Last week, the biggest night in British music hit our screens once more. The BRIT Awards 2021 featured stunning performances, glittering stars and crucially, a limited, non-socially distanced audience as part of the UK government’s roster of pilot events. We were delighted to see the event run smoothly and our crew were proud to be part of the effort to bring the vision to reality, none more so than our three new crew members from The BRIT School’s Production Arts department as part of an ongoing work placement partnership.
PRG has a very long and prestigious relationship with The BRIT School. As the exclusive supplier of lighting to the BRIT Awards, which is held every year at the O2 arena, PRG team up with The BRIT School to offer their Production students the opportunity to join us at our UK HQ. The students get the whole crew experience right from prepping the equipment, to loading in and the run of the live event, to the loadout. This offers students experience within the real world of live events, exposing them to the endless possibilities of this sector. This is one of three similar projects that we run in addition to work experience placements and apprenticeships for post-16 students in Higher Education and Further Education.
Richard Gorrod, Vice President of Event Services at PRG UK, who worked alongside this year’s students said: “It is always great to have the students from The BRIT School on the show. We have a large amount of very experienced crew on this project. By providing a chance to work alongside them, we hope that they gain a large amount of experience and knowledge. It is nice to see them grow in knowledge and confidence throughout the week, Will, Kai and Josh were all great students willing to do anything to help. It’s a real win-win situation on both sides. Long may the relationship continue.”
This year, Kai, William and Josh join a long list of past students to work with PRG on this project. With several BRIT School alumni now working full time with PRG, this year’s students have had the opportunity to work alongside their predecessors, seeing first-hand where their careers could lead. By giving BRIT School students hands-on experience as active members of our crew, PRG offers a placement that goes beyond traditional shadowing and encourages them to challenge themselves and apply their skills to a huge live event.
Olivia Chew, Director of Production Arts at the BRIT School, commended PRG for its support of entry level education in Production, for working closely with the school to maintain clear and honest communication throughout the placements and for helping to instill confidence in their students at such an early stage in their careers.
“Our ongoing partnership with PRG provides our entry level Production Arts students with unparalleled access to the best equipment and experience available. Allowing our students to gain hands-on experience on some of the biggest live events in the world gives them an edge amongst their peers, be that in higher education or the freelance job markets. We are so grateful to PRG for supporting Production Arts at The BRIT School and ensuring that our diverse student body has the best opportunities within the events and performance industry.”
We are proud to support The BRIT School and the development of young and talented Event Technicians, giving them access first-hand to the very best technology and events in our industry.
PRG would like to thank our BRIT School crew for their hard work, and we congratulate this year’s award winners and of course The BRIT Awards for yet another stunning show.
