Film Forum West Midlands next meet up will be on Tuesday 29th June @ The Victoria Pub from 7pm.

The idea of these meet ups is to give filmmakers a networking platform from which they can meet people involved in different aspects of filmmaking from directors to actors to editors in order to source equipment, make contacts and flourish.

The entire evening is very INFORMAL so therefore it is really up to you if you approach it as a casual drink or an opportunity to network and get projects off the ground.

*We have tables reserved in the backroom near the bar.

Address: The Victoria Pub, 48 John Bright St, Birmingham, B1 1BN

Facebook Event: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=131489443542471

Hope to see you there.

Social Boom Birmingham returns for its second event on Thursday 10^th June 2010, 6pm – 9pm at The Cross, Moseley, Birmingham, B13 8HW.

This informal networking event is a fantastic opportunity to meet some like minded creative folk who all have a passion for celebrating their creative community.

If you fancy popping along, come and say hi to organiser Gail Owen who’ll be there to welcome people.

To find out more, email Gail at gail.owen@mytvonline.co.uk.

Or you can also get in touch with Creative Boom Birmingham by emailing birmingham@creativeboom.co.uk.

Film Forum’s first meet up of 2010 will be on Tuesday 19th January @ The Victoria Pub on John Bright Street in Birmingham from 7pm.

The idea of these monthly meet ups is to get people from all aspects of filmmaking in the West Midlands together to chat and start building networks of friends and contacts.

The entire evening is very informal so therefore it is really up to you if you approach it as a casual drink or an opportunity to network and get projects off the ground.

Here’s the address: The Victoria Pub, 48 John Bright St, Birmingham, B1 1BN

Here’s The Facebook Event: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=261804082304

Look forward to meeting you all.

Tuesday 23^rd and Wednesday 24^th March 2010
The Bond, Birmingham

THE ENGINE ROOM PITCH is an intensive 2 day proposal development and pitching workshop to help you prepare your factual project for UK and international funding.

The workshop is a high-level project development opportunity and includes an introduction to MeetMarket and all Marketplace activities at Doc/Fest and to wider opportunities in international documentary funding and markets. Delivered by international marketplace specialist Christina Burnett, of Wide Eye Pictures, this is also a unique chance to pitch your project and get feedback from two UK commissioners as well as Charlie Philips, Doc/Fest Marketplace Producer. Commissioners from BBC, Channel 4, Britdoc and CBA-DFID Broadcast Media Scheme have taken part in previous workshops.

THE ENGINE ROOM PITCH is suitable for all levels of experience, from senior producers and directors to new entrants.  You can attend either as a pitcher with project, or as an observer.

Applicants must be West Midlands-based filmmakers. The cost of the workshop is £30 for all attendees.

To express interest, email Doc/Fest Marketplace Producer Charlie Phillips via charlie@sidf.co.uk with a one-page proposal for a factual/documentary project (single, series or cross-platform doc) and brief information about yourself.  Projects can be at any stage of development, for any platform, as long as it is a factual project.

See http://sheffdocfest.com/view/pitchworkshops for full information.

Filmrats is always looking for more Singer/Songwriters, Bands, Poets, Comedians, Performance Artists and short films. If you want to showcase your talent then please get in contact.

Filmrats is located at the Bristol Pear, Selly Oak. Entry is £1.50, so go along and remember there is still time to send in those short films on DVD format to: Filmrats,
 Flat 3,
 889 Bristol Road,
 Selly Oak, 
Birmingham,
 B29 6ND

If you have any questions or queries get in contact via their email: filmrats@hotmail.co.uk

Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/filmrats

Youtube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/filmrats

Facebook Event: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=199247954198&index=1

See you all there.

Film Forum’s next meet up will be on Tuesday 10th November at the Victoria Pub on John Bright Street in Birmingham from 7pm.

The idea of these monthly meet ups is to get people from all aspects of filmmaking in the West Midlands together to chat and start building networks of friends and contacts. The entire evening is very informal so therefore it is really up to you if you approach it as a casual drink or an opportunity to network and get projects off the ground.

So, come along and say hello, tell us what you are up to and hopefully we’ll all benefit from some interaction.

Here’s the address: The Victoria Pub, 48 John Bright St, Birmingham, B1 1BN

Here’s the Facebook event: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=151732432083&index=1

See you there.

Saturday 7^th November 2009 (10am-5pm)

Birmingham Repertory Theatre, Centenary Suite

£50 (£40 concessions)

From the traditionally structured TV and film stories that attempt to appeal to wide audiences (which ITV controller Peter Fincham termed ‘3G’ – three generations watching together), to the 3D structures of games and online drama, this day-long course looks at new opportunities offered to writers by the rise of digital technologies.  Suitable for writers, film-makers and drama practitioners interested in looking at new ways of telling stories across screens of all sizes. Participants:

Graham Joyce is the author of fourteen novels and has won numerous awards for his writing, including five British Fantasy Awards and the 2003 World Fantasy Award. He has also written screenplays of his novels and has recently been hired by the creators of Doom 4 to help develop the storyline potential of the computer game.

Neil Mossey worked solely in television and radio before writing on Season 2 of the daily interactive web drama KateModern (storylining over 26 weeks, and scripting 74 webisodes). The series ended in July 2008 clocking up 66 million video views, the largest UK online production to date. As a comedy producer at the BBC he was responsible for developing new formats and drama in the Comedy Entertainment department with writers and performers. His freelance writer, script editor, and producer credits include My Parents Are Aliens (ITV1), Freefonix (BBC One), Blackout (Channel 4), SuperNormal (ITV1), The Worst Witch (ITV1), Hedz (BBC One), and The Morning After Show (Channel 4).

Claire Ingham is a producer and film and television script developer. She works on projects at all stages of development – currently ranging from the adaptation treatment of Eoin Colfer’s bestselling novel The Wishlist to the final draft of Helen Cross’ original feature Stratford Road. Claire has previously worked for a number of film and television companies in development roles. She was Head of Drama Development at Impossible Pictures for four years where she headed a small team, commissioning and developing a range of TV and film projects for all the major broadcasters, including Jed Mercurio’s contemporary retelling of Frankenstein and Michael Chaplin’s family film Pickles.

For booking and further information, please visit www.scriptonline.net/screen.html

Or email catherine.edwards@scriptonline.net

The event is presented by Script, the regional development agency for dramatic writers in the West Midlands, offering advice, training and mentoring via industry-led partnerships.

In addition they are only going to be showing horror shorts, so if you have made a horror film and you would like it screened in front of an appreciative audience then send them in and they will play them! The night also has some great live bands performing, but they are always looking for more Singer/Songwriters, Bands, Poets, Comedians and Performance Artists, so if you want to showcase your talent then get in contact.

Filmrats is located at the Bristol Pear, Selly Oak. Entry is £1.50, so go along and remember to send in those horror shorts on DVD format to: Filmrats,
Flat 3,
889 Bristol Road,
Selly Oak,
Birmingham,
B29 6ND

If you have any questions or queries get in contact via their email: filmrats@hotmail.co.uk

Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/filmrats

Facebook Event: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=161850566421&index=1

Filmrats is sponsored by the good people at Hello Digital

Hello there,

Film Forum’s next meet up will be on Tuesday 13th October at the Victoria Pub on John Bright Street in Birmingham from 6pm.

For those that haven’t been to a meet up yet, here’s what happens! We meet up each month to get people from all aspects of filmmaking in the Midlands together to chat and start building networks of friends and contacts.

It’s very informal and is really up to you if you approach it as a casual drink or an opportunity to make new contacts and get projects off the ground. Contacts made through the social evenings have helped film projects to flourish and the variety of creative types attending has been very encouraging.

So, come on down, say hello, tell us what you are up to and hopefully we’ll all benefit from some interaction.

Here’s the address: The Victoria Pub, 48 John Bright St, Birmingham, B1 1BN

Here’s the Facebook event: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=142120700881&index=1

I hope to see you there.

Shorts on Screens is the latest chance for Animation Forum WM membersto mingle, share an after-work drink and share their animation from 6.30pm on Wednesday 30th September at The Victoria, Birmingham.

Rather than submit animated shorts in advance for a sit-down screening, simply bring along a mobile phone, mp3 player or laptop pre-loaded with your best animated work, and share it with fellow animators over a drink.

Animated work can mean short films, commercial work, experiments, showreels; anything you think would be of interest to others AFWM members.

If you don’t have such snazzy mobile technology, simply bring along a USB stick or DVD and play it on one of the many laptops we’ll have setup around the room.

If you decide to do the latter, please ensure that you bring the animation as a rendered (compressed) video (e.g. avi, mov, flv , etc), not as an enormous uncompressed video file or with a rare and unusual codec, as these are unlikely to work.

Don’t have anything to show? Then feel free just to turn up and chew the fat with AFWM members, be they animators, scriptwriters, producers or voice-actors, you never know what might happen.

Entry is free and to attend simply RSVP using the Facebook Event page or todavid.luke.allen@bcu.ac.uk.

Shorts on Screens will take place in the upstairs room of The Victoria (where Shorts on Walls @ Flatpack was held last March) and can be found here.

The film is about a failed filmmaker who’s life changes when a film crew start documenting and eventually dismantling his life.

Admission is free so pop along if you’re free this Bank Holiday.

Film Forum’s latest social get-together (and informal networking night) will be held on Tuesday 7th July at the Victoria Pub on John Bright Street in Birmingham from 6pm.

For those that haven’t been to a meet-up yet, here’s the low-down. We meet up each month to get people from all aspects of filmmaking in the Midlands together to chat and start building networks of friends and contacts. It’s very informal and is really up to you if you approach it as a casual drink or an opportunity to make new contacts and get projects off the ground.

Contacts made through the social evenings have helped film projects to flourish and the variety of creative types attending has been very encouraging.

As for the location, The Victoria is fast-becoming Birmingham’s most-exciting venue, mixing a creative style with a chilled-out atmosphere. We like it.

So, come on down, say hello, tell us what you are up to and hopefully we’ll all benefit from some interaction.

Here’s the Facebook event: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=202451205206

Here’s the address: The Victoria Pub, 48 John Bright St, Birmingham, B1 1 BN

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Whilst we didn’t manage to make the their opening night, it seemed to have a great atmosphere and turn out. We’ll definitely be making this next one as it looks like a great chance to take in local talents and have a nice time.

A provisional line up has been posted, but there’s always room for more Filmmakers, Singer/Songwriters, Bands, Poets, Comedians and Performance Artists. They accept all films and music videos and will play all submissions granted that the subject matter is not offensive.

Send your short films in DVD format to Filmrats, Flat 3, 889 Bristol Road, Selly Oak, Birmingham, B29 6ND and email any stills, posters, trailers and provide a brief synopsis and production credits.

Email: filmrats@hotmail.co.uk

They’re also social media’d up to the eyeballs:

Myspace Page: www.myspace.com/filmrats

YouTube Page: http://www.youtube.com/Filmrats

Twitter: http://twitter.com/filmrats

So get submitting and get some exposure.

http://rts360.eventbrite.com/

Here’s what RTS Futures have to say about it:

Following the great launch of RTS Futures Midlands’ sold out How to Pitch panel session, the Midlands Centre is yet again bringing together some of the top names in digital media next week, Thursday, June 4th.

With panelists from Channel 4, BBC, Hat Trick Productions and Raw TV, Pitching Multiplatform Ideas Pitching Multiplatform Ideas will demystify the process of how to pitch 360-degree concepts as well as the do’s and don’ts of pitching. Hear the experiences of our panel on the pitfalls, success stories plus, what’s hot and what’s not in the cross-platform world. Attendees will also get the chance to listen to top tips on how to give a successful pitch under pressure. This FREE event is produced by the Royal Television Society in partnership with Screen West Midlands and supported by Advantage West Midlands.

The speakers are:

• Alice Taylor: Commissioning Editor – Education, Channel 4 – Chair
• Martin Trickey, Commissioning Executive – Comedy and Comedy Entertainment, BBC
• Lucy Willis, Executive Producer, Raw TV
• Jon Davenport, Head of Digital, Hat Trick Productions

The event will be held at the Symphony Ballroom at the Hyatt Regency, 2 Bridge Street, Birmingham, B1 2JZ. Doors open at 7pm for a 7.30pm start.

Places are limited and so if you want to book, please go to http://rts360.eventbrite.com/.

For more information on the panellists, RTS Futures has provided a bio and picture for each guest here : http://rtsmids.wordpress.com/2009/05/27/pitching360/

04 June 2009 7:30 PM — 9:00 PM

Hyatt Regency Birmingham, 2 Bridge Street, Birmingham

What is a 360-degree idea?

Should all programme pitches have a multiplatform element to them? 

‘Pitching Multiplatform Ideas’ will demystify the process of how to pitch 360-degree concepts plus the do’s and don’ts of pitching. Hear the experiences of our panel on the pit-falls, success stories plus, what’s hot and what’s not in the cross-platform world.  Plus top tips on how to give a successful pitch under pressure.

Chair:
Alice Taylor: Commissioning Editor – Education, Channel 4

The Panel:
Martin Trickey, Commissioning Executive – Comedy and Comedy Entertainment, BBC
Lucy Willis, Executive Producer, Raw TV

Visit here to register for the free event.

Screen WM and Channel 4 / 4iP in conjunction with Creative Networks invites you to:

Platform Alteration

Keynote by Lord David Puttnam CBE

Wednesday 10 June

6pm – 8pm The Patrick Centre, Birmingham Hippodrome

Followed by a drinks and canapés reception

Media is moving fast, and new platforms for content distribution have arrived. But what does the changing digital landscape mean for content producers? Should content be influenced by creative ideas or platform choice, and how easy is it to succeed in this new environment?

Film Producer and Politician, Lord David Puttnam, will examine the importance of collaboration and encourage us to look beyond digital platforms as distribution mechanisms for traditional content, but explore the opportunities to engage users in entirely new ways by creating entertainment products that have strong social value.

Innovative and lively debate will be lead by our panel of experts, including a focus on the opportunities for collaboration with the games industry.

Places for this event are strictly limited. Please RSVP by Friday 29 May to secure your place.