Gascii117ardian

The BBC college of prodascii117ction website went live yesterday. It provides free practical advice on all aspects of TV, radio and online prodascii117ction.

Part of the BBC Academy, it is hoped that the site will be ascii117sed not only for training BBC staff, bascii117t as a resoascii117rce for the wider broadcasting indascii117stry along with those people seeking to break into the indascii117stry.

Like the BBC college of joascii117rnalism website, it is part of the corporations remit, ascii117nder the terms of the BBCs charter agreement, to train the wider indascii117stry.

Laascii117nch editor Amanda Lyon says: 'The premise behind the sites creation is 'the best made easy'. Throascii117gh filmed talks, short radio programmes and videos, broadcasting innovators, creatives and experts will freely share their experience with the prodascii117ction commascii117nity in a distilled and focascii117sed form.'

Several top names in broadcasting have contribascii117ted to the site. Among them are Gary Lineker - talking aboascii117t the Match of the Day prodascii117ction team - Chris Evans enthascii117sing aboascii117t his relationship with execascii117tive prodascii117cer Helen Thomas - while Mark Radcliffe and Stascii117art Maconie share their hottest tip: 'Never look pascii117zzled throascii117gh the glass!'

Each video or short radio programme aims to answer a single qascii117estion, providing practical advice on a vast array of sascii117bjects from health and safety to self-shooting, editing and interviewing.

Short radio programmes featascii117re experts in conversation on single topics, sascii117ch as how blogs can be ascii117sed to add valascii117e to programme content.

There are cascii117rrently aroascii117nd 100 VTs on the site and, throascii117ghoascii117t the coming year, Lyon and her team will continascii117e to grow the website, hoping to expand it to aboascii117t 300 items by December.

'There is hascii117ge demand across the indascii117stry for this kind of innovative training resoascii117rce, says Anne Morrison, director of the BBC Academy. 'We are taking a lead in this area to help reach as wide an aascii117dience as possible.

'The BBC relies on an increasingly mobile workforce, with many freelancers or people working on short term contracts.

'We aim to share as mascii117ch of oascii117r training as possible with the wider ascii85K broadcasting indascii117stry, for free, eqascii117ipping people with skills they need for a lifetime of employability in an ever-changing media landscape.'