BBC Academy Digital Cities 23–25 February: A series of FREE events for the creative industries
Date Posted: February 9, 2021
Digital Cities Virtual returns on Tuesday 23rd February with another fantastic lineup of ONLINE events for people working in or interested in TV and related creative industries.
For those interested in BBC Three, BBC News Presenter Babita Sharma will be talking to Channel Controller Fiona Campbell about how the channel delivers innovative new formats and thought-provoking programmes. The commissioning editors and independent producers from RuPaul’s Drag Race, The Rap Game and Glow Up will be joining Fiona to reveal the nuts and bolts of finding talent, moulding new ideas and how to attract young under-served audiences.
Film Hub NI presents a masterclass entitled See You At The Pictures? A discussion around the importance of a film’s theatrical release especially in light of the dominance of online film streaming during the pandemic. Film Hub NI’s Hugh Odling-Smee talks to Joan Parsons, Head of Queen’s Film Theatre; David Freyne, Director of Dating Amber and Patrick O’Neill, Founder and MD Wildcard Distribution.
RTS Futures NI Chair Scott Duffield will be talking to the new Director of BBC Scotland, Belfast born Steve Carson, who now has responsibility for leading the 1100 strong BBC Scotland staff across 13 centres, who produce content in both English and Gaelic across a wide range of services for TV, radio and digital platforms.
As ever the BBC Academy team will be bringing you a series of valuable digital skills and insight sessions including Patrick Flavelle on the legal rights and compliance issues you should be considering when posting content on websites and social; the BBC Three short form team will be detailing the creative approaches that ensure success with online and social media audiences; and LinkedIn Consultant and Trainer Louise Brogan, based in Northern Ireland will be delivering a session on how to use LinkedIn to raise your personal profile and make your presence felt in the creative industries.
Jobs and career opportunities are as ever a big theme of Digital Cities. This month the BBC Early Careers Recruitment team will be on hand to discuss schemes and opportunities coming up in 2021/2022 – they’ll share their top tips for what makes a great application, pointers on how you can stand out from the crowd and answer any other burning questions you may have. ScreenSkills, the organisation for TV, film, VFX, animation and games, will also be back with three sessions for those interested in a Career in Screen – first up a look at a skills CV versus a credit led resume; for those with no or limited experience, there’s a whistle-stop session on making the right impression for an on-set role; and finally, the importance of the portfolio – an insight into what an employer wants to see in your portfolio of work.
If you’re working in the creative industries and have an interest in sport and gaming then the Exploring Esports session is a must. Salford University’s Professor Andy Miah, a leading esports expert, will be talking to top professionals in esports, so whether it’s staging global events, broadcasting major league games, marketing sell-out arenas, developing brand partnerships or securing the huge financial investments required to operate in this industry, this exciting panel are ready to answer all your questions.
If you have an interest in development and the commissioning and pitching process then Nations and Regions Media Futures two-part session on Pitching is not to be missed; find out how you can get your format ideas from paper to ‘pitch perfect’, before joining Campbell Glennie, Managing Director of The Edinburgh TV Festival and TV Foundation, for a live ideas pitching session to a team of Industry professionals.
Hello Culture is also back in February with two sessions looking at Digital and Protest Culture in the Arts. First up is a not-to-be missed keynote conversation with artist Cold War Steve – whose work spans art, protest and Cilla Black, to hear how he created work online during lockdown. There’s also a further exploration of Digital and Protest during lockdown, with writer, theatre maker and director Javaad Alipoor talking to Stella Kanu Executive Director at LIFT, Amahra Spence, Co-founder, Creative Director MAIA and documentary film maker Michael Jenkins of Blak Wave.
If that’s not enough to get you booking, then we have unmissable masterclasses and panel sessions to inspire including:
- Create Central presents: The West Midlands on the World Stage- Going Global and Leaving a Legacy. Hosted by BBC Midlands Political Editor Elizabeth Glinka – this panel includes film maker Bonny John, Helen Routledge– CEO of Totem Learning and Tony Guillan – Digital Curator at Coventry City of Culture Trust, for a discussion around their ambitions for a lasting legacy for young people and the creative industries in Coventry City of Culture 2021 and Birmingham Commonwealth Games 2022.
- STEAMhouse presents the latest edition of VR Birmingham with fantastic guest speaker Jamie Bakewell, Creative Director, Bigtooth Studios Ltd. He’ll be talking about some of the projects he’s worked on over the last 10 years including James Bond: Skyfall, Guardians of The Galaxy, Fast 6 and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.
- Nations and Regions presents Back To The Future: Writing the next chapter for creative, digital and tech in Greater Manchester. Join this panel discussion examining the future for Greater Manchester’s creative, digital and technology sector and discuss the skills, innovation and investment that will support the next chapter for digital in the North of England.
All this and the BBC Young Reporter team will be delivering workshops for young people looking to start their career journey in TV and Radio with a focus this month on Sport.
Bookings are LIVE.
Follow #digicities and @BBCAcademy on Twitter for updates.
