Wayne Berko

Wayne Berko is the founder of Uni-versal Extras. A free service set up to help students by supplying them as extras (or Supporting Artists) in TV and Film productions across the UK and Ireland.

History
23 year old Wayne Berko, an Engineering and Business Management student at Oxford Brookes, set-up the company in 2005 after a friend bet he would never start any of his ideas. He obtained funding by investing his own savings and by applying for a DTI loan. A scheme whereby you borrow money from a bank which is guaranteed (up to a point) by the Department of Trade and Industry.

Achievements

 * 1) Wayne was asked to become, and now is, an ambassador for a government backed scheme called Make Your Mark. A scheme in place to help young people harness their entrepreneurial skills and hopefully turn their ideas in to reality.
 * 2) Wayne was also named as one of the top 15 young Entrepreneurs in Europe in 2006 by Business Week.

TV and Film Productions
Some of the productions Wayne has helped people get placed in:
 * The Young Victoria (film)
 * Hot Fuzz (film)
 * The Other Boleyn Girl (film)
 * The Damned United (film)
 * Sweeney Todd (film)
 * Spooks (BBC TV)
 * Casualty (BBC TV)
 * Touch of Frost (ITV TV)
 * The Bill (ITV TV)
 * Coronation Street (ITV TV)