The Film Council's Training Fund announced on Thursday that it is investing £549,248 of Lottery money in a range of training initiatives in partnership with industry organisations, including £156,688 contributed by the Film Council's Development Fund.

The training support is targeted at three specific areas - script writing, script reading and development - in order to support filmmakers and industry professionals looking to progress in their specific fields.

The £256,688 Project Development Workshops initiative will provide training for feature film writers with active projects they are looking to develop and will allow them to gain experience in delivering screenplays capable of attracting finance for production. These workshops will also enhance the ability of writers to solve narrative problems and will be run in partnership with the Film Council:

Performing Arts Labs
National Short Course Training Programme (NSCTP)
Draft Zero
Arista
Moonstone
First Film Foundation - Yorkshire First Feedback
Lighthouse
The Script Factory
North by Northwest

Short Courses for Script Readers aims to improve the analytical and report writing skills of those offering feedback to writers - script readers. In providing £30,743, the course content includes film genres, story structure and how to complete a script report with emphasis on creative and commercial criteria. Both The Script Factory and Cyfle (the latter is responsible for training opportunities for the Welsh film and TV industries) are co-ordinating the courses to begin running over the coming months.

The £261,817 Short Courses for Development Personnel are aimed at providing an entry route into the complexities of development and a range of skills training for development executives - from script editors and script executives to senior heads of development and producers. The courses will concentrate on working with various genres, the development of low to high budget projects and developing screenplays based on another source.

All of these initiatives will be overseen by Helen Bagnall, Head of the Film Council's Training Fund in partnership with Skillset, the National

Organisation for Training in Film and Television. Awards to each organisation involved in the schemes (in most cases across more than one strand):