Sidemen & NFTS Partner to Train Unscripted Producers
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- Sidemen Entertainment has partnered with the National Film and Television School (NFTS) to launch the NFTS x Sidemen Entertainment Unscripted Formats Programme, granting every student on NFTS's one-year Developing and Producing Unscripted Formats MA direct exposure to the collective's production pipeline.
- Each MA student will receive a dedicated industry day and a one-week work placement at Sidemen Entertainment, with the first cohort joining in January 2027.
- The Sidemen collectively hold over 100 million subscribers and more than six billion global views, having expanded from YouTube into Netflix unscripted series and a Netflix feature film.
- KSI (Olajide Olatunji) announced his departure from The Sidemen in June, saying he had been "pulled in a lot of directions," shrinking the collective from seven to six members earlier this year.
- Sidemen Productions, launched earlier this year, takes a "targeted approach to digital formats for global audiences" after the Netflix show Inside — whose third season topped Netflix charts in ten countries.
- NFTS Director Jon Wardle framed the deal around where "television, streaming and creator-led content meet," while Sidemen Entertainment CEO Victor Bengtsson said the group wants to give producers "a genuine insight into what the future of the entertainment industry looks like."
Why it matters: The pact formalizes a direct training pipeline from YouTube-native creator-led content into a traditional UK film school credential, with every January 2027 unscripted MA student graduating with hands-on creator-economy experience built into their degree — reshaping what an unscripted producer's portfolio looks like before they're even hired.
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