Joseph Aspinall goes to Sky Academy…

Today I was among a group of young Londoners, taking part in a Creativity Works Course run by London 360, invited to go along to the AWESOME Sky Academy.

In the words of Buzz Lightyear’s good mate Woody, we literally reached for the sky, and got it!

Throughout the day we had a range of creative sessions and workshops and took an exclusive tour of Sky.

In an initial task, we had to come up with a new TV show. My group pitched a zombie-themed, reality game show. Based on an island with no way off, contestants have to keep moving between safe havens, with one being ‘eliminated’ on the way each week!

Later, we took part in interactive activities. These ranged from using QR codes on iPads to learn about different job areas, to trying out virtual reality headsets!

As the day continued, we were taken on a tour around some of the coolest sets at Sky…

We met a few famous names. Here, for example, I helped Mike and Sully look a little less scary…

After the tour we ate lunch, (I’ll skip that photo, it was a sandwich). Instead here’s one of us chilling out with a very famous cartoon family…

In the afternoon we were grouped into teams of three or four for a realistic ‘day at the office’ task. Three options were given, fictionally work for Sky News, Sky Sport or Sky Entertainment. My group choose the latter. We had around an hour to schedule evening programmes and promos for Friday through to Monday.

We were given specific guidelines to follow. Our team had to work to an overall budget of £700,000 while bearing in mind the audience demographic and watershed times, as well as what competitor channels were offering. Some teams were then selected to give a timed presentation.

At the end of the day we were debriefed and given some need-to-know information about applying for work experience and jobs at Sky. It was a great day and gave us all a real insight into the world of TV!

Tweet @JoeyJACAspinall

16:30 16/09/2016

By Joseph Aspinall

London360 Junior Reporter

 

This piece is also published on the London360 Junior Reporter blog at
http://creativityworksmmgs3.tumblr.com/post/150496849560/the-sky-is-the-limit