Our Place-Based Approach

Into Film's place-based approach focuses on sustained, collaborative work in selected communities across the UK. By partnering with schools, youth organisations, educators, careers professionals, screen industry professionals and local partners, we create meaningful opportunities for young people to explore film culture, develop creative skills and discover pathways into the screen industries.

Working intensively in specific places allows us to build strong local relationships, respond to community needs and support young people to tell stories that reflect their own identities, experiences and aspirations for the future.

While Into Film supports young people and educators across the UK through our wider programmes and resources, our place-based work enables us to deliver long-term activity that strengthens local creative ecosystems and creates lasting impact.

Why we work in specific places

A sustained local presence allows us to:

• Create deeper impact - Young people and educators can take part in longer journeys with film - building skills, confidence and creative ambition over time.
• Build relationships and trust - Consistent collaboration with local partners helps us shape activity that reflects the needs, opportunities and identity of each community.
• Connect education, community and industry - Our work brings together education settings, youth organisations and the screen sector, strengthening local networks and creating clearer pathways into screen careers.
• Respond to regional opportunity - We consider regional screen industry growth, emerging creative clusters and workforce considerations alongside community need, helping young people to understand the possibilities in their region
• Support a more inclusive screen industry - By prioritising communities that face barriers to cultural participation or are underrepresented in the screen industries, we help ensure the future of the screen sector reflects the diversity of the UK.

Our place-based promise

Wherever we work, we are guided by four commitments to:

• Catalyse change that matters - We focus on creating opportunities and outcomes that would not happen without our support
• Be a trusted partner - We work alongside educators, community organisations and industry as supportive experts with a clear and distinctive offer
• Connect, complement and collaborate - We bring partners together, strengthening local networks and creating shared momentum
• Lead with expertise in film and screen education - We use our knowledge and partnerships to unlock potential and energise creative activity from the ground up.

Where we work

Our core programme strands - Film for Learning, Filmmaking, and Screen Careers - are shaped in collaboration with the areas within which we work. Together, they help embed film education, support young storytellers, and connect communities with opportunities in the screen industries. 

We identify our priority areas by looking at where our programmes can make the greatest difference. Across all our work, we consider barriers to participation, local need, existing provision and partnerships, and the potential to build sustained opportunities for young people. Each programme also brings its own focus. For example, Screen Careers considers where the screen industries are growing, investment is being made and new opportunities are emerging, helping young people understand and connect with pathways in their region.

Our priority areas for 2026/27 are...

England

Filmmaking and Film for Learning

Barking & Dagenham, Birmingham, Brighton & Hove (Whitehawk), Bolton, Bury, Oldham & Rochdale, Doncaster, East Sussex, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, Penzance, Rotherham, Sandwell, Sheffield, Sunderland & North East Combined Authority, Torbay.

Screen Careers

Barking & Dagenham, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, London Careers Hub (East), Sunderland & North East Combined Authority, Sussex & Brighton Combined County Authority, West Midlands Combined Authority, West of England Mayoral Combined Authority.

Northern Ireland

Filmmaking and Film for Learning

Newry, Enniskillen.

Screen Careers

Belfast City Region, Derry/Londonderry.

Scotland

Filmmaking and Film for Learning

East Ayrshire, North Ayrshire & South Ayrshire, Highland.

Screen Careers

Angus & Fife, Dundee, Greater Glasgow.

Wales

Filmmaking and Film for Learning

Blaenau Gwent, Merthyr Tydfil, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wrexham.

Screen Careers

Cardiff Capital Region, Wrexham.

By working deeply in these places - while also maintaining a national reach - we are helping ensure that more young people can access film and screen culture, develop creative skills and see a future for themselves in the screen industries. Through long-term partnerships with authorities, educators, community organisations and industry, our place-based approach strengthens local creative ecosystems while opening up access to film and screen, helping young people across the UK imagine futures for themselves within their own communities and beyond.