Screen Careers has today announced the employment of a new Locations Trainee, Marjan Marjani, marking an important milestone in the delivery of Victoria’s Film Friendly Project and the launch of a pilot testing the use of a traineeship as a pathway into screen industry employment.
The trainee will undertake a Certificate III in Business through South West TAFE, with the traineeship administered by MEGT, combining formal training with hands-on industry-embedded experience.
This position is funded through the Film Friendly Project, a statewide initiative to streamline permitting processes and strengthen collaboration between councils and the screen industry across Victoria. Screen Careers secured the contract to deliver the project via a competitive tender from VicScreen.
Screen Careers designed this training pilot to model how existing government training frameworks and traineeships can be effectively used to create real, sustainable pathways into employment in the screen industry, particularly in departments where structured entry points have traditionally been limited.
“We’re excited to be trialling this model of industry recruitment and training,” said Esther Coleman-Hawkins, CEO of Screen Careers. “Our aim is to show that it’s replicable at scale and creates an additional pathway for people who want to work and train concurrently, particularly those who are best suited to learning through structured on-the-job experience.
“This traineeship allows Marjan to build real craft skills alongside a formal qualification. We chose the Certifi cate III in Business deliberately, as the role is specifically designed to support a future Locations Coordinator – someone responsible for paperwork, invoicing, organisation and the systems that keep a production moving smoothly.”
The trainee was selected through a competitive process that assessed not only their aptitude for location coordination – the intended long-term career pathway – but also their capacity to thrive in the freelance, fast-moving nature of the screen industry, where adaptability, communication and initiative are essential.
The interview panel included senior industry representatives, notably Drew Rhodes from the Australian Location Managers Guild, ensuring the selection reflected real-world industry expectations. Drew said, “It was a real pleasure to interview Marjan for this role – she has an enthusiasm for Locations that shone through and I think the traineeship will offer insight into each stage of selecting and securing locations. Marjan will be able to meet the people in the agencies we work with which should give her a head start when she goes on to work in a Location Department.”
Over the course of the traineeship, which will run for 12 months, Marjan will work across multiple areas of the Film Friendly Project. This includes learning the permitting process inside and out, building relationships with permit officers from councils and agencies across Victoria, and contributing to the development of training materials and resources.
As the traineeship progresses, the role will expand to include time in production and on set, working directly with experienced Location Managers to gain practical, on-the-ground experience in locations work.
“This traineeship feels like a meaningful new chapter for me,” said trainee Marjan Marjani. “After years of building experience across different roles and countries, being able to step into the screen industry through a structured, supportive pathway is incredibly special. I’m excited to learn, to grow, and to build strong foundations in locations work, while contributing to a project that will help make Victoria a welcoming, fi lm-friendly place for productions into the future.”
The traineeship is administered by MEGT, which supports the employment, compliance and training arrangements, and delivered in partnership with South West TAFE, ensuring nationally recognised qualifications are embedded alongside industry experience.
“This traineeship is a great example of how nationally recognised training can be adapted to suit industries with non‑traditional career pathways, combining real on‑the‑job experience with a formal qualification,” said MEGT’s Blake Wallace, State Manager, VIC/QLD/TAS, Apprentice Connect Provider.
Screen Careers is confident the pilot will demonstrate how structured traineeships can be adapted to meet the needs of the screen industry, supporting workforce sustainability while strengthening links between education providers, government and production.
If you’re interested to fi nd out whether a traineeship could work in your organisation, or you’d like to explore using the Government model for your department, then please contact Jeanie Davison, Head of Business Development at Screen Careers.
