Remembering Mike Proudfoot ACO Assoc BSC (1945-2024)

It is with sadness that we learn of the passing of our friend and member, Mike Proudfoot ACO Assoc BSC.

Mike’s journey into film was complex as firstly, after leaving school, he trained as a car mechanic with Porsche. Falling into the film industry came about by accident; his friend’s wife worked at the Rank Organisation’s shorts and documentaries department and they told him they needed a mechanic to look after the camera cars.

After a year at the company he was offered the role of documentary assistant, this allowed him to go all over the world for over two years, the role of documentary assistant allowed him to try his hand in all the roles.

Following the closure of the department, Proudfoot got a job on the last season of The Avengers as a loader. From there he built his career up working his way through the ranks becoming a focus puller on a number of commercials before being employed to work on The Sweeney.

Proudfoot continued to move ahead, operating Scum (1979) and The Long Good Friday (1981) for Phil Méheux BSC before moving on to Absolute Beginners (1986, Oliver Stapleton BSC), Air America (1990, Roger Deakins ASC BSC), Batman (1989, Roger Pratt BSC) and more.

Proudfoot told British Cinematographer that “I like working with old fashioned directors. I call Edward Zwick an old fashioned director. I did Blood Diamond (2006) and Defiance with him. He was a real hands-on director. He didn’t want the finder, didn’t want to get involved with the set-up, he would just tell me what he expected to see. We would then go off and make it better than he thought it was going to be.”

Our thoughts go out to Mike’s family, including Miles his son (also a Camera Operator), at this sad time.

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Oliver Stapleton BSC also shared this tribute to Mike:

“Mike was a highly skilled Operator and, more than that, a kind and supportive person to those on set who knew less than him.  This was not the “norm” in the early 80’s when us “film school brats” came on the scene in the late 70’s and early 80’s.  At that time the UK industry was a highly traditional male-orientated post war/post army hierarchy.  Generally speaking I encountered fierce resistance to the notion that I could be a DP without rising up through the ranks: so me and others decided to operate ourselves – so bypassing the tradition of the Director working with the Operator on the sets up …   Some operators at that time would literally tell me to “eff off and light” if I dared to interfere with their relationship with the director..  hard to believe but true. 

So when my fellow NFTS student Julien Temple and I were offered the chance to make the musical film Absolute Beginners in 1986 I realised that the pressure on me was going to be enormous, and I needed a Operator.. but Who?  Julien and I had been working together for years and I had operated everything myself so it was with great reluctance that I accepted the logic from the producers that I should not operate.. it made sense.  So this is how I met Mike Proudfoot and his magic team of Dave Morgan on focus  and ace grip Colin Manning.

Mike was everything that I hoped for in an operator – we became a well-balanced triangle as we worked out the very complex shots along with Julien.  Mike knew just how “green” Julien and I were to this kind of large scale movie, but there was never a moment where I felt anything from him but great respect for what we were doing.  

Over the years I worked with Mike & Dave on three other films and every experience deepened my trust in the great work they did. We were not “friends” but colleagues with a deep understanding  of each other’s contribution.  I will be forever grateful for his kindness to me which manifested itself not in an obvious way, but in his ability to be a genuinely creative contributor with a silent understanding of the forces at work when he joined a Director/DP Duo: this is the unacknowledged skill of the great operators – an ability to just seamlessly step in and step out as required. 

My condolences to his family – he will forever be an important part of my cinema journey.” 

Excerpt provided by the BSC

Production in Bristol contributed £30m to local economy

The Outlaws S3 in production, image via Big Talk Studios and BBC

Rivals, The Outlaws and A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder are among the high-profile shows to have been filmed in and around Bristol

Bristol Film Office has released figures showing that filming on location in Bristol and at The Bottle Yard Studios contributed £30m to the local economy in the 2023-2024 financial year.

High-profile shows including Rivals and A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder (both just greenlit for second series) The Outlaws, and upcoming releases The Road Trip, The Crow Girl and The Forsyte Saga were among the titles contributing to the regional production boom.

Bristol Film Office and/or The Bottle Yard Studios assisted 32 major productions throughout the reporting period, of which nine were feature films and 23 were high-end TV productions.

Altogether, 730 filming days were supported in the studio and on location. The economic impact of this production activity was worth £30,038,739 to the Bristol economy. 582 licences were issued by Bristol Film Office.

This latest figure of more than £30m is almost 50% higher than the £20.1m recorded in 2022-23. This is because this is the first time Bristol’s figures have been calculated using the new Average Local Production Spend Rate Card recently launched by Creative England’s Filming in England team.

Head of film Laura Aviles (Bristol City Council) said: “We are pleased to announce these impressive figures, our first to be calculated using Creative England’s improved methodology. Having access to the most up-to-date estimation of the annual economic impact of the productions we support is central to our ability to leverage investment and stimulate further growth for Bristol’s film industry.

“These new figures show that not only is the city’s film sector continuing to perform well, it is also worth more to Bristol’s economy than previously thought.

“The fact that filming supported by the Studio and Film Office generated an estimated £30 million for Bristol’s economy in 2023-24, a strike year, is an incredible achievement.”

Hayley Armstrong, Head of Production Services at Creative England says: “We’re thrilled to see Bristol making the most of the Local Economic Impact Toolkit – a first of its kind resource supporting the accurate measuring and reporting of local economic impacts to demonstrate the true value of the Film and TV sector in local communities across England…

“…We encourage all local authorities to embrace the Toolkit, enabling them to effectively measure and communicate the sector’s benefits, and unlock the full potential of what Film and TV can bring to their communities.”

Projects that were active in pre-production or filming during the reporting period at The Bottle Yard Studios and on location with Film Office assistance included: romantic comedy The Road Trip; feature film Bad Apples starring Saoirse Ronan; period drama adaptation The Forsyte Saga; the Agatha Christie adaptation The Seven Dials Mystery; Jilly Cooper’s Rivals; Alex Rider S3; McDonald & Dodds S4; The Outlaws S3; thriller TrueLove; Boarders and A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, recently greenlit for a second run.

The Crow GIrl, first-look image via Paramount Plus

Daisy May Cooper and Selin Hizli’s BBC One comedy thriller Am I Being Unreasonable and series 5 of CBBC’s Enid Blyton drama Malory Towers were also filmed at the Studios (and locations outside Bristol). Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light (BBC One/Masterpiece PBS) based production at the studios whilst filming on location in England and Wales.

Additional titles filmed during the reporting period on location in Bristol with Film Office assistance included: The Crow Girl; feature films The Salt Path and Surviving Earth; Pollywood blockbuster Jatt & Juliet 3; Series Three of Industry and action thriller Paris Has Fallen.

ScreenSkills centres industry partnerships in revamped strategy

BBC1’s This Town (Kudos) was filmed in Birmingham, image credit BBC/Banijay Rights/Kudos

Skills body unveils five-year vision for the industry and looks to reduce number of trustees

Collaborative partnerships with key stakeholders will serve as the bedrock of ScreenSkills’ refreshed five-year strategy, as it shakes up its governance model.   

The skills body today unveiled its revamped roadmap, which includes collaborations with the BBC and Create Central on a programme for the West Midlands, a pilot survey with Channel 4 to gauge the scope of the UK’s film and TV workforce and an enhanced partnership with BFI’s Skills Clusters. 

It will partner with Create Central and the BBC to support the West Midlands Skills Accelerator cluster programme, which is now in its second year. It will work with the BBC and other local stakeholders to develop targeted interventions and help guide future training in the region. 

Ed Shed, chair of Create Central, said: “This partnership with ScreenSkills and the BBC is an exciting step forward in our mission to bridge the skills gap in our region’s creative sector. By focusing on granular, data-driven insights into local industry needs, we’re not only supporting current training initiatives but also laying the groundwork for sustainable growth and production-ready skills that will serve the industry well into the future.” 

Separately, ScreenSkills will work with the BBC to co-commission research that will provide more detailed insight into the entry routes into the creative industries in order to help support new talent across the UK. 

Dawn Beresford, director of talent and skills, BBC commissioning, said the union will “support and underpin BBC and public sector investment in key, strategic locations for the sector”.  

She added: “The new strategy gives both ScreenSkills and the wider screen sector a shared blueprint to address the structural issues around access to the industry, career opportunities and reskilling, and to play a key role in growing the creative industries.” 

ScreenSkills will also work with C4’s training arm 4Skills to research the size and profile of the screen industries’ workforce. The work will be conducted by Ampere Analysis, with a survey set to offer a detailed breakdown of the film and TV production and post production talent pool by region, department, role, seniority and demographics.

The survey is intended to highlight areas of shortage and oversupply, as well guide resource allocation and assist in setting targets and improving understanding of the industry’s demographics. This research is expected to be an annual undertaking.  

Kevin Blacoe, head of partnerships at 4Skills, said: “Establishing a clearer picture of the people who work in our industry – who they are, where they are and what they do – will enable 4Skills and ScreenSkills to continue to make much more meaningful and impactful interventions to broadcasters, production companies and stakeholders, who will be able to make much more impactful and meaningful interventions to identify gaps, strengthen the workforce and bolster the creativity and resilience of British production.” 

ScreenSkills’ Mapping Project will tie with the BFI Skills Clusters to signpost training, development and placement opportunities across the nations and regions to ensure that regionally-relevant training is available to strengthen the UK’s talent pipelines, as well as supporting inclusivity across the country.  

Harriet Finney, BFI’s deputy chief exec and executive director of corporate and industry affairs, said: “[ScreenSkills’] commitment to developing a data-driven approach to address skills shortages and improve access to high quality training has huge potential to deliver a highly skilled and sustainable workforce, which is truly representative and accessible to all.” 

Other partnerships around animation, post production and games are also planned to explore the opportunities and skills needs in those industries, as well as a team up with Freelancers for Action to address recruitment and working conditions for the freelance talent pool.  

A strategic partnership with CDN was previously announced, to improve access and progression for underrepresented groups across the UK. It will also tie with social charity the Sutton Trust to address socio-economic diversity, while its Trainee Finder initiative will create pathways into the industry for diverse talent.  

ScreenSkills’ chief exec Laura Mansfield said: “This strategy is built on partnership and collaboration, bringing together industry, wider stakeholders, and government to build a workforce skilled for today and agile, adaptable, and resilient for tomorrow’s challenges. We are committed to creating a more diverse and inclusive workforce where opportunities are accessible to everyone.  

“By uniting efforts across sectors and regions, this strategy will address skills gaps, drive innovation, and empower the next generation of creative professionals, ensuring long-term sustainability and growth.” 

Reduced board of trustees 

ScreenSkills’ five-year strategy is the result of the Skills Task Force’s recommendations last year. Most notably, it was suggested the organisation evolve into a pan-sector strategic skills body that will lead the development of a comprehensive, long-term plan for the screen industries.  

High quality training will remain a core focus for the skills body, as it revealed a consultation with 1,600 people across industry showed that 66% of its respondents valued e-learning modules against the 49% who valued placements. To this end, it will expand its Training Passport scheme, which standardizes.  

As well as this, the ScreenSkills’ board of trustees will reduce in size from 16 to an as-yet-undisclosed number to ensure appropriate skills and a diversity of industry interests are represented at board level.  

This change, which was another recommendation from the Skills Task Force, is intended to foster greater transparency and accountability in the skills training body. From next Spring, the board of trustees will also regularly hold its meetings in the nations and regions to nurture better local engagement with key stakeholders and partners.  

Lisa Opie, chair of ScreenSkills, said: “Changes in our governance will streamline decision-making and enable us to respond to both immediate needs and long-term opportunities for growth. By staying adaptable to emerging technologies and the shifting industry landscape, we will nurture and support a

workforce that is diverse, highly skilled, and positioned to maintain the UK’s leadership in global content creation.” 

Georgia Brown, chair of Skills Task Force, lauded the refreshed roadmap. “The transformation of Screen Skills into a more cohesive, data led long-term strategic partner to the industry is vital to powering the future of the UK’s creative economies, and the Screen Sectors Skills Task Force supports this new strategy,” she said.   

“Our industry thrives on innovation and talent, but to remain competitive on the global stage, we must provide a clearer roadmap for skills development and invest in sustainable and structured pathways for our workforce. With a more collaborative, connected and future facing approach we can ensure that our creative sectors not only meet current demands but continue to drive economic growth, cultural impact, workforce satisfaction and sustainability for generations to come.” 

Source: The Knowledge

ScreenSkills needs your help to map the screen industries

ScreenSkills has partnered with 4Skills, Channel 4’s training and development programme, and commissioned Ampere Analysis to conduct a study into the size and structure of the screen industry workforce across the UK, including roles, departments, and more.

If you work in film and TV production - including animation, pre-production, post-production and VFX - they'd love to hear from you. Please take a few moments to complete this short, anonymous online survey.

Your input will help them better understand the sector and ensure they’re delivering the right training, at the right time, across the UK.