Toi Mai is taking action to make sure our multi-billion-dollar screen sector gets graduates with the skills they need to hit the ground running when they enter the workforce, and the opportunity to upskill as they grow their careers.

The industry has told us while there is increasing demand for the screen sector’s products and services, the lack of funded work-based learning opportunities is limiting the sector’s ability to build a sustainable skills pipeline.  

In a sector first, last week Toi Mai brought together vocational education and university providers for a one-day wānanga to discuss how to bridge the gap between provider business models and a tertiary funding system that incentivises long form education, and the screen sector’s needs for shorter-form work-based skills training that leads directly to jobs on-set and in the studio. 

Despite the many millions of dollars of public investment in long form screen education, only 6% of 2022 graduates from screen-related qualifications had entered the industry by 2023, compared to 12% of 2010 graduates (by 2023). At the same time, the screen sector was crying out for a more skilled workforce and asking for a greater proportion of government investment to go into industry-led, work-based training.  

On the agenda of the wānanga was the question of how New Zealand can have a more nationally coordinated screen education and training system, with programme offerings that more closely match the needs of industry —so that more of those who enter training with the goal of working in the sector, can have a more nationally coordinated screen education and training system that gives both industry and learners the necessary skills to thrive. 

The conversation identified potential solutions to the eco-systemic challenges, such as a national screen skills strategy, and a shift in government’s tertiary funding to a more agile model that can respond to this dynamic industry. 

Before it begins its wind-down to disestablishment at the end of the year, Toi Mai will convene another provider wānanga to further the conversation.  

Find out more about the challenges facing the screen sector in our screen sector workforce development plans, Te Wao Nui o Toi and Te Waha o Tāne.

Data source: Stats NZ