Newtownards YouTuber shares his experience during a three-day ScreenWorks training

A 27-year-old Northern Ireland man has risen to a key position in the multi-billion-dollar global content creation industry.

Now Callum Janes from Newtownards will be teaching teenagers in Northern Ireland how to pursue a career in a leading digital video production company through the free ScreenWorks programme.

Callum is the editorial co-ordinator at Canadian-based WatchMojo, which has 42 million YouTube subscribers across its network.

From his office in Belfast, he works with a team of staff and freelancers around the world to come up with the hottest content generating up to 100 million views per month.

He’ll be sharing his experience during a three-day ScreenWorks training from Tuesday, November 29 to Thursday, December 1 aimed at 14 to 19-year-olds.

Highlighting the importance of encouraging young people to get into the sector, Callum said: “The media industry is evolving faster than anyone can predict, and as a result, young people are in the perfect position to adapt to developing technology.

"The traditional path into film is no longer the only way that people can make careers out of video. There are still plenty of gold rush opportunities.

“Northern Ireland itself is in a unique position. It has the perfect combination of resources, connections and facilities that could provide the perfect incubator for creative industries if it continues to be nurtured in the right way.”

ScreenWorks is a ground-breaking partnership between Into Film and Northern Ireland Screen that gives young people hands-on experience with some of the leading experts working across film, TV, animation and games.

Praising Callum’s commitment and dedication, Sean Boyle of ScreenWorks, explained: “Callum is a real inspiration to young people in Northern Ireland who are hoping to get into the screen industries. He created his own opportunities and understood how media consumption was changing.”

Callum began his journey into content creation as a 12-year-old Regent House student, using an old video camera and posting on YouTube. Then as a teenager, he started doing voiceover work to add to his income so he could buy new equipment.

For the ScreenWorks workshop, he plans to help the young people develop content creation skills and learn how to monetize those skills by building their brands or pursuing employment.

The session covers the broad and multi-faceted area of content creation including content pre-production/development, hands-on video production and content distribution.

Urging others to join the event, Callum, added: “My goal is by the end of this workshop to have given these young people a broad overview of online content creation, teaching them essential technical skills and then leaving them prepped to take the next step, be that creating their own brand or developing a career in the industry. So I would encourage anyone interested to apply now.”

The free ScreenWorks programme offers other workshops including hair, wigs and make-up, prosthetics, visual effects for film and TV and prop costume.