Courses
FREE! Client relationship and negotiating skills for VFX and post vendors
This very highly regarded course returned in January and February 2026 to give over 40 professionals in post and VFX vendors a grounding in effective client relationship and negotiating skills complete with one to one mentoring for each participant
Supported by the BFI's Metro London Skills Cluster and UK Screen Alliance in partnership with Animation UK
There are no future dates for these courses currently.
This course is for those responsible for client relationships and negotiating working vendor side in post and VFX. It is open to those living in, or working for, post and VFX companies that service HETV based in London, Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Surrey.
Places limited: no more than 2 people from any one company per course. Do not apply for both the post and VFX course.
Please note: if you did this course when it was delivered through ScreenSkills, please do not book again as the core concepts are the same as before - tell your colleagues instead!
About the courses
Whatever the challenges vendor side VFX and post teams are facing – competition for work, variable workloads, demanding clients, working in
distributed teams, this highly-regarded course provides practical ideas and insights they can use now and in the future. Each course consists of
the online session AND a follow up one-to-one mentor session to really support you in putting new approaches and ideas into practice. The
course is rooted in the day-to-day realities of working in post and VFX and how teams and clients are being asked to work now. You will come
away with key ideas, tips, resources and, above all, increased confidence in the way you develop effective relationships and handle challenging situations and negotiations.
Course content
• Fundamentals of building long term, profitable client relationships
• Understanding your role as problem solvers and experts
• Appreciating your expertise; putting a price on how you add value
• Clarity and challenges in project scoping
• Explaining your thinking: the value of ‘why?’
• Understanding your internal and external client’s POV: the pains / gains spectrum
• What clients really want: top tips for developing effective relationships
• Understanding the value and purpose of different forms of communication
• Negotiating for a win-win; identifying your negotiating style
• Building rapport – the key skill for any negotiation
• Preparation – identifying your BPO (Best Possible Outcome) and Plan B
• The essential skills: active listening, asking open questions and paraphrasing to check understanding
• Identifying suitable trade-offs
• Helpful phrases and questions – what to say and what NOT to say
• Identifying the red flags – when to seek support
• Your take-aways: summarising what you have learned and what you intend to put into practice as a result of the training.
What people say about these courses
“Fantastic structure and content. I found the session very valuable.”
“Really insightful course which raised lots of new and interesting points of view around negotiating.”
“Doing the course and then applying some of it really boosted my confidence.”
“Found it really useful and will definitely recommend my team mates do this course.”
“I thoroughly enjoyed the course yesterday, already finding it useful for some situations that have been thrown my way today!”
“It was a great session yesterday; I thoroughly enjoyed it and learnt a lot.”
“Thank you very much for the course, it was an eye-opener from a commercial point of view and the follow up session is very useful. I would
definitely recommend this course.”
“This really helped me to reassess how I think about my client relationships, and how to think more carefully, rather than just being reactive.”
How to apply
There are no future dates for these courses currently.
ScreenSkills Leading Effective Teams for post and VFX in HETV and Film - FREE online courses in Autumn 2026
These very highly regarded FREE courses are back! Don’t miss out.
ScreenSkills Leading Effective Teams in Post - HETV and Film 9.30am to 2.30pm
Any of these dates: Tuesday 20th October OR Weds 4th November OR Tuesday 10th November
Apply now - please apply promptly as places are limited.
(Please note you will have to create a ScreenSkills account to apply.)
ScreenSkills Leading Effective Teams in VFX - HETV and Film 9.30am to 2.30pm
Any of these dates: Thursday 22nd October OR Tuesday 3rd November, Weds 11th November
Apply now - please apply promptly as places are limited.
(Please note you will have to create a ScreenSkills account to apply.)
This programme is funded by the ScreenSkills High-end Television Skills Fund and Film Fund.
Many people in post and VFX are promoted based on their technical skills, a significant majority receive no training in people management or leadership skills at all. This well regarded course, repeated by popular demand, is an opportunity to put that right. Especially created for post and VFX professionals, this interactive and participative course provides relevant, practical, supportive ideas and insights that busy team leaders and managers can put into practice right away.
The course includes the highly interactive 5 hour online session AND a one-to-one follow up mentor session to really support you in developing your team leadership skills.
Course content
Each course is rooted in the day-to-day realities of working in post and VFX. You will come away with key ideas, tips, resources and, above all, increased confidence in the way you develop effective team leadership skills.
The essential ingredient - leading by example and building trust
Mastery, Autonomy and Purpose – how to understand intrinsic motivation and meet the needs of individual team members
Effective communications skills
AI - clarity of protocols and individual client permissions
Managing your workload and that of your team – setting expectations and priorities
Effective delegation
Managing upward
Challenging conversations - addressing underperformance or poor behaviour
Creating an inclusive environment where your team can do their best work
Supporting yourself in your leadership role
Comments from previous participants
“I would give the course 10/10 for content and the PDF resource is fantastic”
“I was recommended to do the course by a previous participant. I found the course a fantastic experience because it was so interactive and participative.”
“Loved the course, lots of practical tips and practical ideas to action. I would recommend this course to others.”
“This was a really useful course. It was great to be looking at leadership skills specifically in a post-production working environment. It was great to be on a course with other people from other specialisms within post-production. I’ve done a number of courses recently and this was definitely the best.”
“An amazing course. I would recommend this to anyone working in VFX. I learned a lot and have a lot of new ideas to implement.”
“Really enjoyable, gave me some great ideas to give the team the best environment possible to work in.”
“Very happy to have taken part - the course gave me the confidence to do more.”
“Great sharing of knowledge and ideas - would definitely recommend this course.”
“So useful - and so supportive; totally tailored to our industry and needs”
“The course has really helped me in better understanding of team members and adapting to their needs and differences.”
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