Latest news with #creativeindustries
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Amazon launches new fund to support creative careers in Bolton
Amazon has launched a new fund to support access to creative careers. The Regional Creatives Fund will offer grants of up to £30,000 to UK charities. It will help people from underrepresented backgrounds access careers in fields such as publishing, music, gaming, film, TV, fashion, and advertising. The scheme is open to organisations in Bolton and across the UK. Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said: "I want every young person to have the opportunity to build a successful career within the creative industries, which is one of this country's greatest assets. "Whether it's in film, TV, gaming, fashion or music, we have so much homegrown talent and I am delighted that the Regional Creatives Fund will help shine a spotlight on that right across the country helping people contribute to our national story. "Alongside our Creative Industries Sector Plan, this new fund will help to support growth in these fast-growing sectors by preparing the next generation of creatives to tell our national story on the world stage." The fund supports the government's Creative Places Growth Fund and is designed to increase access to creative industry careers among underserved communities. Single organisations can apply for up to £30,000, while consortiums can seek up to £100,000. Applicants must be UK-registered charities currently running programmes that upskill people from underrepresented backgrounds for creative industry careers. Paul Firth, director of the global music industry at Amazon Music, said: "Amazon has been a passionate supporter of creative industries in the UK for many years and the Regional Creatives Fund will supercharge that support in Bolton and across the country. "The aim of the Regional Creatives Fund is to help charities amplify the reach of existing programmes that support pathways to careers in the creative industries. "We understand talent is everywhere, but access isn't, and we're working to change that. "Through the Regional Creatives Fund, we want to help create a future where creativity belongs to everyone." READ MORE: 'True hidden gem' restaurant that's a short drive from Bolton named in top 100 in UK Holidaymakers urged to take health precautions this summer Special offer lined up as new store opening aims to bring life back to Bolton In addition to funding, the scheme will provide pro bono support through Amazon's network of creative industry professionals, including mentoring, work experience, placement opportunities, and digital training. Grants will be awarded by an independent judging panel, including senior leaders from Amazon, the National Theatre, Arts Council England, the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, Help Musicians, and Music Minds Matter. Applications are now open. To find out more about the Regional Creatives Fund, visit:
Zawya
16-07-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Visa reforms herald new era for South Africa's business events sector
South Africa's business events and creative industries are set to benefit from the introduction of two new visa categories aimed at improving international access to the country's exhibitions, conferences and film projects. Minister of Home Affairs Leon Schreiber recently announced the new Screen Talent and Global Entertainment Scheme (STAGES) and Meetings, Events, Exhibitions and Tourism Scheme (MEETS), intended to address longstanding visa bottlenecks for international participants from key growth markets. The announcement has been welcomed by RX Africa, organiser of major events including World Travel Market (WTM) Africa, ILTM Africa and FAME Week Africa, which for years faced challenges bringing buyers and exhibitors from countries like China, India, the UAE, Nigeria, Ghana and Ethiopia. "This announcement is particularly significant for our international exhibitions," says Carol Weaving from RX Africa. "The new visa schemes will dramatically ease travel for our visitors and help us bring hosted buyers from around the globe. "We've seen particular challenges with key markets such as the UAE, China, India, Nigeria, Ghana, and Ethiopia, markets we hope to see grow significantly for tourism exhibitors at WTM Africa and ILTM Africa. This ultimately helps us expand our hosted buyer programme and attract more international exhibitors, benefiting the entire local industry." The move also promises direct benefits for niche programmes like RX Africa's China Ready Workshop, aimed at growing South African tourism's share of the Chinese outbound market. "China's improved access will also significantly benefit our China Ready Workshop (taking place at WTM Africa next year), helping South African tourism businesses better connect with this crucial source market," adds Weaving. Visa delays blamed for lost investment South Africa's visa restrictions have had well-documented economic consequences in the events and film production sectors. In his budget address, Schreiber confirmed the loss of a major R400m Netflix production from Mexico due to visa delays — one of several missed opportunities. The country's film sector contributed R7.2bn to GDP in 2019/2020, a figure impacted by the pandemic and subsequent administrative challenges. Countries like Canada and Georgia have demonstrated the value of streamlined visa and incentive policies, generating R155bn and a 250% production increase, respectively, through proactive reforms. Global MICE market implications The new visa reforms are also expected to strengthen South Africa's position in the global business events sector. Europe continues to dominate the MICE market with seamless access through Schengen visas, while Dubai has built a MICE hub on the back of simplified business travel processes. "For years, we've watched destinations like Dubai, London and Las Vegas capture major international events that South Africa could easily host, simply because they made it easier for people to get there," says Weaving. "Europe holds 50% of the global MICE market largely due to seamless cross-border access through Schengen visas, while Dubai has become the Middle East's premier MICE destination through streamlined business visas. With these reforms, South Africa can finally compete on equal footing with these global powerhouses." Martin Hiller, portfolio director for FAME Week Africa, says the changes will have an equally transformative impact on creative industries: "The launch of the STAGES and MEETS visa schemes is a game-changer for South Africa's creative economy. For too long, red tape has held us back from realising our full potential as a global hub for film, fashion, music, and large-scale events." Faster digital processing welcomed Both visa schemes will be managed through an online application process, with approvals promised within hours — a long-awaited improvement for organisers who've struggled with administrative delays. 'These reforms signal that South Africa is finally ready to compete on the global stage for international events and productions,' concludes Weaving. 'We look forward to working with government to ensure successful implementation and to leveraging these tools to grow South Africa's position as Africa's premier destination for world-class exhibitions, conferences, and creative productions.' All rights reserved. © 2022. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (
BBC News
15-07-2025
- Business
- BBC News
WeTransfer says files not used to train AI after backlash
WeTransfer has confirmed it does not use files uploaded to their service to train artificial intelligence (AI) file sharing company had received lots of criticism from customers on social media after changing its terms of service, which some interpreted as allowing it the right to use files for AI training.A WeTransfer spokeswoman told BBC News: "We don't use machine learning or any form of AI to process content shared via WeTransfer, nor do we sell content or data to any third parties."The firm has now updated its terms, saying it has "made the language easier to understand" to avoid confusion. WeTransfer said the clause was initially added to "include the possibility of using AI to improve content moderation" and to identify harmful appears to have been changed in late June or early July, according to snapshots taken on the Internet terms had said WeTransfer could use content for purposes "including to improve performance of machine learning models that enhance our content moderation process".It also included the right for WeTransfer to "reproduce, distribute, modify," or "publicly display" files uploaded to the users on social media interpreted this as WeTransfer giving itself the right to share or sell the files uploaded by users to AI working in the creative industries, including an illustrator and an actor, posted on X to say they used the service to send work and were considering changing to alternative said it updated the clause on Tuesday, "as we've seen this passage may have caused confusion for our customers."The clause in the terms of service now says: "You hereby grant us a royalty-free license to use your Content for the purposes of operating, developing, and improving the Service, all in accordance with our Privacy & Cookie Policy."The rival file-sharing platform Dropbox also had to clarify it was not using files uploaded to its service to train AI models, after social media outcry in December 2023. Sign up for our Tech Decoded newsletter to follow the world's top tech stories and trends. Outside the UK? Sign up here.
BBC News
12-07-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
'Working class people deserve to be heard in the music industry'
"We deserve to be heard in the industry and we should be deserving of having the chance to put our handprint on the history of music," says Iquao 18-year-old vocal artistry student from west London is one of many young people at Access Creative College in Tower Hamlets working towards a career in the creative industries. The college hopes to help introduce young people from deprived backgrounds to jobs that have been dominated by their middle-class peers. Iquao, who is due to perform at Wireless Festival in Finsbury Park on Saturday, says people from working class backgrounds "have amazing stories to tell". She added: "Music, it stems from who we are as people. Music is made to tell stories. "We, the people that don't come from maybe the best backgrounds, we've got amazing stories to tell."It's in those sort of communities, or in working class places, that we manage to create this amount of talent - it's like we get it through the hard work we put in."For us that are so passionate and devoted to that art, we deserve to be heard in the industry."We should be deserving of having the chance to put our handprint on the history of music."She said it was through the college, which has connections to Wireless music festival, that she secured her performance slot. 'Collaborate with each other' Access Creative College, which opened its Whitechapel campus in September 2023, said more than 50% of its students were from ethnic minorities. According to the British Sociological Association, people who grew up in professional families are four times more likely, to be in creative work than those who did research was echoed by The Sutton Trust which also found that top selling musicians were six times more likely than the public to have attended private schools. Leoni Ryan, an 18-year-old media student at the college, said it was valuable to be surrounded by a creative community."You can make friends and in the future you can collaborate with each other," she said. "I think that's really special." Nathan Loughran, director of the London campus, said the college, which is situated in one of the most deprived boroughs in London, welcomes students from "all over the place"."What we offer here is a very unique creative education experience," he said. "The new facility is is not like a traditional school or college. It's very much based on industry."
BBC News
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Confetti: Students stranded as creative college scraps courses
A college in Nottingham is cutting all of its level one and level two courses from September after its funding was Institute of Creative Technologies is a specialist creative college which offers teaching in subjects including games technology, technical events, music performance and college forms part of Nottingham Trent University which said due to the reduction in funding and allocated student numbers it "had no choice but to make the difficult decision".The move has upset students and prompted an online petition calling for "immediate action" to mitigate the impact being signed by more than 390 people. Level one creative industries student Hermione started the petition after she was told by email her course would no longer be running." I just cried," said the 17-year-old who travels to Confetti from her home in Grantham."This has been my dream college since I was back at school."The students said they were only informed on 25 June and that finding a place at another college for September was proving difficult."Not many colleges are taking people in now until next summer but we can't wait until next summer," said Hermione."It's either the courses are full or they're closing down their own courses. I don't know where my future's going to go. I'm very terrified." Max said he felt "really annoyed" when he was told the courses were being 17-year drummer travels from Loughborough to study level one creative industries at the college."It's a really late notice thing and I'm struggling to find another college to get into," he said. "It's just terrible timing."Level one and two qualifications include GCSEs and national vocational level three courses require applicants to have completed a level two qualification."Everyone gets into level one so that they can get to level two and everyone who gets into level two wants to get to level three," said Max. A spokesperson from Nottingham Trent University said it was "working with local authorities and college partners to support all those impacted and help them find suitable added: "Last month, our lead FE provider, Access Creative College, told us without any prior notice that they were reducing our allocated student numbers and funding for September 2025 entry."We have made clear to ACC that this is unacceptable and would have a detrimental impact on current and future learners. They have refused to change their decision."Accordingly, we have had no choice but to make the difficult decision not to offer level one and two courses at Confetti from September 2025."The Department for Education said ACC - a national independent training provider - had reduced Confetti's funding by about 300 Creative College said: "Further education is currently a challenging funding landscape and we do not take the decision lightly to reduce allocated student numbers."While this is a difficult moment for Confetti applicants, we are working closely with all relevant stakeholders to ensure that affected individuals receive the support they need during this period." The Department for Education told the BBC that Confetti was working with colleges in Nottingham, Mansfield and Derby to ensure enough places were offered to all affected students, where added that Confetti had been engaging with local authorities and Futures Advice, Skills and Employment to provide careers Hermione and Max love studying at Confetti and would like to continue there."It's the only place I can find where I get to do what I love," said Max. "It's rare to find."
