Amelia Dimoldenberg Started ‘Chicken Shop Date’ at a London Youth Club. Now, She’s Giving Back Through Her Own Summer Academy

Amelia Dimoldenberg knows firsthand the impact a youth club can have. In fact, if she didn’t attend one 16 years ago, “Chicken Shop Date” — her viral celebrity talk show that has amassed her nearly 3 million followers and become a cultural touchstone — wouldn’t exist.

What started as a column for a youth magazine at a club in North London has now been running for over a decade, with several of the other students Dimoldenberg met there going on the journey with her. “I’ve always wanted to create something similar for young people myself, when I was able to,” Dimoldenberg tells Variety. “The benefits were just immense.”

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That dream came to fruition last summer when Dimoldenberg started Dimz Inc. Academy, a free in-person summer academy for 18 to 24-year-olds from underserved communities interested in the creative industries. Developed in conjunction with youth charity Spiral Skills and hosted in Young Creators U.K.’s South London studio space, the five-day program saw 18 young people create their own show concepts while learning how to operate camera equipment, work in a production team, edit videos, market their ideas and even shadow a “Chicken Shop Date” shoot. It was an immense success, with graduates of the first Dimz Inc. going on to land jobs at YCUK, the BBC and Google. However, this year, Dimoldenberg wanted to aim higher and decided to expand the program to four weeks.

Speaking to Variety from YCUK’s studio space during week three, Dimoldenberg — who is hands on at every session — says the advantages of a month-long program are undeniable. “You can just see the difference of like everyone getting to know each other, the friendships being formed even stronger and just having a bit more time to work on their projects,” she says. “It was really important to me that this was an experience where they learned skills and gained confidence, but they’d also come away with a tangible portfolio piece.”

This year’s program centered around the theme of Love Letters, with 16 participants split into three teams and given a different style on which to center their videos: there was a classic sit-down interview (à la “Chicken Shop Date”), vox pops (fast-paced person-on-the-street Q&As) and a documentary-esque report. From there, each person in the respective teams was given a role — presenter, director, producer, camera operator, editor and more — with workshops delivered from professionals in those areas who are part of Dimoldenberg’s network.

“I never wanted this to be just a creator pipeline and only about people who are in front of the camera. I wanted it to be a place where you could learn about all the different roles about the industry,” she says. “Most days, the professionals come in and do a presentation about how they got started, and I made sure to bring in people who are super enthusiastic and all had different journeys so that we could show to the young people that there’s not one way to do it.”

When Variety visits Dimz Inc. Academy, it’s editing week, and the studio space is buzzing with lively conversation as participants try to whittle their projects down to five minutes. Working with professional editors from Dimoldenberg’s network, the students also learn how to use Adobe Premiere Pro — and thanks to a partnership with Adobe this year, they all get a one-year subscription of the suite for free.

Grace Bower, a 21-year-old from Rotherham in South Yorkshire, is feeling the editing crush. She worked as a camera and sound operator on the interview video, which saw internet personality Victor Kunda giving advice to viewers with relationship issues. “We’re on seven and a half [minutes] because we’ve got too much good content!” she exclaims.

Bower applied to the Dimz Inc. Academy after participating in a youth workshop Dimoldenberg held last year as part of the 10-year celebration of “Chicken Shop Date,” and says the program has “actually exceeded my expectations in every way.”

“I’ve never been able to access opportunities like this [in Rotherham],” she says. “Not only have I learnt the skills, I’ve really got to bond with the other people who are part of the academy and I feel like we’ll probably work together again because we’ve got on so well.”

She adds, “I was on FaceTime with my mom last night saying, ‘I actually feel like I could make a career off the back of everything I learned.'”

It’s not a secret that young people in the U.K. — as well as in many other parts of the world — are facing an unemployment crisis. According to a recent report from the Department for Work and Pensions, over 1 million young people in the U.K. are considered NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training), with mental health, anxiety and neurodivergence as significant contributing factors. This is especially rampant within the creative industries as barriers to entry can include relevant training, geographical location, socioeconomic status and lack of industry “connections.”

These are exactly the type of barriers that Spiral Skills hopes to break down, especially through its partnership with Dimz Inc. Academy. “So often when we talk about the job NEET crisis, people talk about opportunity, which in Spiral’s view is just one part of it,” says Ben Cohn, CEO of Spiral Skills. “Young people from underserved communities are not turning up on our doorstep ready to go and just needing opportunity, they’re first needing to build those trusted relationships. So trust comes first for us, being with our youth workers in a safe space and building those skills to get them ready for opportunity.”

Both Tese Ajorgbor, 24, and Lia Mistry, 23, were struggling in the job market before applying for Dimz Inc. Academy. “The jobs I’ve been applying for, I’ve not been hearing back,” Ajorgbor tells me as the academy breaks for lunch. “I’ve not really been getting anything that aligns with me. And I thought [Dimz Inc. Academy] would be a good opportunity to dive headfirst into a new experience and learn from professionals in the media space.”

Even after just three weeks, the two — who worked on the report video together, focused on street style in Brixton — said that the program has reinvigorated them when it comes to finding a future career in the creative industries.

“The whole program is hope,” Mistry says. “Everyone here is so supportive — the speakers and the guests, the team at YCUK as well. Here, it’s not like anyone’s competing, it’s like we’re a little family.”

Indeed, at lunch, instead of separating into groups to eat, all 16 participants form one mega table and spend the half-hour joking and laughing together. “I’m like, this is literally what it’s all about,” Dimoldenberg says with a smile.

The support doesn’t end when the program does, either, which Cohn says is a crucial part of Spiral Skills’ mission. Afterwards, each participant is guaranteed a one-week paid work placement — often with one of the professionals that came to speak at a session — as well as continued check-ins from Spiral Skills’ youth workers and access to the YCUK studio space and equipment.

“What’s cool for these guys is, over the course of this program, they’ll have met over 20 inspirational professionals,” Cohn says. “So they’re building their professional network, and also their network of young creatives that they can collaborate with.”

For 20-year-old Siân Thandi, who completed Dimz Inc.’s five-day academy last year, the experience led to a job as a producer at YCUK. “Spaces like Spiral, Dimz, YCUK, they really open young people up to not feel afraid to want to do that as a career,” she says. “Coming here, I’ve never felt like I’m odd or different for wanting to go down this avenue. Everyone is so supportive and welcoming to your ideas and what you want to do.”

Holy Boka, a 23-year-old who started at YCUK as a teenager and has now worked his way up to director, says he looks forward to meeting the Dimz Inc. participants every year as they often end up collaborating in the future. “It’s a really inspiring program and I love every single minute. I come in there every day excited,” he says. “So it’s a win-win for YCUK and for them, and the networks they get after that — it’s a launch pad for sure.”

At the end of the program last week, the Dimz Inc. Academy participants, Dimoldenberg and many of the professionals that spoke throughout the month gathered at Southbank Centre to screen each team’s final product and celebrate their work. The room brimmed with positivity as the groups cheered each other on, erupting into fervent applause after their videos were presented and sharing what they’d learned over the four weeks.

“I just really don’t ever feel that I will come across something like this again,” one student said, causing several in the room — including Dimoldenberg — to get teary-eyed. “Shout out to Amelia and thank you Dimz Academy, because this was genuinely some of the best times.”

In the future, Dimoldenberg hopes to expand the program regionally “because there’s so many young people across the U.K. that would really benefit from something like this,” she says. But she also wants to inspire other creators with platforms to give back to their communities as well.

“People in my position: Can you open doors? Can you use your network? Can you be asking people to have internships?” she urges. “Use your voice in that way.”