The Crossover New Entrants' Programme is a  seven-month course, supported by Skillset!s TV Freelance Fund, in which 38 participants from across the UK will design creative interactive experiences for television while taking part in practical workshops, seminars and masterclasses delivered by industry professionals at Skillset Academies in Wales, Bournemouth and Edinburgh.

The course started at the Sheffield Doc/Fest where trainees receivee a "Golden Ticket" designed to let then see first-hand how the industry operates and learn about the latest breakthroughs in digital broadcasting. This is followed by a week in their home Academies, in which producers and commissioners are providing  an insiders! view on the ins and outs of producing TV across multiple platforms.

Having learnt how the industry functions and having seen it in action in Sheffield, the trainnes will then be offered two weeks paid work experience in a production company working in cross-platform television production to gain first-hand experience of the industry.

All the participants will come together for an immersive, residential, idea-generating lab where they will form small production units charged with designing a multi-platform television project, developing it with careful mentoring over an extended period, and then pitching it to 360 television commissioners.

By the end of the process the trainees will know how to set up and run a cross-platform production company. They will have made industry contacts and will have started to create a portfolio. They will know how to pitch  ideas and who to pitch them to.