KEIGHLEY College has been chosen to teach courses for a major new film and TV industry training programme.

Courses in construction, lighting, hair and make-up, costume and production assistant (scripted) will be taught at three venues.

The courses, only available in Keighley and Leeds, will provide students with the first industry-recognised UK craft certificates for film and television.

Screen Yorkshire and the National Film and Television School (NFTS) have teamed up to provide the five courses as the first phase of their Centre of Screen Excellence: Yorkshire.

Screen Yorkshire champions the film, TV, games and digital industries across the region, and has been heavily involved in several productions filmed in Keighley such as recent movie Swallows and Amazons and hit TV show Peaky Blinders.

NFTS, regarded as one of the leading film schools in the world, will employ industry professionals as teachers on the courses, and provide work placements and on-set experience.

NFTS said the UK film and television industries were thriving, particularly in Yorkshire, contributing to the economy and creating thousands of jobs. The result was a need for trained and qualified crew.

A spokesman said: “The courses have been designed by NFTS in response to industry, with each of these craft skills identified by ScreenSkills as ‘in demand’.

“They will provide students from any background with a clear pathway into the industry, developing their skills, and preparing them for the specific demands of working within these industries.”

All students will also take part in ‘boot camps’ designed to prepare them for the specific requirements of film and TV, such as their role within a department, set etiquette and the challenges of freelance life such as tax, invoicing and networking.

The region’s film and TV sector has been invigorated in recent years, with Screen Yorkshire’s investment activities helping to deliver major growth in employment and turnover, more than double the rate of any other region in the UK.

The new training scheme is supported by ScreenSkills using National Lottery funding awarded by the BFI, to help establish the region as a nationally recognised centre for training in the screen industries.