“You’re an art director, Harry” – Warner Bros launches creative careers platform

Warner Bros UK is launching a new platform to promote the creative careers that make the Wizarding World come to life. The initiative comes off the back of research commissioned by the company, which showed a broad lack of understanding among young people of the job roles available behind the scenes. In a survey of 12-20-year-olds, more than half were unable to name more than five creative roles, a quarter couldn’t name any, and over 60 per cent have never received guidance or advice on careers in the creative industries.

Imagine Creative Careers will be an online platform, fully launching in time for summer exam results, but in the lead-up, Warner Bros will launch videos and interviews with Wizarding World creative talent across all disciplines and levels. The full library of 100 interviews will form the backbone of the platform, exploring roles across film, theatre, game development, publishing, touring exhibitions, theme parks and more, with the likes of producer David Heyman, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’s international illusions and magic associate Chris Fisher, and Grammy award-winning composer and arranger Imogen Heap already taking part. These interviews aim to spotlight the creative roles available and inspire young people to consider a career in the creative industries. The platform will also feature a directory of industry-backed schemes and support sites to help young people navigate “common stumbling blocks” on their route to the job market. It will link to and from The Creative Careers Programme, a wider industry scheme with a common goal.

The programme of content launches with Making the Magic: From Story to Screen, a panel talk with leading names behind the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts films, which was filmed and presented by BBC Bitesize and BBC Teach for its online careers information resource, and will broadcast from 4 March. The launch also ties in with National Careers Week (2-6 March).

The survey also found that a large proportion of respondents were very unclear on what the creative industries actually consist of; when presented with a list of 26 creatives roles and asked to identify which they recognised as being within the realm of the creative sector, 34 per cent only cited two roles as being creative ones. However, when given more information about the careers available, 62 per cent said they would consider it for their future path. The survey was carried out by OnePoll in January 2020 with 1,500 UK-based respondents aged 12-20.

Warner Bros’ Josh Berger commented on the initiative: “This is part of our ongoing commitment to attracting the next generation of young people from all backgrounds into our business. As one of the world’s best-loved and most expansive franchises, the Wizarding World is excellently placed to illustrate the depth and breadth of careers in the creative industries.”

For related reading, check out our sister platform Lecture in Progress, whose mission is to demystify the creative industries for the next generation of talent. Also, read more about Emily Oberman's identities for the Harry Potter universe here.