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March 2021

Core Skills for Cinemas – Independent Cinema Office

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The Independent Cinema Office’s new core skills webinar series will provide relevant, practical learning on a range of topics with sessions specifically designed for those working across the independent film exhibition and distribution sectors. Each month, industry experts will share their experiences, offering guidance and illustrative case studies with lessons that can be easily adapted by participants.

We currently have two upcoming sessions:

  • Wednesday 14 April, 14:00-15:30 – Social Media Advertising
  • Thursday 13 May, 14:00-15:30 – Researching screening materials and film rights

Each session costs £10 to attend with free places available for individuals that are currently unwaged. If you’d like to request a free place please contact info@independentcinemaoffice.org.uk.

Register here.

 

Source: www.independentcinemaoffice.org.uk

 

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Stoke-on-Trent Hosts The Great Pottery Throw Down

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‘The Great Pottery Throw Down’ is a reality competition show that features a group of passionate potters who compete to outshine each other and impress a panel of experts. The participants face different challenges in every episode that tests their dexterity in pre-industrial skills. The series has managed to impress a significant number of viewers around the world with its unique and informative content. After three seasons, the show moved its filming location to another equally appealing site. If you are curious about its production details, you have come to the right place. Here’s everything you need to know!

The Great Pottery Throw Down Filming Locations

‘The Great Pottery Throw Down’ is filmed entirely in Stoke-on-Trent, England. Located in the landlocked county of Staffordshire in the West Midlands, the city is the ideal place for the shooting. The city has a well-known pottery industry. However, this is not the first time Stoke-on-Trent has been used as a filming location for a movie or show.

The city is a sought-after shooting destination in England. Films and television shows filmed in Stoke-on-Trent include ‘Peaky Blinders,’ ‘The Girl With All The Gifts,’ ‘The Silent Child,’ ‘The Irregulars,’ and ‘Running Naked.’

Gladstone Pottery Museum, Stoke-on-Trent

Built in 1888, Middleport Pottery, located in Port Street in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, served as the show’s filming site for three seasons of the competition show. However, fans may notice that it is no longer filmed at the nineteenth-century port bank. Well, that is because the production team chose a different location to film the fourth season of ‘The Great Pottery Throw Down.’ The shooting for season 4 was done at Gladstone Pottery Museum in Stoke-on-Trent.

The creators followed all the COVID-norms to ensure that the filming is safe for the participants, judges, and the crew. However, with a surge in coronavirus cases, the filming had to put on hold for a week. In the nineteenth century, the Gladstone Pottery Museum (a former factory) used to export pottery to several countries in the world when the British empire was a significant colonizing force. Unfortunately, the Gladstone Pottery saw its downfall in the twentieth century and was going to be demolished in the 1970s.

Modernization meant the end of most old-fashioned industries, but Gladstone Pottery was lucky to be turned into a museum in 1974 instead of being demolished. It is now a heritage site and also a prominent filming location. Several documentaries and television shows were filmed in the nineteenth-century museum. These include ‘The Worst Jobs in Britain,’ ‘Blue Peter,’ ‘Doctor Who,’ ‘Noel’s House Party,’ ‘Most Haunted,’ and ’24 Hours in the Past.’

 

Source: thecinemaholic.com

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UK Screen Industries Unite Against Bullying, Harassment and Racism

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The BFI and BAFTA have announced the next stage of groundbreaking work to tackle bullying, harassment and racism in the workplace with a new employer Action List for the film and television industry, as The Film and TV Charity launches new services, providing immediate support for workers. The announcement comes as Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) guidance on harassment at work is expected to become a statutory code of practice in the coming months, and filming restrictions and remote working during the pandemic have created additional pressures.

The Action List is part of a wider industry mobilisation and call for employers to commit to following the latest advice to meet their legal and ethical responsibilities and signpost workers to available support. It includes a set of resources designed to assist employers to meet those responsibilities and is endorsed by producers such as Faye Ward and Hannah Farrell of Fable Pictures (the recently BAFTA-nominated Rocks, Stan & Ollie, Wild Rose and the forthcoming TV series Anne Boleyn).

Research on Bullying and Harassment in the Workplace

Research commissioned by The Film and TV Charity, published in February 2020 collected data on more than 9,000 workers. Findings revealed that bullying remains highly prevalent. Across all sub-sectors, 84% had experienced or witnessed bullying or harassment, with even higher figures in some sub-sectors. Those who had experienced bullying were twice as likely to want to leave the industry and highly likely to have had mental health problems. The charity’s new bullying support services have been developed in direct response to this need.

The State of Play survey on unscripted TV undertaken in the wake of the pandemic and published in January 2021 by BECTU, Bournemouth University and Viva La PD, found that over 93% of respondents have experienced bullying or harassment in the TV industry, with only 11% who reported incidents considering that the matter was satisfactorily resolved. The report suggests that the vulnerability of the workforce over the last year has spotlighted a whole range of systemic employment-related concerns, including the need to ensure that incidents can be reported without fear of reprisal, and that procedures are in place to address reports.

New Action List

The new Action List is based on the Set of Principles and Guidance published in 2018 developed by the BFI in partnership with BAFTA and in consultation with organisations across the film, games and television industries in response to urgent and systemic issues around bullying and harassment exposed so shockingly through cases such as the Harvey Weinstein allegations and subsequent conviction. In July 2020 the Principles and Guidance were updated with a specific commitment to anti-racism in recognition of widespread failings highlighted by the Black Lives Matter movement.

The Guidance outlines the law around bullying, harassment and racism, and also includes sexism, ableism, homophobia and other forms of discrimination. It sets out the responsibilities of employers, and provides advice for employees and freelancers. A supporting Dignity at Work Policy, developed in partnership with BECTU, provides a template for companies, productions and festivals to complement the Guidance and Principles to tackle workplace bullying and harassment.

The new Action List for film and television launched today, which joins one for the games industry already in place, outlines simple yet effective actions that all employers can take to prevent and tackle workplace bullying, harassment and racism and demonstrate their commitment to tackling the issue. The Action List makes further recommendations including taking the new ScreenSkills online training module on bullying and harassment, and ensuring all employees and freelancers are aware of the new suite of bullying support services launched today by The Film and TV Charity. The Action List can be downloaded here.

Film and TV Charity Services

The Film and TV Charity has launched a suite of new services to provide more support for individuals who have experienced or witnessed bullying including: the Bullying Pathway Service, accessible via the charity’s existing free and confidential 24-hour Film and TV Support Line 0800 054 00 00, offering free, confidential and independent industry-specific legal, HR and mental health advice; and digital incident recording tool Spot, accessible via the charity’s website, which can be used by anyone to create a confidential private record of something they’ve experienced of witnessed. The new services have been created as part of the Whole Picture Programme, the pan-industry movement for better mental health. More information can be found here.

Jen Smith, Head of Inclusion at the BFI, said: “We’re delighted that so many organisations across the screen industries have already adopted the Guidance and Principles. However, we know from our conversations with industry that more structured support needs to be within every workplace to prevent and reduce instances of bullying, harassment and racism. The Guidance, Principles, Dignity at Work policy and the Action List are working documents that we will continue to refine, as well as building even more complementary resources.

“We have demonstrated our dexterity and adaptability as an industry in the face of a pandemic; as production begins to increase again, in the face of the visceral inequality that the pandemic has laid bare, the BFI and BAFTA want to share these resources widely as we believe they can immediately improve that lived experience for our workers and act as a very useful point of reference for employers.”

Read the full press release here.

View more resources here.

 

Source: www.the-bigger-picture.com

 

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image of the exterior of cineworld at five ways, birmingham, uk

Cineworld Confirms Plans to Reopen Cinemas in May

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Cinema lovers in Birmingham could soon head to Broad Street or the NEC to once again watch films on the big screen. Cineworld has confirmed plans to reopen all of its UK cinemas in less than two months. The company has confirmed it has set a May reopening date following the easing of Covid-19 restrictions in the UK – as outlined in the government’s road map to economic recovery. It means that planned screenings of blockbuster movies including Godzilla vs Kong are likely to go ahead.

Chief executive Mooky Greidinger said: “We have long-awaited this moment when we can welcome audiences back to our Regal theatres and restore our essential role within the communities we serve. With capacity restrictions expanding to 50% or more across most US states, we will be able to operate profitably in our biggest markets. We will also be monitoring developments closely in the UK and across Europe as we set to gradually reopen across the world in line with local government guidance.”

It has also been revealed that a deal has been struck with Warner Bros that gives the cinema chain exclusive rights to show films over streaming services. The multi-year agreement means Cineworld can show the studio’s films exclusively in its cinemas 31 days prior to them being made available on premium video on demand platforms for streaming at home. An extended window of 45 days for films that open to an agreed-upon box office threshold has also been reached, it added.

Last October, the cinema chain confirmed plans to temporarily close all its cinemas in the UK and US with the chain citing the delay of major film releases by big studios as the main reason.

 

Source: www.gazettelive.co.uk

 

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BAFTA Nominees

EE BAFTAs 2021: Here are the Nominees

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The 2021 EE British Academy Film Awards, celebrate the very best in film of the past year. The awards take place the weekend of 10th and 11th April 2021, and will be broadcast on the BBC.

Here is the full list of BAFTA nominees:

 

OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER

HIS HOUSE Remi Weekes (Writer/Director)

LIMBO Ben Sharrock (Writer/Director), Irune Gurtubai (Producer) [also produced by Angus Lamont]

MOFFIE Jack Sidey (Writer/Producer) [also written by Oliver Hermanus and produced by Eric Abraham]

ROCKS Theresa Ikoko, Claire Wilson (Writers)

SAINT MAUD Rose Glass (Writer/Director), Oliver Kassman (Producer) [also produced by Andrea Cornwell]

 

FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

ANOTHER ROUND Thomas Vinterberg, Kasper Dissing, Sisse Graum Jørgensen

DEAR COMRADES! Andrei Konchalovsky, Alisher Usmanov

LES MISÉRABLES Ladj Ly, Toufik Ayadi, Christophe Barral

MINARI Lee Isaac Chung, Christina Oh

QUO VADIS, AIDA? Jasmila Žbanić, Damir Ibrahimovich

 

DOCUMENTARY

COLLECTIVE Alexander Nanau

DAVID ATTENBOROUGH: A LIFE ON OUR PLANET Alastair Fothergill, Jonnie Hughes, Keith Scholey

THE DISSIDENT Bryan Fogel, Thor Halvorssen, Mark Monroe, Jake Swantko

MY OCTOPUS TEACHER Pippa Ehrlich, James Reed, Craig Foster

THE SOCIAL DILEMMA Jeff Orlowski, Larissa Rhodes

 

ANIMATED FILM

ONWARD Dan Scanlon, Kori Rae

SOUL Pete Docter, Dana Murray

WOLFWALKERS Tomm Moore, Ross Stewart, Paul Young

 

DIRECTOR

ANOTHER ROUND Thomas Vinterberg

BABYTEETH Shannon Murphy

MINARI Lee Isaac Chung

NOMADLAND Chloé Zhao

QUO VADIS, AIDA? Jasmila Žbanić

ROCKS Sarah Gavron

 

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

ANOTHER ROUND Tobias Lindholm, Thomas Vinterberg

MANK Jack Fincher

PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN Emerald Fennell

ROCKS Theresa Ikoko, Claire Wilson

THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7 Aaron Sorkin

 

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

THE DIG Moira Buffini

THE FATHER Christopher Hampton, Florian Zeller

THE MAURITANIAN Rory Haines, Sohrab Noshirvani, M.B. Traven

NOMADLAND Chloé Zhao

THE WHITE TIGER Ramin Bahrani

 

LEADING ACTRESS

BUKKY BAKRAY Rocks

RADHA BLANK The Forty-Year-Old Version

VANESSA KIRBY Pieces of a Woman

FRANCES McDORMAND Nomadland

WUNMI MOSAKU His House

ALFRE WOODARD Clemency

 

LEADING ACTOR

RIZ AHMED Sound of Metal

CHADWICK BOSEMAN Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

ADARSH GOURAV The White Tiger

ANTHONY HOPKINS The Father

MADS MIKKELSEN Another Round

TAHAR RAHIM The Mauritanian

 

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

NIAMH ALGAR Calm With Horses

KOSAR ALI Rocks

MARIA BAKALOVA Borat Subsequent Moviefilm

DOMINIQUE FISHBACK Judas and the Black Messiah

ASHLEY MADEKWE County Lines

YUH-JUNG YOUN Minari

 

SUPPORTING ACTOR

DANIEL KALUUYA Judas and the Black Messiah

BARRY KEOGHAN Calm With Horses

ALAN KIM Minari

LESLIE ODOM JR. One Night in Miami…

CLARKE PETERS Da 5 Bloods

PAUL RACI Sound of Metal

 

ORIGINAL SCORE

MANK Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross

MINARI Emile Mosseri

NEWS OF THE WORLD James Newton Howard

PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN Anthony Willis

SOUL Jon Batiste, Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross

 

CASTING

CALM WITH HORSES Shaheen Baig

JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH Alexa L. Fogel

MINARI Julia Kim

PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN Lindsay Graham Ahanonu, Mary Vernieu

ROCKS Lucy Pardee

 

CINEMATOGRAPHY

JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH Sean Bobbitt

MANK Erik Messerschmidt

THE MAURITANIAN Alwin H. Küchler

NEWS OF THE WORLD Dariusz Wolski

NOMADLAND Joshua James Richards

 

EDITING

THE FATHER Yorgos Lamprinos

NOMADLAND Chloé Zhao

PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN Frédéric Thoraval

SOUND OF METAL Mikkel E.G. Nielsen

THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7 Alan Baumgarten

 

PRODUCTION DESIGN

THE DIG Maria Djurkovic, Tatiana Macdonald

THE FATHER Peter Francis, Cathy Featherstone

MANK Donald Graham Burt, Jan Pascale

NEWS OF THE WORLD David Crank, Elizabeth Keenan

REBECCA Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer

 

COSTUME DESIGN

AMMONITE Michael O’Connor

THE DIG Alice Babidge

EMMA. Alexandra Byrne

MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM Ann Roth

MANK Trish Summerville

 

MAKE UP & HAIR

THE DIG Jenny Shircore

HILLBILLY ELEGY Patricia Dehaney, Eryn Krueger Mekash, Matthew Mungle

MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM Matiki Anoff, Larry M. Cherry, Sergio Lopez-Rivera, Mia Neal

MANK Colleen LaBaff, Kimberley Spiteri, Gigi Williams

PINOCCHIO Dalia Colli, Mark Coulier, Francesco Pegoretti

 

SOUND

GREYHOUND Beau Borders, Christian P. Minkler, Michael Minkler, Warren Shaw, David Wyman

NEWS OF THE WORLD Michael Fentum, William Miller, Mike Prestwood Smith, John Pritchett, Oliver Tarney

NOMADLAND Sergio Diaz, Zach Seivers, M. Wolf Snyder

SOUL Coya Elliott, Ren Klyce, David Parker

SOUND OF METAL Jaime Baksht, Nicolas Becker, Phillip Bladh, Carlos Cortés, Michelle Couttolenc

 

SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS

GREYHOUND Pete Bebb, Nathan McGuinness, Sebastian von Overheidt

THE MIDNIGHT SKY Matt Kasmir, Chris Lawrence, Max Solomon, David Watkins

MULAN Sean Faden, Steve Ingram, Anders Langlands, Seth Maury

THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN Santiago Colomo Martinez, Nick Davis, Greg Fisher, Ben Jones

TENET Scott Fisher, Andrew Jackson, Andrew Lockley

 

BRITISH SHORT ANIMATION

THE FIRE NEXT TIME Renaldho Pelle, Yanling Wang, Kerry Jade Kolbe

THE OWL AND THE PUSSYCAT Mole Hill, Laura Duncalf

THE SONG OF A LOST BOY Daniel Quirke, Jamie MacDonald, Brid Arnstein

 

BRITISH SHORT FILM

EYELASH Jesse Lewis Reece, Ike Newman

LIZARD Akinola Davies, Rachel Dargavel, Wale Davies

LUCKY BREAK John Addis, Rami Sarras Pantoja

MISS CURVY Ghada Eldemellawy

THE PRESENT Farah Nabulsi

 

EE RISING STAR AWARD

BUKKY BAKRAY

CONRAD KHAN

KINGSLEY BEN-ADIR

MORFYDD CLARK

ṢỌPẸ DÌRÍSÙ

West Midlands Writing Competition Set To Reach Global Audience

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Enter Stage Write, an annual West Midlands scriptwriting competition with an international judging panel from the world of film and TV, is set to reach a global audience this year.

The innovative competition, which gives budding writers a chance to see their work brought to life, was faced with the Covid-19 lockdown restrictions. However the competition has been adapted for 2021 by streaming online.

About Enter Stage Write

Enter Stage Write was founded in 2017 by actor, producer and solo-entrepreneur Natalie Edwards-Yesufu of the multi-award nominated company Transition Stage Company, in Birmingham to promote regional inclusion and better representation in the creative arts industries in the United Kingdom.

The hugely successful competition encourages script writers to submit a script for a short film. Six of the shortlisted scripts, chosen by a panel of judges made up of prolific industry professionals, will then be performed by local creatives and filmed, rather than performed on stage as done in previous years. This will allow the judges, and members of the public, to view the works of art online. The winning wordsmith will receive £1,000 of prize money and a year of support and meetings with TV and film professionals.

Previous winners of Enter Stage Write have gone onto achieve colossal success within the industry. A previous winner, Abraham Adeyemi, won a Tribeca Award for Best Short Film and is working with ITV. Abraham will be returning this year as a judge alongside the highly-esteemed international judging panel. Last year’s winner, Jonathan skinner, had their script picked by the judges to make into a short film.

Words from Enter Stage Write Founder

“I am ecstatic to relaunch Enter Stage Write 2021 competition and play a leading part in creating an even playing field in the creative sector. Even though the world of theatre has taken a massive hit during the pandemic – ‘The Show Must Go On’.  Enter Stage Write is a scriptwriting competition for the screen too and now more than ever, there is a demand for fresh new voices and content while we watch more TV at home and, of course, the streaming wars. There has never been so much opportunity for writers” says Transition Stage Company Founder, Natalie Yesufu-Edwards

Enter Stage Write Judges

Louise le Puloch will be joining the panel for the first time. Louise works within Frenchkiss Productions based in Paris, who specialise in script development and produces TV shows for Netflix.

Fellow judges also include Darcia Martin, Director for BBC and Channel 4 TV Shows; Chris Sudworth, Director of Artistic Programme at Birmingham Hippodrome; Lisa Walters, Development Executive and Script Editor at Channel 4 and Producer on BAFTA-nominated “On The Edge”; Miguel Parga, Emmy Award-winning Director the USA; Piero Basso, cinematographer and Chair of the Cinematography Program at New York Film Academy; and Anya Camilleri, award-winning Writer and Director.

Scripts can be submitted here.

For further information visit www.transitionstagecompany.com or for other enquiries about Transition Stage Company please contact xenia@seventyonemedia.com.

 

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Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter Chosen for Filming

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Television production trucks have hit Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter on Friday – as a major upcoming BBC drama is filmed in the city.

Numerous impressively large production trucks were in the car park of the Ramarghia Sikh Temple to film My Name Is Leon. Stewards in hi vis vests were present on Newhall Hill, in Birmingham city centre, as well as Legge Lane and Graham Street. Dining trucks were also in the Sikh Temple car park on March 19.

Lynette Linton will direct the BBC One series based on Kit de Waal’s debut novel My Name is Leon. The forthcoming BBC One drama is scheduled to start filming this month, and stars Lenny Henry and Christopher Ecclestone among others.

Cole Martin (making his screen debut), leads a cast including Malachi Kirby ( Small Axe ), Monica Dolan ( A Very English Scandal ), Olivia Williams ( Counterpart ), Christopher Eccleston, Poppy Lee Friar ( In My Skin ), and Lenny Henry.

Set in 1980s Birmingham, the piece follows a nine year-old mixed race boy Leon, who tries to reunite with his family after being separated from his brother.

 

Source: www.birminghammail.co.uk

 

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Six New Board Members at Create Central

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Create Central has proudly welcomed six new Members to their newly formed Executive Board.

Ed Shedd, Chair of Create Central, said “I am delighted to welcome these six outstanding industry experts to the Create Central Executive Board. They join us at an exciting time as we start to see our hard work over the last year bearing fruit. Each of them brings a wealth of experience from sectors across the creative content industries and I’m very proud to be leading a Board of such incredible calibre.”

The new appointees have taken up their Board positions, and form a new Executive Board of 15, including the Chair.

 

New Board Members

Kit de Waal

Kit de Waal is an award-winning writer. She was born in Birmingham to an Irish mother who was a childminder and foster carer and a Caribbean father.

Her debut novel My Name is Leon won the 2016 Irish Novel of the Year and is being adapted for the BBC.

Kit is a Director of Portopia Productions, a Film, TV and Digital media production company based in the Midlands, focussed on nurturing diverse talent. She provides regular masterclasses for Arvon, Birmingham City University, Birkbeck University, Irish Writers’ Centre, University of Wolverhampton, The Word Factory and many others. She is currently Writer in Residence at the University of Limerick.

She knits, swears and supports Birmingham City, often at the same time.

Chris Cox

Chris is Head of VP and Real Time Solutions MBSi. He has over 20 years’ experience in the delivery of professional LED, projection and virtual production support to a broad selection of film and television projects.

Chris has been part of the teams behind titles including: Star Wars, Detective Pikachu!, Avenue 5, The Crown, Burnt, Endeavour 3, The Martian, Point Break, Star Wars, Now You See Me 2, Mission Impossible, Jupiter Ascending, Prometheus, Bang Goes the Theory and Mission Impossible.

Chris is an expert in virtual production, real time solutions for film and TV and the integration of camera tracking to deliver real-time, on set VFX.

Alison Warner

Alison Warner is Managing Director of Blue Zoo Rights, which manages Blue Zoo Studio’s content both for in-house animated projects and third-party co-productions with the studio.

Alison served as Vice President of IP Sales, Acquisitions and Co-Productions for Technicolor Creative Development. She developed and implemented funding and sales strategies for TCD’s in-house animated properties and also sourced new properties to acquire or co-produce.

She was instrumental in securing the rights to The Deep and is part of the team that helped put Technicolor’s animated shows Atomic Puppet and The Deep into production.

Born in North Shropshire she spent much of her teen years in Wolverhampton and Birmingham. Alison is also on the Advisory Board for the Children’s Media Conference and is passionate about encouraging young talent within the Media Industry.

Lee Wilcox

Lee Wilcox is the CEO and Co-founder of Electric House – one of the fastest growing social media and publishing groups in the UK, based in Birmingham’s business jewel: Fort Dunlop.

Lee is a multi-award winning entrepreneur, recognised as the ‘Creative Industries and Overall Midlands Entrepreneur of the Year’ at the Natwest Great British Entrepreneur Awards.

Lee focuses on business strategy and culture; putting the team at the front of every business decision has built a family at Electric House.

It’s his mission to maintain an environment where everyone feels safe and valued, where their happiness and welfare is centre stage.

Jazz Gowans

Award winning journalist, executive producer and creative director, Jazz founded and ran one of the UK’s leading Television Production companies (Transparent Television, part of the Argonon Group) for some 15 years, creating, winning and delivering hundreds of hours of primetime documentaries and formats.

Highlights include: My Daughter Amy (Winehouse), Queer as Old Folk, A Very British Brothel, Britain’s Forgotten Army with Joanna Lumley, MOBOs: Paving The Way and several returning series including : Supercar Superfam (iplayer box sets), Botched Up Bodies – with celebrity spin offs, and Portillo’s Hidden History of Britain with Michael Portillo – expanding to Portillo’s Hidden History of Empire filmed around the world.

She was recently honoured to be a part of TV Collective’s top 50 BAME leaders in Television and is a voting member of BAFTA.

A proud born and bred Brummie, Jazz is a passionate Aston Villa Supporter – but this may be a detail too far!

Jamie Bakewell

Previsualization specialist Jamie Bakewell is the founder of Midlands-based production company Bigtooth Studios, working in film, game and TV.

Jamie has over 12 years’ experience creating previsualisation for award-winning feature films including, James Bond : Skyfall, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.

Bigtooth Studios use the latest technology to advance storyboards into fully visualised 3D sequences. Enabling producers to refine and coordinate budgets and allowing directors to creatively explore ideas in a virtual prototype before getting on set.

For more information about the Executive Board and other Members of Create Central see the Members page.

 

Source: www.createcentraluk.com

 

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Phoebe Dynevor of Bridgerton To Begin Filming in West Midlands

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Phoebe Dynevor will lead Sky original movie The Colour Room, which will be filmed in Birmingham and the West Midlands. This marks her first major role since headlining Netflix’s record-breaking Regency-era drama Bridgerton. She will star alongside Matthew Goode.

Dynevor will play the role of Clarice Cliff. She was a pioneering ceramic artist who roared to prominence in the 1920s while working in Britain’s Stoke-on-Trent pottery industry. The Colour Room will start production later this month in Stoke-on-Trent and Birmingham. The film will be released in cinemas and on Sky Cinema later this year.

About the ‘Colour Room’

The Colour Room follows the journey of a determined, working class woman, Clarice Cliff, as she breaks the glass ceiling and revolutionises the workplace in the 20th century. Clarice Cliff (Dynevor) is a vivacious young factory worker in the industrial British midlands of the 1920s… Bursting at the seams with ideas for colours and shapes, Clarice takes more and more dangerous risks. However, she manages to stay one step ahead of the workhouse and impress the eccentric factory owner Colley Shorter (Goode) on the way with her talent and innovation.

“Apprenticed to renowned Art Designer Fred Ridgeway (Morrissey) and with support from Colley and other women in the factory, Clarice fights her way through to design the unprecedented Art Deco ‘Bizarre’ range. In the middle of the Great Depression, she ensures the factory’s survival and her future as one of the greatest Art Deco designers and a household name.”

Peate said: “The story was inspired by a single image; a young factory worker leaving her grim, industrial reality behind her and stepping into the rainbow of the Colour Room. A world of joy and possibility. It was thanks to the script winning at BAFTA Rocliffe and being performed on stage that it was picked up.”

Behind the Scenes

The Colour Room is produced by Caspian Films, Sky, and Creative England/ The feature is based on a BAFTA Rocliffe-winning script from Claire Peate. Ophelia helmer Claire McCarthy directs. Additional cast includes David Morrissey (The Walking Dead), Darci Shaw (Judy), Kerry Fox (Rare Beasts), and Luke Norris (Poldark).

Producers: Thembisa Cochrane (The Harvesters) and Georgie Paget (Queens Of Syria) for Caspian Films, in association with Denaire Motion Picture Poetry and co-producer Neil Jones (Farming). Executive producers: Laura Grange for Sky, Paul Ashton for Creative England’s West Midlands Production Fund, and David Gilbery, Charlie Dorfman, Marlon Vogelgesang for Media Finance Capital, in association with On Sight.

 

Source: deadline.com

 

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Channel 4’s Black to Front Promotes Diverse Programming

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To amplify the conversations around representation and diversity in the industry, 2021 will see Channel 4 disrupt its regular schedule to broadcast 24 hours of television showcasing Black talent on and off screen.
Black to Front features major new commissions and reimagines some of Channel 4’s  biggest mainstream shows to focus on Black talent and transform Black representation in front of and behind the camera. It aims to amplify Black talent, stories, and voices by bringing them to the forefront on screen and behind the camera.

They are currently expanding talent pools for new and existing flagship Channel 4 shows featuring as part of Black To Front and beyond, to include more people from currently under-represented groups.

Join Black To Front

For unscripted shows, based in Wales, Manchester, Leeds and London we’d like to hear from:

  • Executive Producers
  • Show Runners
  • Series Producers
  • Studio Directors
  • Self-shooting Directors
  •  Producers
  • Line Producers
  • Production Management
  • AP’s
  • Researchers 
  • Consumer Researchers
  • Anyone With Live Show Experience
  • Senior Talent With Reality/Docu-soap/Ob Doc Experience
  • Deputy Editors (Must Have A Journalism Background)
  • anyone with live show experience  and  senior talent with Reality/Docu-soap/OB doc experience

If you would like to be considered for any of the roles below, please send your CV.  CVs are welcomed from anyone with the relevant skills or experience, although we’d really love to hear from Black talent as they are less represented

If you have the relevant experience or transferable skills and would like to be considered for one of these roles, please email your CV and availability across 2021 to btftalent@channel4.co.uk by Monday 22 March. Please include the ROLE you’d like to be considered for in the email subject. In your email please also include a line on why you’d like to be part of Black To Front.

Relevant CVs will be shared with indies who will then be in contact.

Please ensure your CV includes permission for it to be kept on file and shared.

About Black To Front

Black to Front is an ambitious day of programming for Autumn 2021 which will see Channel 4’s entire programming schedule fronted by Black talent as part of the Channel’s ongoing commitment to improve Black representation both on and off screen. To ensure that the project drives significant and sustainable change within the industry, Channel 4 is working with The Sir Lenny Henry Centre for Media Diversity to help shape meaningful off-screen commitments to ensure the day leaves a lasting legacy.

The day’s programming will reimagine some of Channel 4’s biggest flagship shows including Celebrity GoggleboxCountdown and the Channel 4 News with an all-Black presenting and reporting team. Hollyoaks will be an hour-long special written, directed and performed by its Black talent and Mo Gilligan will front a one off special of The Big Breakfast.

Crucially, Black to Front will also launch a series of new commissions including original scripted comedy led by Black talent; a returnable unscripted prime-time popular factual series providing an authentic look at Black lives and a provocative, live late-night topical discussion show.

Briefs: Unscripted

As part of the day of programming we have committed to launching a new 4 part 10pm unscripted series that reflects Black British life. We are totally open to what shape this series takes, it could be reality, docusoap, a new format, constructed, provocative in form and tone or of course broad factual entertainment.

The series should be relatable and absolutely authentic in its portrayal of Black lives and the ambition is for this to be something we can grow so it should ideally be returnable rather than a one off.

This is a great opportunity in a space no other broadcaster is currently working so what do you think Channel 4, born risky, the home of underrepresented groups should be doing in this space?

Late Night Topical Live Show

We are looking for a bold, provocative new live topical show as part of Black to Front to TX at 11pm. We want to hear ideas for a new late night programme that will feel totally of the moment, disruptive, challenging and full of Channel 4 attitude.

Combining the unfiltered, unpredictable energy of After Dark with the attitude of Channel 4’s best-loved live topical and entertainment shows. We want to be immersed in the most interesting arguments of the day but also to tackle the arguments about race and representation which the Takeover seeks to address.

We want the programme to feel dynamic and provocative in the best traditions of Channel 4 – but don’t want it to feel like we’re just chasing clickbait. It should feel challenging, surprising, entertaining and intelligent. We want to hear how your live late night topical show will come crashing into a new age, pushing the genre on.

We are keen to hear ideas involving the most exciting talents around – from the established to the new. Please think broadly about people who would really bring an audience and create a buzz. They may well not be from TV, but instead from politics or film, journalism or music. But they must have a point of view and be compelling and charismatic enough to add a tone and flavour to the show that feels C4 and makes you want to watch.

Talent names should be attached to submissions – with interest secured if possible.

Interactivity is important – but it should flow naturally from the way the show is designed.

We want to explore what could be done with the look and layout to deliver a show that’s energetic and visually stimulating. We’re also keen to know whether you want to include VTs – and what these would be like. And what would you do that would create a buzz around the show and work across all platforms, not just within the live linear show.

Comedy

We’re on the hunt for original scripted comedy ideas that come from, celebrate and support Black talent front and centre.

The industry is speaking about race and diversity with a passion that is vital, demanding, timely and exciting and some key themes have emerged in the discourse.

  • On-screen, representation of Black British life and experience is lacking.
  • Off-screen, we have an industry wide problem that talent from BAME backgrounds aren’t getting enough experience and support to progress in the industry.

We want funny, ambitious ideas that take these issues to heart, using them to help shape the pitches we receive.  There will be lots of routes to making this happen, so we’re open to collaborative, imaginative conversations from indies big and small about how best to do this together.

In terms of what type of show, the wider C4 Comedy brief is simple: We want sitcoms that reflect the UK back at itself. Broad, clever, returnable shows, full of memorable characters that help us feel connected to each other.  Think about what we make and how that makes us distinctive.  Writer performers have a long and successful legacy with us (Catastrophe, Stath Lets Flats, Chewing Gum, This Way Up, Maxxx, Feel Good) but writer led projects that celebrate a specific take on the universal are also a big win for us.  (Derry Girls, Friday Night Dinner) The sweet spot for C4 comedy? Surprising, truly original and bloody funny!

A real gap for us is new family sit-coms.  Derry Girls and Friday Night Dinner are two of our biggest shows – instantly recognisable characters, high gag count, multi-generational and covering universal themes of family and relationships.  So we’re especially keen to hear ideas in this territory from writers new and established.  Ideas will dictate what path development takes.

Process for Submissions

NEW SUBMISSIONS ARE NOW CLOSED FOR THE LIVE TOPICAL SHOW.

NEW SUBMISSIONS ARE NOW CLOSED FOR THE COMEDY BRIEF.

10pm unscripted ideas can be pitched to any commissioning editor in any unscripted department.

All commissions will need to be ready to TX by September 2021. In light of the ever changing restrictions caused by the pandemic, proposal documents should include an outline of how your production can be produced Covid safe.

We want to know how under-represented voices, groups and topics will be involved in your programme on and off screen given the aims of the the Black to Front project.

We particularly welcome pitches from production companies where the main shareholders, the leading decision-makers or the creative leaders comprise those from a Black, Asian and minority ethnic background.

NEW SUBMISSIONS ARE NOW CLOSED FOR UNSCRIPTED.

Similar Ideas​

By the very nature of this process, Channel 4 may receive different pieces of work from different producers which resemble each other and in some cases similar or identical ideas may be generated independently.

By taking part in this process, you are confirming that the idea submitted will be original, owned by you and free of third party rights.

 

Source: www.channel4.com

 

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