was intended as an ongoing series of instructional sessions designed to demystify new technologies such as machine learning and AI and frame them in an industry context.

  • Colin’s previous company Informed Sauce provided commercial training, to clients including Channel 4, Saatchi & Saatchi, M&C Saatchi and AMV BBDO.

    Sessions on dealing with new video file formats and codecs and understanding media asset management were popular amongst non-technical staff. They helped them to communicate better and make fewer mistakes.

  • Mondatum CEO Colin Birch participated in four days of careers guidance events at FE colleges in Broxbourne, Hitchin, St. Albans and Watford, organised by Hertfordshire Film Office, Hertfordshire Futures and Hertfordshire Opportunities Portal.

    For his presentation at West Herts College, Colin designed an interactive activity to match five popular areas of study at the college to five industry roles.

  • Working with a highly-regarded VFX producer with a background in commercials and features, John co-designed and supported the delivery of a skills bootcamp in Buckinghamshire for10 aspiring professionals, including several who want to move into this field from other creative industries.

  • For CMS, and with a lead time of only two weeks, John designed and delivered a one week bespoke VFX course for secondary school pupils, focussing on on-set VFX and photogrammetry.

  • John was film critic Ian Nathan’s guest for Season 1, Episode 6 of his Sky Arts series, to talk about the pioneering VFX work of Dennis Muren and his team at ILM on James Cameron’s ‘Terminator 2: Judgement Day’.

  • John and Colin helped Wacom to organise and attract attendees for an event in central Manchester at the end of November 2023. John was the compere for the evening and chaired a panel discussion with speakers Rafi Nizam, HaZ Dulull and Michael Pettyt.

  • John created and ran the Digital Effects MA courses at the National film & Television School. Some of the finest industry tutors in the UK taught the latest techniques using state-of-the-art equipment, gaining the courses an enviable employment record. 97% of graduates pursued careers in film, TV, advertising, creative arts and software development.

  • At the Film & Digital Media Exchange facility at the University of Hertfordshire, Colin ran a two-day course for British independent filmmakers and distributors on how to promote and publicise using LinkedIn Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Vimeo.

  • Informed Sauce created and delivered the UK’s first Skills Bootcamp, which was funded by the DCMS through Skillset, now Screenskills, and hosted by 01zero-one (Westminster Kingsway College) in Soho.

    ‘First Post’ was a multi-week foundation course for post production and visual effects runners that was focused on providing them with technical, operational, professional and interpersonal skills.