Fast Train arrives!

Fast Train (#Fasttrain) is the biggest free training event ever for TV freelancers in the UK.

On Wednesday 18^th May, we are hosting around 700 freelancers at the BBC Academy who will attend more than 72 individual practical training training sessions (some of these running more than once) and 17 masterclasses with some of the hottest names in the broadcast industry.

The event is co-sponsored by Skillset and short training sessions and masterclasses will be provided by the BBC Academy, The Indie Training Fund, DV Talent, VET, Short Courses@NFTS, BECTU, PACT, The TV Collective, Skillset Media Academies, Skills2Film, Think BIGGER!

Just some of the highlights of the day include:

Jon Plowman (executive producer, BBC Comedy) the man behind unforgettable shows including Twenty Twelve, Psychoville, Absolutely Fabulous, French And Saunders, The Office, The League Of Gentleman, and Little Britain is our keynote speaker.

Meet the Controllers is a unique opportunity for delegates chance to quiz controllers about their careers - Janice Hadlow (controller, BBC2), Zai Bennett (controller, BBC3), Richard Klein (controller, BBC4) and Liam Keelan (controller, BBC Daytime), chaired by Daisy Goodwin (CEO, Silver River).

The Big Hitters will be talking about this year's 'big hit' programmes; what makes, and what it takes to make, a top ten series. Boyd Hilton, Editor of celebrity magazine Heat will scoop top tips from Nichola Hegarty (The Only Way Is Essex, Lime Pictures), Elaine Pyke (Mad Dogs and new head of Sky Atlantic), Andrew Cohen (Wonders of the Solar System, BBC) and Sanjay Singhal (One Born Every Minute, Dragonfly Productions).

Let Me Entertain You should be an entertaining session! TV and Radio personality George Lamb will chair a session on the future of entertainment with Duncan Gray (head of entertainment, Sky), Daniela Neumann (controller of entertainment, ITV), Katie Taylor (head of entertainment and events, BBC) and Greg Barnett (commissioner entertainment, soaps and daytime, Channel 5).

The Comedy Store - Stuart Murphy (director of programmes, Sky 1 HD, Sky 2 , Pick TV and director of commissioning, Sky Entertainment) talks to Jonathan Stadlen about the role of comedy for Sky - why it's such an important genre to get right and why he's keen to deliver on his programme promise.

The Future of Docs. A panel of high profile documentary makers including Neil Grant (executive producer Mentorn), Andrew O'Connell (commissioner Channel 5), Richard McKerrow (MD Love Productions)and Stuart Cabb (MD Plum Pictures) discuss, 'Is the future bright, is the future documentary'? Chaired by Lisa Campbell of Broadcast.

If you have tickets for the day, don't forget to check if you have won a Skillset Golden Ticket when you register.

Registration opens at 8.30am.

Keynote Speech at 6pm followed by drinks reception.

Event closes 9pm.

We look forward to meeting you on Wednesday. But if you can't be there in person, please join in by following us on Twitter @sarabbcacdemy or @TheBBCAcademy on #Fasttrain.

We'll be tweeting throughout the day and posting a short film of the best bits!