Schedule
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Success and Challenges of Community Cinema
Valerio Carocci (President of Association Piccolo Cinema America)
In 2012 a group of twenty-year-old friends occupied the Cinema America theatre in Rome to save it from conversion into parking lots and apartments. They founded the association "Piccolo America", and began to organise free large summer open air cinema screenings in Rome under the name of "Il Cinema in Piazza”. Every year they attract more than 150,000 spectators of all ages, employ 40 young people for the entire season and pay over 85,000 euros to distributors for archive films. 200 evenings of free outdoor screenings under the stars and 70 meetings and debates with authors, actors, newcomers and film workers later, Valerio Carocci, leader and president of the association, joins us to discuss the success and the challenges of "Piccolo America" and of the Cinema in Piazza.
In the COVID-19 World of Zoom and MS Teams, We Are All TV Presenters. You Need to Adapt to Survive!
Julian Dismore (TV Series Producer and Media Trainer at Direct Productions UK)
TV Series Producer / Director Julian Dismore has made programmes for all the major broadcasters. He has created content in a variety of genres, from observational documentary to wildlife, drama documentaries to investigative journalism. In his world-wide travels he's fallen off a volcano, been bitten by a king cobra and filmed undercover as a paedophile to expose sex tourism in the Philippines, changing British Law in the process to make it easier to prosecute sex offenders. But, as a result of COVID-19, Julian is now effectively under "house arrest", because he has a severely disabled child, whom he is shielding. Not wanting to go on location and potentially bring a lethal virus back into the family home, Julian has adapted to survive and now runs Zoom courses in media skills and directing from his home office. As a result, he has a much better work-life balance than he ever had when he was directing full time! Julian believes every crisis is the best time to rise to a challenge and seek new opportunities. He thinks the increasingly digitised media world has pros and cons - and sometimes harks back to a more analogue time where everything wasn't quite so black and white when it comes to programme making. However, one interesting aspect of the new digital pandemic world is that he thinks we are all TV presenters now - business professionals and industry figures can learn a lot from the TV and film industry when it comes to representing their brand from a small box on a laptop!
Reel Connections: Transitioning from Physical to Digital Connections with Communities
Dr Anna Blagrove (Reel Connections)
Reel Connections was established in January 2019 as a Community Interest Company (CIC) that uses film, music, and the creative arts to engage community groups. To date, the organisation has successfully developed a range of projects, with 5857 individuals directly benefitting from activities. The biggest of these projects is a partner contract from Film Hub South East (FHSE) for the BFI’s national Young Film Programmers initiative. This project supports teams of 16-30-year olds that programme, publicise and deliver film screenings and events. Reel Connections facilitates numerous Young Film Programmer Groups in the South East of England covering eight counties, and directly runs the group, Film East, based in Norwich. In this Masterclass, Director Anna Blagrove, will discuss how Reel Connections has adapted to the COVID-enforced digital delivery since March 2020, offering a range of online activities, industry-related resources and opportunities aimed at keeping young people engaged during lockdown.
(photo credit: Nick Bolton on Unsplash)
Cinema Audience Development Post-Pandemic: The Opportunities for Independent Film
Claire Beswick (British Independent Film Awards)
Claire is a cinema executive with 15 years of programming and operational experience. She held a senior programming role at ODEON Cinemas before becoming the Head of Programming at boutique arthouse chain Curzon Cinemas. She is currently the Programme Manager for the British Independent Film Awards and operates as a freelance cinema programmer. Claire also runs as cinema development consultancy company, writes for industry publication "Celluloid Junkie" and teaches at the National Film and Television school. In this session Claire will discuss audience development strategies post-COVID-19 and where new opportunities for independent film might lie.
From Studying History to Distribution, Exhibition and Sustainable Filmmaking
Zsofia Szemeredy (Green Eyes Production/Rocliffe Ltd/Indie Film Distribution Summit)
Zsofia once dreamt of becoming a historical advisor on period dramas, only to realise that a history degree would merely get her close to libraries and dusty books, not actual filmmaking. She dedicated her time going forward to hands-on film industry work and training. Gaining a masters in Marketing, Distribution, Sales and Exhibition from the National Film and Television School as well as experience in cinema management, PR and film development, Zsofia explored all sides of the industry that inspires her true passion. She currently works as an Independent Consultant and a Development Executive at Rocliffe, (an independent UK production company) and aspires to introduce sustainable filmmaking policies and strategies to Central and Eastern Europe, starting with her country of origin – Hungary. Zsofia will be sharing her experiences of navigating the film industry and inspiring change during the global COVID-19 pandemic.
Animated-Documentary Film as a Tool for Social Change in a Time of a Global Pandemic
Maria Stanisheva (ANIMADOCS)
Maria Stanisheva is a film director/producer and founder of ANIMADOCS - an independent film production house based between NYC and Paris. She is a graduate of Sofia University, Central European University and New York Film Academy’s Documentary filmmaking program and has over 10 years of experience working on feature films, TV and online series, independent and commissioned shorts. The animated-documentary Father, which she produced in 2012, was screened at over 100 film festivals and awarded 28 times, including the Golden Dove for Animated Film at DOK Leipzig Festival. Her 2016 animated campaign “Together to End Male Guardianship” - an awareness campaign, commissioned by Human Rights Watch and based on real-life stories from Saudi Arabia - was seen by over 10 million people and featured in The New York Times, on Euronews, CNN and BBC. Maria will present her experience working in various formats to create "art for social change" on topics such as women's rights; inclusion of people with disabilities; racial inequality; sexual discrimination; refugees; and climate change. She will discuss the production of her latest animated-doc series project Finding Home and how it has been affected by the extraordinary environment of the current pandemic.
No Cinema? No Problem. The Path to Market Has Never Been Clearer
Wez Merchant (Strike Media/MyFilmClub)
With 19 years of experience in film PR and promotions, Wez set up PR firm Strike Media in 2009 and works for clients including Paramount Pictures, The Movie Partnership, Lightbulb Film Distribution, Munro Film Services, Kaleidoscope, Parkland Pictures, Blue Finch Film Releasing, Goldfinch, Saints & Savages and Pop Up Screens. Wez is responsible for the creation of the social community app MyFilmClub, which spawned from a difficult time in his life and is now well positioned for its second coming. Wez will talk about how COVID-19 presented a massive threat to the film industry and professionals (including himself), and how the threat soon became an opportunity.
UK Cinemas through COVID-19
Phil Clapp (UK Cinema Association)
COVID-19 has presented an unprecedented challenge to many sectors, none so more than UK cinemas. In this session, Phil Clapp – CEO of the UK Cinema Association – will look at those impacts and consider some of the immediate and longer-term implications for the sector and the wider film industry.
Expediting the Inevitable? Acquiring and Selling Independent Films during a Pandemic
Timo Suomi (AMP International)
The rise of international streamers, shortening cinema windows and the globalisation of talent was already a challenge for international sales agents during a normal year. With a pandemic now in the mix, many in the industry feel that the market has evolved five years within a year. How have European sales agents reacted to this? What kind of a future are some of them planning for? How does this impact the films they are looking to represent? And, ultimately, what does this mean for an independent filmmaker? Timo Suomi is the Senior Acquisitions and Development Executive for AMP International, a London-based international sales company that sells, produces, finances, markets and packages films by new and established filmmakers.
Intuition as Knowledge: "Cinema in School" Programme for Young People
Ralitsa Assenova (Arte Urbana Collectif)
How do we approach images with young people today? How do we transmit passion for cinema, and transform the screen into a window to the world? How could we bring cinema in the classroom and analyse its language, creating space for self-expression for the students? Ralitsa Assenova, Initiator of the "Cinema in School" programme of Arte Urbana Collectif and PhD researcher at the National Academy of Theatre and Film Arts (Bulgaria), will share her experience in the field of film education projects and initiatives in Bulgaria and Europe, including her work with minority and underprivileged groups.
The Antidote to Netflix - Developing a Highly-curated Virtual Cinema
Chris Baker (YourScreen)
Chris Baker has worked in independent film exhibition since 1986, when he became active in the South West arm of the British Federation of Film Societies (now Cinema for All). This led to hundreds of occasions when he screened films for audiences in non-dedicated cinema spaces. He founded Bath Film Festival in 1991, still going strong 30 years later as FilmBath, for which he still works as a programmer and print manager. In 2019 he programmed the first Cheltenham International Film Festival, the 2020 edition of which became the first UK audience-facing film festival to present its whole programme online. The steep learning curve ascended during this experience, and a realisation that community cinemas, bereft by Covid, had nowhere to show films to their members, led to the creation of YourScreen with colleagues from CIFF and the launch of the first YourScreen season in October 2020. YourScreen, which also works closely with independent theatrical exhibitors, is a virtual cinema, presenting a highly-curated selection of 6-10 films which are renewed every two months and are very largely unavailable on any other UK streaming platform. It hopes to save domestic arguments and wasted hours scrolling through the offers of the mega-platforms by restricting choice to an exclusive handful of first-rate films. The next YourScreen season will see partnerships with SEED Film Festival, Cinema for All and Live Cinema UK.
What Is a Film Magazine with No Films?
Terri White (EMPIRE)
"How do you keep the world’s biggest film brand alive, how do you keep film culture itself alive, when cinemas are dark and productions paused? EMPIRE is 32 years old and has never faced such challenges before. As Editor in Chief, I was recently asked: what is a film magazine without any films? And it’s a problem that goes beyond EMPIRE – what is the function of a film press? What is film culture? How do we keep it not just alive, but thriving? This session will look at the role and opportunity for film media brands in this time. From supporting exhibition (from indie cinemas to large chains), working with distribution (on digital releases, the collapsing of theatrical windows), collaborating with filmmakers and studios on content, to keeping the flame for cinema alive with the audience (our readers!). While many people claim cinema is dead, even film is dead, my proposition is that the pandemic has taken us into bold new, newly-collaborative, creative worlds that could well mean a more vibrant future for all parts of the film and cinema chain."
An Exploration in a Foreign Language Film Distribution Model which Combines Profit and Non-Profit Efforts during COVID-19
Hiu Man Chan (UK-China Film Collab)
This masterclass will use a recent online film festival, Chinese Cinema Season, as a case study, to explore opportunities, issues and challenges in digital film distribution during COVID-19, in particular, when it comes to foreign language films in the UK and Europe. What is the reaction from sales agent when it comes to licensing rights? What are the most common issues with existing platforms? What type of challenges and new opportunities can be found in the new approaches to programming? How can non-profit efforts intervene into film distribution and exhibition for a cross-cultural programme and what are the potential funding opportunities? This masterclass will also imagine the future of audience engagement with foreign language films.
Dr Hiu Man Chan is Lecturer in Creative and Cultural Industries at De Montfort University. Her research and consultancy specialise in film relations between the UK, EU and China. She is founder and director of UK-China Film Collab, the most active not-for-profit organisation with this particular advocacy. She is a hybrid type of academic with 15 years’ experience in the film industry and an alumna of Oxford Brookes University.
Feature Documentary Distribution - New Hybrid Models for Release
Daniel Green (Dogwoof)
Daniel is Head of Home Entertainment at Dogwoof, one of the world’s leading documentary sales agents and distributors. He oversees the digital release of all of Dogwoof’s titles both in the UK and internationally, as well as the company's direct-to-consumer platform Dogwoof On Demand. In this session Daniel will address new models for the release of feature documentary films in the contemporary distribution context.
Exploring and Photographing Old Movie Theatres in Southeast Asia
Philip Jablon (Southeast Asia Movie Theatre Project)
In contemporary Thailand, going to the movies involves a trip to one of the hundreds of shopping malls throughout the country, where movie-goers purchase tickets to a multiplex theatre operated by one of two national theatre chains. But for almost the entirety of the 20th century, Thailand’s movie theatre geography consisted of single screen, stand-alone movie theatres located in nearly every urban centre throughout the country. Photographer and author of the recently published book Thailand’s Movie Theatres: Relics, Ruins and the Romance of Escape will be presenting images from his photographic archive of these important leisure time venues. This pictorial tour will explore Thailand’s grand old movie theatres, past and present, and their unique architectural languages. Highlights will include some exciting developments in the field of movie theatre conservation in Thailand, as well as comparisons with developments in neighbouring Myanmar.
Philip Jablon has been documenting stand-alone movie theatres in Southeast Asia since 2009. He has written extensively about these buildings, their historical role in society and the need to preserve them. His articles and essays on the subject have appeared in The Bangkok Post, Frontier Myanmar, The Nation (Thailand), GQ (Thailand), The Asia Sentinel, as well as other publications. In 2019 his first book, Thailand’s Movie Theatres: Relics, Ruins and the Romance of Escape, was published. Support for his work has been provided by grants from the Jim Thompson Foundation and The Thai Film Archive, and corporate sponsorship from Mingalar Cinemas. When not living and breathing stand-alone movie theatres in Southeast Asia he spends his time in his native Philadelphia, Pennsylvania trying to figure out which old chain stores used to be movie theatres.
Creating Individual “Dream” Jobs in the New Media Reality
Nikolaj Nikitin (SOFA - School of Film Advancement)
SOFA - The School of Film Advancement was established in 2013. Initially designed as a residential workshop in the former Europe’s Cultural Capital Wroclaw, it grew very fast from a yearly single training event into a one-year cycle programme with three residential workshops in Warsaw (Poland), Tbilisi (Georgia) and Vilnius (Lithuania), additionally accompanied by e-learning throughout the whole year. The special quality of the program is its unique target group: SOFA trains professionals with previous experience in cultural management and the audiovisual field. SOFA does not aim to advance film directors or producers but supports and empowers culture promoters, mediators and catalysts with unique film/cinema/audiovisual project ideas (we are currently planning to open up for the game sector) for the local and international audience. Envisioned as pan-European think tank for the future of cinema and media, the initiative enriches the sector and integrates newcomers – in all possible creative and diverse shapes. Our alumni create their own and additional workplaces in the new media reality. SOFA helps its participants to make their innovative “dream project” and their “vision” come true and, at the same time, it helps to strengthen the European and international film/audiovisual culture, as a movement of European solidarity within the film industry at large.
In this masterclass, SOFA Founder, Head of Studies and former Berlin International Film Festival delegate Nikolaj Nikitin will elaborate on how SOFA supports visions of new players in the cinema and audiovisual field come to life in a post-COVID reality. Presenting recent best-case examples and success stories of alumni, as well as his rich personal experience in the field, Nikitin will outline the long-lasting perspective and sustainability of SOFA, which might inspire you to create your perfectly fitting place in the new media reality.
Independent Cinema - What We Did When the Lights Went Out
Joan Parsons (Queen's Film Theatre)
When the COVID-19 crisis began, Queen’s Film Theatre (QFT) was quick to adapt, continue to engage with audiences and maintain a cultural provision. Finding a way forward throughout 2020 and 2021 has provided continuing challenges and altered approaches to operations in the long-term. Now, facing reopening again, how can the learning of the last year help create a strong and exciting cinema of the future? In this session, Joan Parsons, Head of the Queen's Film Theatre in Belfast, reflects on the current and future state of independent programming and exhibition.
Independent Documentary Film − from Idea to Platform
Alan Bailey (Filmmaker/Festival Director)
Filmmaker and Oxford and Liverpool International Film Festivals Director, Al Bailey joins us to discuss his experiences of documentary production, distribution and exhibition. Al’s film festival programming career has seen him lead and curate 19 international film festival editions, where his strong ethos of selecting from open submissions and showcasing strongly crafted content for all, have set his curating identity apart in the international film festival community. In this session, he will discuss the making of his feature documentary debut DTF (2020) as well as preparing for work in the aftermath of COVID-19 with his upcoming Caged Cats. Al will talk thinking smart when creating low-budget independent documentaries and cover the topics of presenting a project for funding, developing and producing the creative content and delivering the finished piece to the right festival and sales distribution demographic.
Filmmakers’ Artistic Freedom vs Sea-changes in the Audiovisual Sector: Is There Hope for a Sustainable Future of Independent Audiovisual Creation in Europe?
Pauline Durand-Vialle (Federation of European Screen Directors)
In the wake of COVID-19, the rise of global streamers in European markets has accelerated exponentially while local production and distribution infrastructures are severely hit. In a sector which considers authorship and public funding as cornerstones of its uniquely diverse production and distribution ecosystem, these not-so-new players are challenging every segment of the value chain – including filmmakers, their creative process and their rights. As they prepare to return to work after the crisis, we’re exploring various scenarios and visions for their creative and artistic future.
Originally from Paris, France, Pauline has worked in film distribution and international sales. She joined FERA from her previous position as Deputy Manager in charge of European Affairs at La Société des réalisateurs de films (SRF), where she worked for five years. She is the Chief Executive of FERA since February 2014, and recently took over the European Audiovisual Observatory’s Advisory Committee Chair.
ScreenHits TV - A Super Aggregator Set to Streamline and Revolutionise at Home Viewing
Rose Adkins Hulse (ScreenHits)
ScreenHits TV is the central hub of television streaming. A highly sophisticated and selective app that allows consumers to discover a high volume of television content through streaming services all in one place. The app enables great subscription storage, along with selection through features such as the shared carousel. This allows users to recommend high-quality series to family and friends. ScreenHits recently formed a partnership with interactive experience platform Sceenic, which allows viewers to interact via live video while watching TV and films in real time. In this session ScreenHits founder and CEO Rose Adkins Hulse reflects on her experience working to streamline and revolutionise the increasingly fragmented and competitive field of home entertainment.
Pivoting In The Mundane Apocalypse: The Past, Present and Future of Festivals
Chris Jones (London Screenwriters' Festival)
“Mark Gatiss (of Sherlock fame) was the first to use the phrase ‘mundane apocalypse’ when I interviewed him for our first and admittedly hurried online Festival last May. I run one of the largest Screenwriting Festivals in the world, the London Screenwriters’ Festival. In any normal year we would attract around 1,000 visitors for three days, enjoying presentations, talks and seminars from around 100 speakers. Plus there would be side workshops, events and social parties. We had planned out biggest ever event for April 2020… until the aforementioned ‘mundane apocalypse’ struck. And yes, I get it was far from mundane for many, myself incited. Still it does feel apt to me. In this session we will explore how all live events were first impacted by COVID-19, second reacted to the pandemic and now third plan for the uncertain future. We will drill into: technology and how COVID has accelerated digital entrepreneurship; the resistance from many and how they risk getting left behind; building more sustainable and cost effective events in the future; the surprising drawbacks and benefits of online events; how you could and should start your own digital events; the tools you can use to create something now that costs no more than your time.”
The Digital Transition: The Present and Future of Promotion and Online Markets
Sarah Calderón (The Film Agency)
Sarah Calderón, main strategist, founder and director of the The Film Agency, shares their unique perspective of the digital transition which the global film industry is currently facing. Sarah has a background in advertising and multicultural communication and almost twenty years of experience in the audio-visual sector, where she has held different positions, including in production, sales and distribution in Bogotá, Paris and Madrid. At the Film Agency she now provides marketing solutions for producers, sales agents, distributors and exhibitors across the world. Sarah's presentation reflects on the specific experiences and most current case studies of working with online markets, new release patterns and promotional activities, shaping the present and the near future.
In a world of 'alternative facts', why does documentary matter more than ever?
Paul Sng (Velvet Joy Productions)
Paul Sng is a British Chinese filmmaker and writer whose work is driven by methodical research, creative storytelling and a collaborative approach that strives for inclusivity and diversity. Paul's films have been broadcast on national television and screened internationally and include Dispossession (2017) and Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché (2021). His first narrative photography book, Invisible Britain: Portraits of Hope and Resilience, was published in 2018. Underpinning all of Paul’s work is an eye for strong characters and compelling narratives, all the while working to establish trustful relationships with people both in front of and behind the camera. In this masterclass, Paul discusses his work and practice as a documentarian and explores how in a world of 'alternative facts' documentarians are more vital than ever.
Film & TV distribution: what changes are coming over the next ten years?
Ben Johnson (Gruvi)
The COVID pandemic has caused irreversible changes to the film and TV landscape, but in many ways it simply acted as a catalyst: change was inevitable, it just might not have come around so quickly. Now, the consumer has never had more choice in terms of the sheer range film and TV shows available - there is more to watch than anyone can possibly get through in their lifetime. The choices of exactly WHAT to watch and WHERE to watch it are going to shape the next ten years: cinemas will be competing not just with each other but with terrestrial TV, ad-funded streaming video, subscription-funded streaming video, user-generated content, social media, video games, etc. In this masterclass Ben Johnson will show how film and TV distribution has got to where it has today, and will use that knowledge to offer some insights into what the next decade may hold.
Ben is CEO of Gruvi, an online marketing agency that specialises in promoting theatrical and digital film releases around the globe. He presents the twice weekly film business news show “That’s Entertainment” (available via LinkedIn and YouTube) and is a regular contributor to leading industry conferences, panels and webinars. Gruvi provides data driven research and the latest tools and techniques to establish exactly who has a proven interest in each title they promote: the size of the audience, their demographic, what topics and themes they are discussing around the release, and the social media platforms and websites they engage with. Perfectly targeted programmatic ads reach those people across those channels, and allow Gruvi to predict just how likely that audience is to engage with the ad campaign, and ultimately make the choice to purchase.
Film Exhibition: A New Hope
Serena Gill (Everyman Cinemas)
This session will look at how Everyman responded to a sparse and ever-changing release slate last year, with an insight into both the challenges and opportunities that the pandemic presented. Reflecting on what they have learnt, Deputy Head of Film Serena Gill will map out the path ahead as cinemas prepare to re-open, and, more specifically, explore the reasons to stay optimistic.
Routes to Market – Reimagined
Marie-Claire Benson (Lionsgate)
In this session, Marie-Claire Benson will reflect on the changing film release strategies in 2021. Marie-Claire heads up the Motion Picture Group at Lionsgate UK, a consistent box office market share leader and a premium TV and streaming services provider. Benson will discuss the changing ways in which films are brought to audiences, replacing a previously linear model of Theatrical – Home Entertainment – Streamer – Free TV, the reasons behind these shifts and the predicted permanency of the new norms in the film industry.
The role of local content in the recovery process of the cinema industry
Anna Paprocka (ODEON Cinemas Group):
'Cinema industry is dying because of the pandemic'. It’s a statement you might have heard in the news or read in newspapers since last year. However, have you also heard that during the same pandemic a local Japanese film called Demon Slayer became Japan's biggest film ever? Did you know that the Chinese film Detective Chinatown 3 became the title with the biggest box office opening ever in a single market, even bigger than Avengers: Endgame in North America? Or when we look at the European territories, have you heard that Another Round, the Oscar-winning title with Mads Mikkelsen, has been a success story for Danish cinemas? In this masterclass, Anna Paprocka - Group Content Manager at ODEON Cinemas Group - will look at the role of the domestic slate in the recovery process. The spotlight will be put on success stories from territories like Japan, China, Spain, Norway, Denmark, and Poland.
Reaching Local Audiences by Launching Films during Lockdown and Fighting Piracy
Nina Pehlivanova (Concept Studio)
In 2020 worldwide lockdowns wreaked havoc on traditional film distribution practices across big and small territories alike. Craving even more content, an increasing number of viewers turned to easily accessible illegal alternatives. The new working conditions forced the producers to continue apace while thinking carefully about new options for releasing their films through innovative ways. That is why, in response to the global crisis and the limited local alternatives, the Bulgarian film production house Concept Studio launched their own SVoD digital platform, FILMIRA, which presents diverse content from Bulgaria and around the world. In this masterclass Head of Content and International Sales, Nina Pehlivanova, talks about reaching local audiences during this critical period in the European film industry, fighting the increasing piracy and adjusting to the ever-changing requirements of the new digitally-driven ecosystem.
The life of an art-house distributor since March 2020: Curzon - a case-study
Charlotte Saluard (Curzon)
After 8 years as a Head of Programming for the Ciné Lumière in London, Charlotte moved to film distribution by freelancing for Modern Films and New Wave Films. She joined Curzon in February 2020 as a Theatrical Sales Manager where she worked on the cinema releases of Portrait of a Lady on Fire, a re-release of Memories of Murder, Shirley, etc. In April she has also taken on the management of distribution sales, overseeing the sales of Curzon titles across theatrical, home entertainment and digital. In this session she will reflect on the past year for Curzon and while cinemas will have just re-opened, she will give feedback on the new hopes and challenges of an independent distributor post-May 17th.
The impact of film on well-being - reaching people during COVID-19 and beyond
Paul Giggal (MediCinema)
MediCinema is a charity whose mission is to improve the well-being and quality of life of NHS patients, their families and carers through the power of the shared cinema experience and the magic of film. They achieve this by building and running cinemas in hospitals equipped with space for beds, wheelchairs and medical equipment. We will be joined by their Director of Operations, Paul Giggal, to discuss their response to the pandemic, starting a new bedside film service, running cinemas inside hospitals during Covid, and building on the opportunities and lessons from the last 15 months to explore new ways to reach people and expand what the shared experience can be.
Dead Northern - Putting the Festival in the Film Festival
Gareth Humphreys & Joshua Lawson (Dead Northern Horror Film Festival)
Founders of the Dead Northern Film Festival Joshua Lawson and Gareth Humphreys will be discussing how a beer festival evolved into a horror film festival, the challenges of hosting a live and safe event during the ever-changing COVID-19 lockdowns and tier system, the future of cinema and the role of film festivals for independent film after the pandemic, and why they're having a film festival with no films.