Google is ramping its efforts in the TV industry with a pledge to back the next generation of young film makers in the UK.
The firm’s YouTube subsidiary will sponsor the UK’s National Film and Television School for three years in a bid to showcase the talents of emerging producers of films, TV programs, documentaries and cartoons. YouTube will also back a new Film Clinic at the school, which aims to help amateur film makers find an online audience.
Executive chairman Eric Schmidt revealed the partnership during a keynote lecture at an annual media event organized by The Guardian newspaper. He says the investment will begin in January and will help film makers to distribute their wares via the Web.
“The NFTS is one of the world’s most successful film and TV schools, responsible for producing graduates who have gone on to gain credits on some of the UK’s and Hollywood’s finest productions,” Schmidt told delegates at the MacTaggart Lecture.
During his speech, Schmidt criticized the UK’s national curriculum for failing to put technology front and center. He noted the failure runs contrary to the country’s long history of technological innovation, and reverses successful schemes that saw basic PCs installed in schools during the 1980s, the BBC reports.
Schmidt also slammed regulators for stalling the potential of online TV services in the UK, noting that delays in launching YouView – a controversial project designed to combine terrestrial TV content with on-demand services via a single STB originally due to launch in 1H11 - have compromised the country’s leading position in the TV market, The Guardian notes.