A video and acting academy for children in South Wales will be coming to Cowbridge for the first time on September 6. 

Takeover Academy, set up earlier this year, will host two YouTube workshops at Fredwell Café & Pâtisserie in Aberthin, teaching children all the key skills needed to create their own videos from start to finish in two-hour sessions. 

Ryan Powell, 25, is the managing director of Takeover Academy and has over nine years of experience working in children's entertainment. He told Cowbridge Nub News: "We've gone to a few places around South Wales and received a great reception, so now we've decided to set up some workshops in Cowbridge and help more children reach their dreams of becoming a YouTuber. 

"We've set it [Takeover Academy] up to be very Disney-esque inspired where they come in and they're instantly a YouTuber for the day." 

The workshops cover three key areas of video creation: video pre-production, learning to use different camera angles and planning a video; video production, where children can film and direct the video they planned; and video post-production, using software to edit the video and watch the final product. 

All Takeover Academy workshop sessions last for two hours. (Image credit: Ryan Powell - Takeover Academy)

Mr Powell and the Takeover Academy team also plan a red carpet event once a year for the children to watch their films on the big screen. "All the children get the experience of making their videos and then watch it on the big screen and receive a little 'Oscar' award," he says. 

"It's a long process to become an actor or work in film and TV. Our aim is for the kids to experience that process in a matter of hours, to feel like a movie star." 

Despite the academy's infancy, Mr Powell says business is busy, with approximately 1,000 children booked in for upcoming workshops across the region.  

A two-hour session to learn all the skills to create a YouTube video may seem ambitious for children aged between six and 14, but Mr Powell believes an intensive approach is the best way forward to maximise engagement. "The idea is we take them through the whole video editing process and, to be any longer than two hours, there would need to be quite a few breaks and we want the workshops to be super engaging and hands-on," he says. 

Children are welcome to join other workshops in the future, whether it's video editing on a more advanced level or breaking into acting. "We know some of the children are there just for the fun, to have a good time and meet others," says Mr Powell.  

Approximately 1,000 children booked in for upcoming workshops across the region. (Image credit: Ryan Powell - Takeover Academy)

"But some will want to learn more skills and other areas of video creation or being in front of the camera. That's why we've got the advanced classes in video editing and acting, too." 

What would Mr Powell say to parents who are unsure about sending their children to one of the workshops because of internet safety fears? "Internet safety is hugely important and we touch on it throughout the workshops. We also touch on it when we talk about programs they might use, data protection and things like that.  

"But our main thing is we don't just want kids to come to a workshop and look at a screen for the whole time. It's a lot about teamwork and we'll go outside to film – we're not just sitting at screens for the two hours.  

"I hope by the end of the workshops that they feel inspired to pick up a camera and go outside, or plan a project with their friends." 

Each video and acting workshop costs £20 and all bookings can be made online. 

Learn more about Takeover Academy and the YouTube workshops here.