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Film Birmingham will be present and representing the region at Focus 2019, the international meeting place for the creative screen industries.

Following a highly successful 2018 event, FOCUS, The Meeting Place for International Production will return to the Business Design Centre London on 3/4 December 2019 for its fifth edition. The event will remain completely free to attend for industry professionals.

Birmingham city council’s film and TV office will be representing the city and the West Midlands at the 2-day event, engaging with international production companies on how they can maximise their use of Birmingham’s filming locations, local crews and production services. Film Birmingham will be sharing a stand (L8 #FilmingInEngland) with Film Offices UK and Creative England. During the Filming in England ‘Happy Wine and Cheese Hour’ at 14:00 – 15:00 each day, event attendees are invited to liaise with Film Birmingham representatives while sampling regional wine and cheeses.

FOCUS is aimed at all the creative screen industries – including film, TV, advertising, animation and interactive – and is the only UK trade event where attendees can meet with content makers, film commissions, production services and locations providers from over 70 countries. Each December, the industry’s key players converge at FOCUS, transforming two days of meetings, networking events and seminars into deals and lasting business relationships. Over 150 expert speakers will also address the key opportunities and challenges concerning the production industry today.

Register HERE for a FREE delegate badge giving access to the whole programme.

Download the DAY 1 Programme schedule Download the Day 2 Programme schedule

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Digital Cities Birmingham returns to Birmingham with a new series of inspiring events across the city – many of them free. These include practical workshops, masterclasses and conferences. BBC Digital Cities will be offering this week-long series of events for the creative industries, starting on Monday 23 September 2019.

See the schedule below and visit the official webpage here.

DIGITAL SKILLS DAY

18.00 – 20.00
Maker Monday
1000 Trades, 16 Frederick St
Birmingham B1 3HE

ARTS & DIGITAL DAY

Tuesday, 24 September

09.00 – 17.30
Hello Culture Remix – Telling Tales
Fazeley Studios, 191 Fazeley Street
Digbeth, Birmingham B5 5SE

ALL DAY
BBC Young Reporter’s STEM Careers Event
BBC Birmingham, The Mailbox
Birmingham B1 1RF

CREATIVE FUTURES DAY

10.00 – 16.00
Digital Storytelling In The Museum
Projection Takeover Day
Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery
Chamberlain Square, Birmingham, B3 3DH

DIGITAL FUTURES DAY

09.30 – 15.30
BBC Young Reporter Day
Millennium Point, Curzon Street
Digbeth, Birmingham B4 7AP

17.30 – 19.30
Transforming Narratives: Artistic Open-Call Briefing
STEAMhouse Lab, 108 Digbeth
Birmingham, B5 6DT

MUSIC DAY

Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight, Birmingham-born actor Adil Ray and Coventry’s Debbie Isitt, who created the Nativity film franchise, will be part of  the new screen industry body; a task-force to supercharge the West Midlands’ screen industry.

In the most significant shake-up of support for the West Midlands’ screen sector for nearly a decade, the region will soon have a new industry-led membership body. Chair Ed Shedd and the West Midlands Combined Authority received an overwhelming response from the sector with nearly 50 industry professionals applying to become inaugural members. Appointments have now been approved by the Mayor of the West Midlands Andy Street and creative industries portfolio lead Cllr Ian Brookfield. More names are expected to join the Screen Industry Body as plans roll out. Members are now developing plans, including establishing a name and brand, ahead of the formal launch on 10th October

The trio will join other talented and well-known individuals from the region’s TV, film and games industries on the task-force, an initiative first announced by Mayor of the West Midlands Andy Street earlier this summer. See the full membership list here. The members will now be tasked with getting the new screen industry body up and running ahead of its official launch in October. This includes creating a name and branding that will attract people from across the globe to come and create content in the West Midlands.

The body’s members will also be working on developing a strategy to revolutionize the current screen industry, helping to drive investment, growth and thousands of new jobs. It will be chaired by international industry heavyweight Ed Shedd and serve as a single point of contact for national and international film, TV and game makers.

The new body has been set up and its membership selected by the Mayor together with Ed and senior figures from the region’s three Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) and West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), including its portfolio holder for economic growth Cllr Ian Brookfield.

Commenting on the appointments, the Mayor said: “Having the likes of Steven Knight, Adil Ray and Debbie Isitt involved is a tremendous asset for us and indicative of the top talent ready to do their bit for our screen industry. We already have a strong industry with a string of success stories – not least Leamington Spa’s gaming cluster which employs 10 per cent of the UK gaming industry.

“However, the Channel 4 bid has taught us that there is a lot more to be done in order for the West Midlands to be truly recognised as a world class centre for creative content. By launching this screen industry body and harnessing the talent of the brightest and best people within the industry, I believe we will be able to make sure our region’s screen sector fulfils its enormous potential.”

Ed said: “I am absolutely thrilled with the response we have had for inaugural members, with nearly 50 screen professionals applying. It was a challenge to select the initial group from such a wealth of talent. However, I am pleased that the group we are announcing presents a really interesting mix of sectors, backgrounds and experience. I am hugely looking forward to working with them all in the months and years ahead.”

Cllr Ian Brookfield, who is also leader of City of Wolverhampton Council, added: “As part of our Local Industrial Strategy we plan to see 29,000 new, high skilled jobs in the digital and creative industries by 2030. By having the screen industry itself leading the way through this new body, we believe we can achieve this and capitalise on the rapidly expanding creative sector to boost our wider economy and future prosperity.”

There are four key aims of the new body, including:

• Develop a single delivery plan and help turn strategy into action
• Secure and deliver both public and private funds
• Commission a variety programmes of activity
• Both lobby and promote the West Midlands screen industry

See the full membership list here.

Source: https://www.wmca.org.uk

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Three years after Steven Spielberg was shooting Ready Player One on Livery Street, a Bollywood film crew has arrived with its own dramatic car chase sequence.  Fast-rising Indian director Bejoy Nambiar has arrived in Birmingham to shoot his Bollywood romantic revenge thriller, Taish.

Backed by key facilitators Film Birmingham and Birmingham City Council, Bejoy’s production ‘lot’ takes up such comparatively little space on the corner of the same car park you’d barely notice it was there. But up on Lionel Street itself, the atmosphere was no less intense as marshals, runners, stunt co-ordinators, actors and film crew all busied themselves with the task in hand. And that was shooting a car chase sequence on a single street that would end up looking a million dollars on the big screen when the Taish makes its bow in 2020.

On the set of Taish, the calmest man on set was Bejoy, sipping from a coffee cup while all around him took note of stunt co-ordinator Ian Van Temperly who was able to cuddle his baby daughter Ruby whenever he needed to relax on the sidelines.

What the director says

Bejoy Nambiar said he was delighted to be shooting in Birmingham. Following his first visit on a recce two months ago, part of the script had been rewritten to accommodate the local network of railways bridges and canal tunnels.

“Film Birmingham and Birmingham City Council have been really helpful,” he said, “We could not have shot this quickly anywhere else. The story could be set anywhere in England, but Birmingham has a lot of character. I loved the area around the Custard Factory in Digbeth so we have been shooting there, too. I like the architecture so much.

“We also wanted to work with a certain breed of actors and I am trying to ‘steal’ that (feeling) for my film. They all have tremendous potential which elevates Taish.”

Bejoy said he was proud to be following in Spielberg’s footsteps as well as shooting in the home city of Peaky Blinders.

“I haven’t seen series five yet because of this, but I love the series – it’s like the city is another character in the story. For me as an outsider, it’s an interesting drama to watch.”

The Chase and Stunts

The chase itself involved two men dressed in black on a fast motorbike duelling with a car. But three other vehicles would also be travelling the other way at the same time. Would they all swerve in time? You bet!

In another scene, two men used buckets of water from a giant trailer tank, ready for a near 360 degree stunt on Mary Ann Street. All parking has been suspended in the area to allow shooting to continue until and including Thursday, August 29. Filming on Taish began in late July. After Birmingham, it will move on to Somerset’s HM Prison Shepton Mallet before production wraps.

Stunt co-ordinator Ian Van Temperly’s impressive credits include Gladiator, Jack Ryan 2 and the first film released in the UK in the 21st century – Tim Burton’s Sleepy Hollow.

“What we are doing here is trying to make the car chase look really exciting by using cut-aways and angles,” said Ian, whose company is called The Stunt Alliance, “We aren’t driving faster than 30mph (the road’s legal limit) but it will look 70mph when it’s finished.”

Production Value

The budget for Taish is around £1.2 million according to Birmingham-based line manager Vijay Gulwani. And it’s got a crew of more than 120 people which is good business for the four hotels putting most of them up.

The film follows on from other big productions which have shot here recently, including The Girl With All The Gifts (released 2015), Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017) and Ready Player One (2018), not forgetting Ray Winstone’s low budget boxing drama Jawbone (2017). Peaky Blinders , which has just launched series five on BBC1, is shot up north as well as at the Black Country Living Museum , but creator Steven Knight has vowed to see parts of series six and seven shot in his home city.

The plot

Rohan and Sunny have been best friends since childhood, but violent money lenders are lurking in London, headed by Kuljinder and brothers Pali and Jassi. Pali has been planning to quit the family business and start life afresh with Kuljinder’s wife Jahaan with whom he has been having an affair.

But fate has other plans for him. Both these worlds collide when Kuljinder comes to attend the wedding in the countryside. A past secret connected to Rohan and Kuljinder kickstarts a chain of violence changing all their lives drastically. Taish is a story of friendship and loss of innocence narrated in the format of an intense thriller.

Text and Photo Source: https://www.birminghammail.co.uk

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From the Producers of the Martian, Murder on the Orient Express and Logan…

Are you interested in being an extra for a huge, Fox feature film coming to Gloucestershire? Mad Dog 2020 are looking for background artists to take part in filming! They will be holding a specific registration for this production in Birmingham on Thursday 29th August.

Looking for: Middle Eastern, African and Mediterranean people, aged 16+. If chosen for filming, extras will be paid industry rates. Filming will take place throughout September 2019.

To apply for the registration day, please:

1) Register for free as a new artist at www.maddog2020casting.com

2) Email your name and artist ID to artistsupport@maddog2020casting.com

Registration day will be: Thurs 29^th Aug in Birmingham

Invite only (once you have registered as a new artist)

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Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery will be screening films by Yugesh and Sunandan Walia, under the theme “Birmingham in the 1980s”.

Birmingham-born Yugesh Walia and his brother Sunandan were at the forefront of independent film making in the 1980s. Their work was shown at the Edinburgh and London International Film Festivals and they received numerous commissions from production companies including the BBC, Channel 4 and ITV. Their work explored specific cultural moments and experiences for black and Asian communities in Birmingham.

Three films by Yugesh will be on display in gallery 12 – free entry. This trilogy was made under the aegis of the award-winning Birmingham Film & Video Workshop. Founded by Roger Shannon in December 1979 with support from West Midlands Arts and Channel 4, this pioneering movement introduced new and diverse voices into UK independent film and television culture.

Screening Times

The films will be shown 3rd August until 18th November in Gallery 12. Entry is free.

The exhibition will feature a different film each month, the films and their schedules are listed below:

Mirror Mirror, 1980

3rd August – 8th September

Jo is a young Punjabi woman at a crossroads in her life. House sitting for a friend, she is in limbo between two worlds, trying to decide whether to move out of her family home to live with her English boyfriend. In contrast to her lifestyle as a young professional, her family life is restrictive and full of double standards. Under pressure from both sides, she must decide who she really is and what she wants from her life.

Duration: 25 minutes.

Sweet Chariot, 1981

9th September – 13th October

Sweet Chariot explores the ways white society adopts black culture through music, dance and fashion, and yet rejects it through racism. It follows an evening in the life of Pauline, a young dancer who is confronted by these attitudes on a daily basis.

Duration: 23 minutes.

African Oasis, 1982

14th October – 18th November

The Handsworth Cultural Centre in Birmingham provided cultural and social provisions including dance, film and the ‘African village’. This programming was part of the centre’s unique approach to ‘re-culturalisation’ and the development of new cultural identities in the face of negative stereotyping.

Duration: 33 minutes.

These films were made through Birmingham Film & Video Workshop (BFVW) and have been recently been acquired for Birmingham’s collection through the Collecting Birmingham project. Purchased with assistance of the Heritage Fund.

Source: www.birminghammuseums.org.uk

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The premiere of new ITV2 comedy series, Zomboat! is being held in Birmingham on the evening of Thursday 3rd October 2019 with its four stars in attendance.

The Royal Television Society (Midlands) event at the canalside IET building is set to welcome stars Leah Brotherhead, Hamza Jeetooa, Ryan McKen and Cara Theobold; and they will be joined on the night by Executive Producers Camilla Campbell and Robert Wulff-Cochrane from Noho Films plus Writer Adam Miller, for a Q&A straight after the screening. If you would like to join the RTS for this special evening click on the link below to book your tickets. With a zombie apocalypse in the offing…anything could happen!

About Zomboat

The zombie apocalypse is coming to the U.K. and will be seen on British and U.S. TV after ITV and Hulu greenlit “Zomboat!” The upcoming comedy will star Leah Brotherhead (“White Gold”), Hamza Jeetooa (“Doctor Who”), Ryan McKen (“White Dragon”), and Cara Theobold (“Downton Abbey”). It bows on the ITV2 channel this fall and then on Hulu.

The story follows the aftermath of a zombie onslaught being unleashed on the British city of Birmingham. Sisters Kat and Jo, together with unlikely travel companions Sunny and Amar, flee for their lives by canal boat. As they journey along the canal in their tightly packed living quarters, friendships develop, alliances form, arguments occur and romance blossoms. Along the way, they realize there is no escaping the problems of everyday life, even in a zombie apocalypse. (www.variety.com)

To Book

Click here to book tickets for the Zomboat premiere. The suggested date for booking tickets is before Thursday 26th September.

This is a free event but you do need to book a place. Places are limited so book quickly to avoid disappointment.

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Source: https://careerssearch.bbc.co.uk

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Below is a message from our friends at Women in Film and TV regarding their upcoming WFTV Awards, its timeline and the award categories:

We are delighted to announce that the nominations window for the 2019 WFTV Annual Awards is now open. The annual event, now in its 29^th year, celebrates the achievements of women in the industry across 14 different categories including Director, Writer, Producer, Business and Contribution to the Medium (a full list follows below).

Anyone in the industry can nominate a woman using a simple online form which can be found here.

Last year’s winners included actor and writer Phoebe Waller-Bridge, presenter and commentator Jameela Jamil, actor Nicola Walker, rising new talent Rungano Nyoni and behind the scenes talent: award winning comedy producer Gill Isles and owners of the only female run visual effects company Blue Bolt Lucy Ainsworth-Taylor and Angela Barson. Award winning and critically acclaimed actor Juliet Stevenson won the Lifetime Achievement Award.

WFTV Chair, Liz Tucker said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for everyone working in film and TV  to think about the talented women they know and nominate them for an award. We have a total of 14 categories and many of our winners have gone on to win BAFTAs. So I encourage everyone to think about the women they would like to see recognized at this year’s WFTV awards and get nominating!”

Nominate now.

Timeline: WFTV Awards

Award nominations open: 09:00 TUESDAY 16 JULY.
Award nominations close: 12:00 FRIDAY 6 SEPTEMBER.
Awards ceremony takes place: FRIDAY 6 DECEMBER (Hilton Hotel, Park Lane, London).

Award Categories and Definitions

The Barclays Business Award recognises outstanding business achievement by a woman in film, TV or digital media within the last three years, e.g. an executive producer, distributor, legal and business affairs executive, managing director.

The BBC News and Factual Award recognises outstanding achievement in news, factual programming, current affairs or documentary work in film, TV or digital media in the last two years. The winner should be a producer, director, researcher, journalist or special correspondent.
NB This is not an award for presenters; there is a separate award for presenters.

The ScreenSkills Writing Award recognises outstanding achievement by a woman writing for film, TV or digital media (including games) within the last two years. This is unlikely to be a first time writer, but a woman whose recent top-level authorship as a central creator adds to an impressive previous body of work.

The Deluxe Director Award recognises outstanding achievement by a woman director in film, TV or digital media across entertainment, comedy or drama within the last two years.

The ENVY Producer Award recognises outstanding achievement by a female producer in film, TV or digital media within the last two years.

The IMDb Project Management Award recognises outstanding achievement, by a female line producer, production supervisor, production manager, location manager, production accountant, or post-production supervisor in film, TV or digital media within the last three years.

The Netflix New Talent Award recognises a woman who can be seen as a significant emerging talent in film, TV or digital media, within the last two years.

The ITV Studios Achievement of the Year Award recognises a woman who has made a significant impact in any aspect of production, in front of or behind the camera in film, TV or digital media over the past year. It also recognises a woman who has contributed to raising awareness or making significant change in the area of women’s equality over the past year.

The Best Performance Award recognises outstanding acting achievement, by a female performer in TV, film or digital media within the last two years.

The EIKON Presenter Award recognises outstanding achievement by an onscreen presenter in film, TV or digital media within in the last two years.

The Craft Award recognises outstanding achievement in craft in film, TV or digital media production, especially those working in the more traditionally male-dominated sectors, within the last two years, e.g. camera, sound, lighting, grips, stunt work, set design.
NB This is not an award for post-production. There is a separate award for post.

The Technicolor Creative Technology Award recognises outstanding achievement in creativity in post production in film, TV or digital media within the last two years.

The Argonon Contribution to the Medium Award recognises a woman who has achieved excellence through her exemplary body of work over a period of at least 15 years, in film, television or digital media. This is an intermediate level of lifetime achievement, and our second most prestigious award after the Lifetime Award.

The EON Productions Lifetime Achievement Award recognises a woman whose lifetime body of work makes her an inspiration and role model. This award is in the gift of the WFTV Board of Directors.

Nominate now.

Source: https://wftv.org.uk

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