Stop! Evaluate and listen

This first day of the programme is designed to encourage filmmakers to stop, breathe and look at how far they’ve come – something we don’t take time to do often enough.  These sessions will enable you to look at where you’ve been, what you’ve learned, where your skills are today and where they need to be tomorrow… Now, with this reevaluated version of yourself, and looking ahead with confidence, we can help you prepare for the next steps in your career.

WHY THE GAP?

10:30am – 11:30am

Key experts across varying strands of the film industry debate ‘the gap’.What can we, as an industry, do to support filmmakers heading for a career transition, and what do filmmakers really need to know – even before they pick up a camera – to avoid falling off the edge.

Speakers: Chris Collins (BFI)| Johanna von Fischer (BIFA) | Penny Woolcock (director, One Mile Away)

shorts to features

with Let’s Keep It Short

11:45am – 1:15pm

A panel of filmmakers will discuss that crazy journey from short to feature film. During this session they will discuss what changes and what stays the same, as well as delving into issues with casting, scripting and that all important word, funding.

Speakers: Rob Savage | Martina Amati | Anthony Wilcox | Tom Geoffrey

SECOND ALBUM SYNDROME

3:15pm – 4:15pm

Whether you’re a musician, a filmmaker or an artist, the same obstacles apply when you leave your passion project behind and start putting a business head onto creative shoulders.

From the difficulties in letting go of the freedom and creative control you enjoy as an unknown, or in dealing with the multiple ‘interested parties’ who move in with your success, creative careers are challenging.

Speakers: Joe Dunthorne (Author Submarine) | Matt Harlock (director The Bill Hicks Story) | and more guests tbc

DEFINING ROLES

with Creative Skillset and Crossover Labs

4:30pm – 5:30pm (TBC)

Participants divide into two groups (documentary and fiction) to work with facilitators Emily Man, Creative Skillset and Mark Atkin, Crossoverlabs and identify their core strengths in an industry where many filmmakers find themselves doing everything. These workshops will outline how crews change as your career progresses – particularly in the jump from first to second film, and how and where to position yourself most strongly within them.

EMERGE

discounted access with your industry pass

Emerge is an immersive live event featuring talks, interactive installations and screenings by forward thinking  filmmakers, technologists, industry experts and audiovisual artists, introduced by Academy Award nominated director, writer and musician,  Mike Figgis.

Your place on the horizon.

Leading on from Day 1, our programme shifts into future thinking.  We know where you’ve been, but where are you going, and how the hell do you get there, and who on earth is going to pay for it?  We’ll take you through some key steps on the journey… 

THE ART OF DEVELOPMENT

with Film Four / Marc Isaacs

10:30am – 11:45am

Participants divide into two groups – factual or fiction:

a) Narrative film development with Film 4: As your career progresses, chances are more people are going to want to see your work from the early stages, which can be challenging. Sue Breen from Film 4 demonstrates why industry assistance can be invaluable in this hands-on workshop in script and story development.

OR

b) Documentary film development with Marc Isaacs: Mark will talk candidly about his career as one of Britain’s leading documentary makers. Marc will relate the highs, lows and transition points of his own career, embedding his learning in the landscape of today’s doc-world.

WHO’S GOT THE MONEY AND HOW DO I GET IT?

12:15am – 1:15pm

Nowadays it seems that although there is ‘less money around’, there are more ways to access it. But what’s best for you at this stage of your career: crowd-funding, EIS schemes, public money, branded content, or something else? Funders, producers and directors discuss what approaches work where, and how to secure finance for your film.

Speakers: Alex Boden (UK producer, Cloud Atlas) | Fiona Neilson (producer, 24 Hour Party People) | and more tbc

INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL STRATEGY

with the British Council

2pm – 3pm

Film festivals are often the first opportunities for your early films to find their audience, their champions and potentially distribution. But once you’ve done the rounds once, how do you play the circuit to your advantage? Rachel Robey of the British Council talks us through potential festival strategies and how to make sure you maximise international opportunities as your career develops.

MAKING DISTRIBUTABLE FILMS

and finding your audience

3:15pm – 4:15pm

Distribution channels have diversified enormously with the advent of digital, but have the tenets of distributability changed? What do audiences really want to see and how do filmmakers find their audiences successfully?

Speakers: Nick Gonda (CEO,TUGG) | Jamie King (CEO,Vodo)| RachelWoodward (Head of Distribution, Soda Pictures) | Oli Harbottle (Head of Distribution, Dogwoof)

CREATING A SLATE

or how to make your first feature work towards your second (and your thirds and…)

4:15pm – 5:15pm

Successful filmmaking is often about identifying your area of expertise and building a career incrementally over a number of projects.The LOCO London Comedy Film Festival team are joined by expert guests to discuss the best ways to build a long-term film-making career.

Short term actions for long term success: 

Whether you’re a director, producer, editor, make-up artist, lighting technician etc., life can still get in the way of our art! These sessions will articulate best practices for creative practitioners and freelancers when it comes to business planning, cashflow management, social media, networking and so on.

Morning sessions

Participants will be divided into groups for some more intimate workshops, closely examining the working life of those of us lucky enough to work in the film industry. Each group will be stationed within the studio complex, and the experts will rotate, spending 40 minutes with each group.

business planning for creatives

This workshop will offer empathetic yet practical advice for the artist who is struggling to find their business head.  You will look at business planning, cashflow, time management and all the boring but vital skills needed to survive the early stages of your career. Make sure that you don’t lose sight of the end game!

Successful online profile

with Native LDN

The most superficial but often most valuable area of creative work is in our public face online.  Online aficionado Bridey Rae Lipscombe will demonstrate what elements you need to embrace to keep up with the game.

agents, showreels and networking

with Pulse Films

In this session, Pulse will talk participants through the steps involved in getting an agent, how to work with them to create a dynamic and engaging showreel, and some good old-fashioned networking tips.

Tour of 3 Mills Studios

1pm – 2pm

Discover London’s Largest Film and Television Production Studios and take a look inside the stages where Danny Boyle shot Sunshine, Tim Burton shot Frankenweenie, and where much of the Olympic ceremony was rehearsed.

the legal loop

BECTU talks you through the legal things you actually need to know

3pm – 3:45pm

As confusing and overwhelming as legal procedures can seem in the film biz, there are some which we simply cannot avoid.  In this session, BECTU will take us through the core elements of the legalities you ignore at your peril.

get paid to make films

Limehouse Academy Presents: How filmmakers can break into the publishing industry without breaking the bank

4pm – 5pm

As the book publishing industry rises to the challenge of digitisation and convergence with film, app development and gaming, there has never been a greater time to offer creative services to publishing houses on a freelance, contract or salaried level. The question is: how do you go about this in a way that ensures you can do what you do best – make films – and still be able to pay your rent at the end of the month?

Bobby Nayyar, CEO of Limehouse Academy chairs a panel of artists and business people who will offer wise advice – having been there and done that and made a success of it.

Followed by networking drinks sponsored by Limehouse Academy.