ABC, BBC Studios, Endemol Shine, Eureka, ITV Studios Australia, WildBear, and SBS will take part in this year’s AFTRS Graduate Program, offering 13-week paid internships to 10 graduates of the school’s Bachelor of Arts Screen: Production course.
This year’s cohort comprises Riti Ramanujachari (ABC Children and Family department) Casey McCosh (ABC Factual), Apoorv Jaiswal (BBC Studios – Unscripted), Jonathan Zhang (BBC Studios – Scripted), Ella Richards (Endemol Shine Australia), Belinda Tyldsley (Eureka Productions), Lucie Spencer (ITV Studios Australia), Tavi Sharma (SBS), and Lauren McConnell and Sean Cheng, both of whom will join WildBear.
They follow in the footsteps of alumni who have secured employment soon after completing their internship. Of the 2023 participants, Nicole Hutton (Children’s Development Internship at ABC) is working at Blackfella Films as scripted development coordinator, Kristen Settinelli (Unscripted Development / Production Internship at BBC Studios) is working as production coordinator at Mighty Sound, Mia Tikellis (Production Internship at Endemol Shine Australia) continues working at Endemol as production assistant and Ashwini Kangatharan (Production Internship at SBS) is working as a production assistant at Mint Pictures.
AFTRS CEO Nell Greenwood said the program was an effective partnership between AFTRS and industry.
“Following three years of hands-on training, student productions, and industry placements in the BA, our students are perfectly placed to make the most of this exceptional opportunity – and most progress from the program into ongoing employment in the sector,” she said.
“We owe this success to the generous commitment and support of our industry partners, and the faith they place in AFTRS to train multi-skilled, job-ready graduates”.