programme - bfi.org.uk
TRANSCRIPT
bfi.org.uk/educationBFI SOUTHBANK
PROGRAMME
THE BFI MEDIA CONFERENCE
3 – 4 July 2014
BFI Media Conference 2014 Programme
Welcome to the BFI Media Conference 2014
This programme contains Schedules, Session details and Speaker biographies. It aims to help you
navigate your way around BFI Southbank and the Plenary, Industry, Teaching and Research sessions.
For any other queries, please do come to ask us at the Registration desk in the Blue Room which will
be staffed throughout the two days.
We hope you have an enjoyable, productive and inspiring conference!
BFI Education and Corinna Downing – Media Conference Programmer/Manager
BFI Media Conference
BFI Southbank
Belverdere Road
London SE1 8XT
020 7815 1329
www.bfi.org.uk/education/conferences
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General information
Conference noticeboard
Changes and updates to the programme will be posted on the noticeboard outside the Blue Room.
Conference Assistants
The conference’s young assistants will be on hand throughout both days, happy to help you
themselves or find someone who can answer your question.
Delegate badges
For security reasons, please wear and keep visible your delegate badge at all times.
Finding your way around BFI Southbank
• NFT3 is accessed from the mezzanine walkway on the same level as the Blue Room.
• NFT2 is in the foyer down the stairs near Benugo from the Main Foyer, towards the river entrance of
the building.
• The Studio is in the centre of the Main Foyer, between the Box office and Benugo.
• Learning Spaces 1 & 2 and the Large Meeting Room are on the Lower Ground Floor. This area has
restricted access – please wait for a Conference Assistant to usher you through with a swipe card.
The Library and Mediatheque are in the Main Foyer.
Session papers/handouts
Speakers will have printed handouts in many sessions. Full conference papers will be emailed to
delegates one week after the conference, with some also available on the BFI Media Conference page
on the BFI website. PLEASE NOTE: We have tight turnarounds between sessions and ask delegates to
please not ask speakers for downloads of their presentations as this delays preparation for the next
session – Thank you. If you have any questions about session papers please ask conference staff.
Tours of BFI Reuben Library and Mediatheque
Thurs 13:25-13:40, Fri 12:55-13:10 - limited capacity, please sign up at Registration desk.
The Mediatheque (12:00-20:00): 14 screens to view fiction and nonfiction films from the BFI National
Archive’s extensive British film and TV collection. The Library opens 10:30-19:00. Both free of charge.
BFI Filmstore: Conference delegate discount
The Filmstore holds a full range of teaching resources and DVDs - show your delegate badge during
the days of the conference to receive a 10% discount on these and other BFI titles.
Luggage
During the day, luggage and coats can be left in the Blue Room. For overnight storage, please ask
conference staff.
Eating and drinking
Included in the price of your delegate pass are coffee, tea and biscuits available at Registration and
the breaks. A light sandwich lunch is on offer both days. All refreshments are served in the Blue
Room. Please ask if you would like any information about local restaurants and cafés.
Film Screenings
Thurs: The Surprise Film and Q&A is in NFT3, 17:30-20:00, following the Networking Drinks.
Fri: Free access for delegates to evening programme at BFI Southbank (subject to availability). See
conference noticeboard for details.
Networking Drinks
Thursday at 16:45 in the Blue Room – all welcome!
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SCHEDULE: THURSDAY 3 JULY
Registration from 08:45
Coffee/tea/pastries Blue Room
Breakfast Sessions 09:15‐10:00
Specification Support Workshops:
AQA Media
OCR Film
OCR Media
WJEC Film
WJEC Media BFI for 15‐25s: Film Academy, Future Film, Schools’ programme Jen Sobol, Noel Goodwin, Mark Reid OFCOM Research: Online participation, consumption and creativity Alison Preston
Opening Plenary 10:15‐11:15
Welcome Dr Paul Gerhardt ‐ Director of Education, BFI Alison Owen – Founder and Producer, Ruby Film & Television (Chair TBA)
NFT3
Break 11:15‐11:45
Coffee/tea Blue Room
Session 1 11:45‐13:00
INDUSTRY Panel Debate: Re‐thinking TV News Samira Ahmed, Dorothy Byrne, David Dunkley Gyimah (Chair TBA) INDUSTRY Commissioning Film 4 Features (start 12:00) Sam Lavender (Chair TBA) TEACHING 21st Century Film – Language, Technology and the Moving Image ‐ An Into Film Approach Jennifer Johnston, Steve Connolly TEACHING Key Media Concepts using HBO’s Girls Rebecca Ellis RESEARCH TV, Race and ‘Creative Diversity’ Dr Sarita Malik
Lunch break 13:00‐13:45
Sandwich lunch 13:25‐13:40: BFI Reuben Library + BFI Mediatheque Short guided tour of the collections and research resources
Blue Room
Session 2 13:45‐15:00
INDUSTRY Directing TV Continuing Drama Emma Sullivan (Chair TBA) INDUSTRY Creating a Games Company: Scrapbook Development Ashley Collins‐Richardson, Chris Gray (Chair TBA) TEACHING Horror Film Leanna Arkell, Sally Thomas TEACHING Audience Kate McCabe RESEARCH Enriching Media Learning: Studying Industry Failure Karin Wahl‐Jorgensen
Break 15:00‐15:30
Coffee/tea Blue Room
Session 3 15:30‐16:45 Special Event
INDUSTRY Producing TV Documentary: Educating Yorkshire David Clews (Chair TBA) INDUSTRY Film Marketing: A Case Study Hugh Spearing (Chair TBA) TEACHING Enhanced Creativity in Practical Production Andy Wallis RESEARCH Channel 4 and British Film Culture Dr Ieuan Franklin Writer Jon Savage on Representations of Teenagers in the Media
16:45‐18:00 Networking Drinks Blue Room
17:30‐20:00 Surprise Film Screening and director Q&A
NFT3
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SCHEDULE: FRIDAY 4 JULY
Registration from 09:00
Coffee/tea/pastries Blue Room
Session 4 09:30‐10:45
INDUSTRY The A‐Z of Making a Short Film Rachna Suri (Chair TBA) INDUSTRY The BBFC and the ‘12A’ Lucy Brett (Chair TBA) TEACHING Business Skills for the Media Industries Victoria Walden TEACHING TV Drama Christine Bell RESEARCH The British Film Industry by Numbers Alex Tosta
Break 10:45‐11:15
Coffee/tea Blue Room
Session 5 11:15‐12:30 Special Event
INDUSTRY Developing a Game Franchise: Fable Mike West (Chair TBA) TEACHING News Providers in the Online Age Roger Gillett RESEARCH Watching (Digital) Media Learning Keith Perera Writer Owen Jones on Representations of the Working Class on TV
Lunch break 12:30‐13:15
Sandwich lunch 12:55‐13:10: BFI Reuben Library + BFI Mediatheque Short guided tour of the collections and research resources
Blue Room
Session 6 13:15‐14:45
INDUSTRY Producing TV Drama: The Smoke (finish 14:30) Noelle Morris (Chair TBA) INDUSTRY Commissioning Original Programming for Youtube (finish 14:30) Rosie Allimonos (Chair TBA) TEACHING Changing Media Regulation (finish 14:30) Rob Miller TEACHING Using iPads in the Classroom Hélène Galdin‐O’Shea RESEARCH British Cinema: Edgar Wright’s Cornetto Trilogy (finish 14:30) Frances Smith
Session 7 14:45‐16:00
INDUSTRY The VFX Industry Ian Murphy (Chair TBA) INDUSTRY Writing for TV: Babylon Jesse Armstrong (Chair TBA) TEACHING Editing Michael Parkes TEACHING Documentary Mark Piper RESEARCH Cinema Technology and Early Cinema Andrew Utterson
Break 16:00‐16:30
Coffee/tea Blue Room
Closing Plenary 16:30-17:15
Adam MacDonald ‐ Director, Sky 1 HD Chair TBA
NFT3
17:15 Thanks and conference close
18:00 Conference desk closes
BFI Southbank screenings Free access for delegates to evening programme at BFI Southbank (subject to availability)
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PLENARIES
We are delighted to present two leading industry figures to speak at the Media Conference Plenary
sessions. Each will offer unique insight into the creative and business priorities shaping their work,
the role they play in driving their organisations, and their thoughts on key current and upcoming
developments in the media industries.
Opening Plenary: Alison Owen
Alison Owen is one of the UK’s leading film and television producers. She earned an Academy
Award® nomination and a BAFTA Award (Best Film) in 1998 for Shekhar Kapur’s historical drama
Elizabeth, which collected a total of seven Academy Awards® and twelve BAFTA nominations. More
recently, Saving Mr. Banks garnered a total of five nominations at this year’s BAFTA awards, including
Outstanding British Film. She is the founding partner of Ruby Film and Television, which she
launched as a production company in 1999. Projects in the works include Gemma Bovery, a take on the
classic ‘Madame Bovary’; Tulip Fever; and Suffragette, from an original screenplay written by Abi
Morgan, directed by Sarah Gavron, with Carey Mulligan starring in the ensemble piece about the
Suffragette movement.
Owen executive produced Stephen Poliakoff’s Dancing on the Edge, an original series for the BBC,
which aired on Starz in the USA, starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, and earned Jacqueline Bisset a Golden
Globe® award for Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Miniseries or TV movie; the first series of the
detective show Case Histories for the BBC, airing in the USA on Masterpiece’s ‘Mystery’ strand in 2011,
starring Jason Isaacs as Kate Atkinson’s hero Jackson Brodie, with a second series airing on the BBC in
2013. Owen also executive produced the Emmy®-winning Temple Grandin, HBO’s inspiring true-life
drama, which picked up seven Emmy® awards, including Outstanding Made for Television Movie,
Outstanding Lead Actress (Claire Danes) and Outstanding Directing (Mick Jackson).
Closing Plenary: Adam MacDonald
Adam MacDonald runs Sky 1 HD, the most watched entertainment channel in pay tv. Benefitting
from Sky’s commitment to invest £600m a year in UK content and production, Sky 1 has flourished
and is home to more home grown shows than ever and the best of the US. Under Adam, Sky 1 has
commissioned Micky Flanagan’s first ever documentary series, to air later this year; Yonderland, from
the makers of Horrible Histories; Critical starring Lennie James and written by Jed Mercurio, writer of
Line of Duty and the return of Jack Bauer in 24 which was the biggest Sky 1 launch this year.
Previously, Adam was VP of Programming, A+E Networks UK – a joint venture of A+E Networks and
BskyB – responsible for programming strategy and production for HISTORY, Crime &
Investigation Network, BIO and Military HISTORY channels in the UK, Africa, Middle East, and other
key European territories. During his time there, ratings at HISTORY increased by 75% and across the
A+E portfolio of channels by 25% over two years. Prior to that, MacDonald was Creative Director, IWC
Media, executive producing Iron Chef UK for Channel 4 and Wreck or Ready for BBC One. MacDonald
has held senior posts across the broadcasters, latterly as Controller of Daytime and Digital Factual at
ITV where he oversaw This Morning and Loose Women. He also commissioned Deal or No Deal, Come Dine
With Me and Coach Trip as Head of Daytime at Channel 4, where he saw share increase by over 30%.
Prior to this, MacDonald was Head of Planning and Scheduling, BBC One, where he began his career.
Conference plenary sessions are supported by Creative Skillset’s Film Skills Fund which is funded by the Skills Investment
Fund (SIF). Please look out for information about their work in delegate packs and at their stand in the Blue Room.
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SPECIAL EVENTS
The conference includes two session led by leading writers and commentators. With strong and
thought provoking views on how media cultures impact on the lives of young people and society as a
whole, we welcome them to share their latest ideas.
Jon Savage - Representations of Teenagers in the Media (Thursday)
Jon Savage is a writer and cultural commentator. His books include The Official Biography of the Kinks
(1984), the award-winning England’s Dreaming: Sex Pistols and Punk Rock (1993), Picture Post Idols (1992),
The Faber Book of Pop with co-author Hanif Kureishi (1995, reissued 2002), Time Travel: From the Sex
Pistols to Nirvana – Pop, Media and Sex 1977-1996 (1996), Teenage: The Creation of Youth 1875-1945 (2007) -
which formed the basis for director Matt Wolf’s feature documentary Teenage (US 2013) for which Jon
co-wrote the screenplay - and The England’s Dreaming Tapes (2009).
Owen Jones - Representations of the Working Class on TV (Friday)
Owen Jones is a columnist for The Independent and The Guardian. He was born in Sheffield and grew up
in Stockport. After graduating, he worked as a trade union and parliamentary researcher. His first
book, Chavs: The Demonization of the Working Class, was published in June 2011. He is currently working
on his second book, on the British Establishment, for Penguin. @OwenJones84
Surprise Film and Q&A The conference has in recent years presented previews including Mark Cousins’ A Story of Children and
Film and Asif Kapadia’s Senna. The film screening and Q&A this year are preceded by Networking
Drinks in the Blue Room for delegates and speakers. This year’s title TBA.
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BREAKFAST SESSIONS
Specification Support Workshops
Speakers TBA
General help and guidance from leading teachers of each specification.
• Useful for: Teachers of AQA Media, OCR Film, OCR Media, WJEC Film or WJEC Media
BFI for 15-25s: Film Academy, Future Film, Schools’ programme
Jen Sobol – Manager, BFI Film Academy
Noel Goodwin – BFI Education Programmer for Young People
Mark Reid – Head of BFI Education
An informal opportunity to meet the key staff leading on areas of formal and informal activity for
young people at BFI Southbank and UK-wide, find out about existing offers and upcoming
programmes and how it might support your teaching and benefit your students.
• Useful for: All teachers of film and media.
Online Participation: Comparing Consumption and Creativity – Key Findings from Ofcom’s Adults’
Media Literacy Research
Alison Preston, Head of Media Literacy Research, Ofcom
This presentation focuses on recently published media literacy research from Ofcom – the Adults’
Media Use and Attitudes report. It gives an overview of the types of activity people are carrying out
online, and looks at how this differs by age group and how activity has changed over time. It focuses
in particular on the types of creative and participative activities people say they carry out, including
writing reviews and giving feedback; and how important they find user-generated information
compared to more traditional sources. It also covers the use of apps and browsers, and which method
people prefer for different types of activity, as well as a comparison of the types of concern people
express about their online experiences. The quantitative findings from the report will be
supplemented by clips from our innovative qualitative project Media Lives.
• Study focus: Digital Media and New Technologies; Audience
SESSION 1
Panel Debate: Re-thinking TV News
Samira Ahmed – Journalist and broadcaster
Dorothy Byrne – Head of News and Current Affairs, Channel 4
David Dunkley Gyimah – Videojournalist, lecturer in Digital Media & Communications at University of
Westminster
How does ‘classic’ TV news – male editor, presenters, guests, a desk, elements of viewer participation
- and the industry structures of staff, production processes and scheduling ensure that news
continues to be produced in this way? How have digital production and opportunities for audience
interaction already had an impact on TV news and where might they go in future? The debate
considers how online alternatives are changing the type of news that attracts audiences, diminishing
the role of the editor, increasing the role of aggregated ‘Most watched’ news and offering all varieties
of information under the title ‘news’. It also considers how news is taught currently at 16+ and how it
might develop to accommodate and anticipate industry change.
• Study focus: British TV industry; TV News and news across platforms; Digital Media and New
Technologies; Audiences
Commissioning Film 4 Features
Sam Lavender – Commissioning Executive, Film 4
Film4 develops and co-finances feature length films for theatrical release in cinemas that will also
eventually play on Channel 4 and Film4, this year including Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave. Their
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subject matter is often contemporary and is usually be made with British-led talent or with British
content. As one of two Commissioning Executives on the Film 4 team, Sam is responsible for
developing and exec producing a slate of between 8-12 feature films a year. In this session he focuses
on how he helps new writers, directors and producers develop their work in the context of Film 4’s
aim to respond with versatility to the needs of each project and the practicalities of internal and
external schedules and structures.
• Study focus: British film Industry; Representation; Role of Channel 4 across UK film and TV
21st Century Film - The Language of the Moving Image: An Into Film Approach
Jennifer Johnston - Programme Manager (Northern Ireland), Into Film
Stephen Connolly – Writer, Consultant and Teacher of Media at Bishop Thomas Grant School, Streatham
This session suggests a range of ways to teach film language and representation topics using
materials newly developed by Into Film. Taking a differentiated approach to a single film, the
workshop is aimed at both experienced teachers of film and media as well as those more recently
encountering Moving Image teaching. As well as exploring ways of learning about the language of the
moving image at basic, intermediate and advanced levels, there is also be a chance to see and discuss
some of the resources that are being developed by the Into Film programme.
• Study focus: Study of the language of the moving image and associated literacy issues, in particular
OCR GCSE, AS and A2 Media Studies; WJEC GCSE and AS Film; AQA GCSE Media Studies or CCEA's
Moving Image Arts specifications
Teaching Key Media Concepts using HBO's Girls: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun? How Lena Dunham
changed Television
Rebecca Ellis - Freelance writer and the Head of Film & Media at Thomas Rotherham College
Zeitgeist hit Girls is a case study to illustrate how to teach Key Media Concepts from textual analysis
to more complex critical approaches such as authorship, providing links to Lena Dunham's body of
work. We look at fandom and critical responses to the programme and the ways in which it
challenges and adheres to theories of representation. The session also looks at 'how we got here',
putting the programme into context of the development of contemporary HBO and exploring the
differences between this and other predecessors including Sex & The City.
• Study focus: Key Media Concepts in WJEC, OCR & AQA AS & A Level Media Studies
TV, Race and ‘Creative Diversity’
Dr Sarita Malik - Lecturer and researcher, Department of Sociology/Communications at Brunel University,
London
This session puts together history and analysis to consider the relationship between race and UK
public service broadcasting. Building on earlier work that recognizes a paradigmatic shift from
multiculturalism to cultural diversity, it identifies a third phase, “creative diversity.” Creative
diversity provides a further incremental de-politicization of race in public service broadcasting
contexts. Here, ideas of quality and creativity are foregrounded over (structural) questions of
(in)equality. Sarita Malik situates the rise of creative diversity alongside parallel developments in the
“crisis of multiculturalism,” UK equality legislative frameworks, and creative industries policy and
argues that creative diversity shifts the paradigm of the multicultural problem (in public service
broadcasting), enables the “marketization” of television and multi-culture, and ultimately continues
to safeguard the interests of public service broadcasting.
Through a critical review of recent literature and policy concepts, the session examines how notions
of race and ethnicity, broadly linked here to the UK’s “visible” ethnic minorities, namely Black and
Asian (South Asian, African, and Caribbean) Britons, are discursively formed, produced, and
circulated through cultural policy. Sarita Malik suggests that the latest diversity plans of UK public
service broadcasters are indicative of a discursive turn to “creativity” in how race and racism are now
officially handled and driven underground, after multiculturalism. The particular nuance inscribed in
“creative diversity” originates from an emergent post-racial discursive politics (not from post-racial
times) and toward economic rationalism. The depoliticization of difference in public service
broadcasting coincides with the creative marketization of television and multi-culture
accommodated by a wider shift from state to market in public provision (Garnham, 2005). Thus,
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media policy developments are directly linked and seen, in this analysis, to coincide with complex
social issues, simultaneously altering the relationship of “minority cultures to mainstream, national
cultural traditions” (Hall, 1997, p. 227).
• Study focus: Multiculturalism; Diversity; British TV industry; Policy; Race/ethnicity; Audience
SESSION 2
Directing TV Continuing Drama
Emma Sullivan – Filmmaker, Writer, Teacher, Drama director for the BBC
The session begins with an overview of the key differences between the work of a director of film or
of TV, focusing on how industry structures operate and how the ‘house style’ of long-running
continuing dramas – aka ‘soaps’ - such as Holby City and Doctors, both of which capture approx.
5million viewers per week, are maintained and creatively developed by successive freelance directors.
Emma goes on to look at the timeline of her work as TV director in relation to an individual story
pitched within the skeletal script structure already in place, the practicalities of managing production
of a continuing drama and the impact of audience response at executive level. The session includes a
case study of one scene, looking at the process of reading, re-reading, casting, rehearsal and shoot.
• Study focus: British TV Industry; Continuing Drama/’Soap’; Audience; Role of the director
Creating a Games Company: Scrapbook Development
Ashley Collins-Richardson - Technical Director, Scrapbook Development
Chris Gray - Co-founder and Creative Director, Scrapbook Development
Scrapbook Development Limited is a games development start-up based in Sheffield. Having already
released Jail Break for PlayStation Mobile and their first iOS title Gravoor (a maze game in which
‘Gravoor’ is guided through 4 worlds and 60 levels, described by nowthenmagazine.com as “a puzzler
with very addictive gameplay”) on the AppStore, Scrapbook have recently launched their first game of
2014: Paper Skies. In this session the team explains the process of starting their own company, the
design, development and approval processes involved in releasing a product for mobile platforms,
and the importance of promoting your product and business, concluding with insight into the
company’s key considerations when planning its next moves.
• Study focus: Computer Games/Video Games industry; Digital Media and New Technologies;
Audience; Genre; Marketing
Teaching Horror Film
Leanna Arkell - Assistant Head, Head of VI Form & Head of Media, Churchdown School, Gloucestershire
Sally Thomas - Technical Media Teacher, Churchdown School
This session sees delegates given the challenge of editing in camera some beautifully creative
gorgeous gore, including the fastest way to create the cheapest blood in large volumes and using
household items to create edible blood that looks great on camera. It also includes how to film and
frame realistic gruesome sequences which will help motivate students in the classroom to create
quality genre set pieces.
• Study focus: Useful for all courses with practical work requiring students to create a moving image
sequence that looks like a ‘real’ text.
The Critical Mass: Audience as a Critical Component to Deconstructing Texts
Kate McCabe - Head of Media Studies, St Gregory The Great Catholic School, Oxford
This session covers the importance of Schema and context in reading, as well as a discussion
considering the need for a move towards a cultural canon in media. It also includes the common
pitfalls in student responses to media texts and a possible formula for analysing unseen texts in
media, focusing on Audience Expectations. Kate shares findings from classroom activities (and invites
participating delegates to share their own), showing examples of student work and illustrating how
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work around Audience Expectations can operate, with activities and resources to build contextual
awareness.
• Study focus: Audience for all GCSE or A Level Media Studies courses
Enriching Media Learning: Studying Industry Failure
Karin Wahl-Jorgensen - Professor in the Cardiff School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies and Director of
Research Development and Environment, University of Cardiff
In this session we explore the need to study industry failure in media studies. Traditionally, research
in our field has focused on success to the detriment of failure; on innovation over resistance to
change, and on the cutting edge over the conservative. For example, the scholarly literature is rife
with work on news organizations which have successfully adapted to a challenging business climate;
on the innovative use of new technologies; or on popular and/or critically acclaimed television shows
and films. Such a focus, however, may not be consistent with understanding the plethora of actual
practices. Here, we can learn from sociologists and organisational theorists who have long studied
systemic failure in other complex industries and systems, ranging from nuclear power stations to
health care organisations. The presentation suggests some ways in which the study of failure can
enrich our work in media studies.
• Study focus: Key Concepts; Digital Media; Theories of production and changing technologies,
particularly at AS and A2 Media
SESSION 3
Producing TV Documentary: Educating Yorkshire
David Clews – Head of Documentaries, Twofour
Channel 4 is now well known for its fixed-camera ob docs including The Family, One Born Every Minute,
The Hotel and 24 Hours In A&E. While the fixed-camera technique is still evolving, in Educating Essex
and then Educating Yorkshire it captured school life in a way never seen before. For Essex, director
David and the production team prepared for two months, watching lessons and getting a feel for the
school, before the main seven-week shoot with 62 cameras in the second half of the autumn term.
How did this experience work for the crew and the school, and what, if anything, was changed by
David as producer for Yorkshire? What are the key challenges and joys of producing fixed-camera ob
docs? How do the two series represent their subject, both individuals and pedagogy per se?
• Study focus: British TV industry; Key Concepts; Documentary
Film Marketing: A Case Study
Hugh Spearing - Head of UK Marketing, Studiocanal
In 2014, Studiocanal’s UK releases will include Inside Llewyn Davies, Under the Skin, Suzanne, The Wind
Rises and (Media Conference 2014 cover image) Richard Ayoade’s The Double, as well as titles as
diverse as Robocop and Paddington. Focusing on one Studiocanal title, in this session Hugh offers a
unique opportunity to understand the life of a film from its first screenings to the film industry to
first screenings for the public, via all the costs, schedules, audience research and launch activity –
very different in size and scope depending on the budget and ambition of the independent distributor
or studio involved.
• Study focus: British Film industry; Digital Media; Marketing; Audiences
Enhanced Creativity in Practical Production
Andy Wallis – Head of Media, Ashfield School, Nottinghamshire
This session looks at ways to produce imaginative and creative film openings and music videos for
students. It examines effective research and planning, getting the most out of camerawork and post
production skills focusing on sound, colour grading and effects (as a practical exercise), taking
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students - and teachers - out of their comfort zones, ways of celebrating student work and integrating
with other departments to enhance creativity.
• Study focus: All media courses involving practical production, in particular OCR A Level Media
Studies (G321, G324), AQA A Level Media Studies (Units 2 and 4), WJEC A Level Media Studies (MS2,
MS3)
Channel 4 and British Film Culture: Television’s Intervention
Dr Ieuan Franklin - Lecturer in Film and Media Theory, University of Bournemouth and Wiltshire
College (Salisbury) and post-doctoral Research Assistant, University of Portsmouth
After financing and producing Oscar-winning films like Slumdog Millionaire (2008) and 12 Years a Slave
(2013), Film4 has experienced unprecedented success. Tessa Ross is to leave Channel 4 for the
National Theatre, so what better time to evaluate the contribution of Channel 4 to British film
culture? This paper will build upon a 4-year Arts and Humanities Research Council funded project
(2010-4), which investigated this very topic.
In 2012 Chris Smith’s Film Policy Review praised the role played by Public Service Broadcasters in
supporting British film production. Alongside Lottery Funding, this form of investment provides
finance for half the films produced annually in the UK. What effect does this investment have? How
have the distinctive identities and roles of Film4 and BBC Films been developed and secured? In
addressing these questions, the session considers how the history of Film4 is instructive in exploring
the relationship between aesthetics, economics, audience and risk in British film culture, including
clips of Film 4 titles and interviews with key figures.
• Study focus: British Film industry; film policy (regional and national); Key Concepts
SPECIAL EVENT: Writer Jon Savage on Representations of Teenagers in the Media
SESSION 4
The A-Z of Making a Short Film
Rachna Suri – Director (Our Lad/UK 2013)
Our Lad (14min), a moving contemporary drama focusing on a soldier’s unexpected return home from
Afghanistan, premiered at the BFI London Film Festival in 2013. We are delighted to have its director
Rachna Suri join us at the conference to give the full story of the making of the film, from first idea
through development, funding, pre-production, production and post to first screening. We consider
the practicalities and the highs and lows from the director’s point of view, using one scene as a case
study in order to understand all the processes and decisions involved. The session includes a
screening of Our Lad, and see also http://ourlad.net/
• Study focus: British Film industry – production of a short film; Representations; Role of film
festivals
The BBFC and the ‘12A’
Lucy Brett – Head of Education, BBFC
This 2-part session looks first at the BBFC today, including their work with young people and the
general public and significant changes over time which have led to the new Guidelines, as well as an
overview of the Guidelines themselves. It goes on to focus on the evolution of the 12A certificate,
including some background to how and why it was created, notable 12A decisions and discussion of
key 12A examples since the certificate was launched in 2002.
• Study focus: Institutions; Audiences; British Film industry: Regulation
Business Skills for the Media Industries
Victoria Walden - Teacher at Strode’s College, Surrey and PhD candidate at Queen Mary, University of London
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“Training people to push buttons and operate machinery which in an industry that is dependent upon the
creativity of its personnel is inadequate to its needs.” (McLuskie, 2000:103). Much of our attention as media
teachers is focused on training students to be critical spectators or technically competent producers
of aesthetically pleasing texts. But is this what the industry needs? A recent survey, the Creative
Skillset Skills Group’s Report to the Creative Industries Council (Jan 2012), illustrates the most needed,
and most lacking, skills in the creative and media sectors are attracting funding, asset exploitation,
risk management, entrepreneurial skills, conflict resolution and core business skills.
This session explores Victoria’s recent research project and pilot educational scheme focused on
developing the media business skills of level 3 students. The learning experience was aimed at
narrowing the gap between media vocational education and the needs of the industry; and
attempting to prepare young people for long-term employment in the media. This session covers the
aims and objectives of the project, its successes and limitations, guidelines for setting up such a
project in a school or college, and valuable learning activities.
• Study focus: Vocational courses and teaching practical elements, specifically for BTEC level 3
TV Drama: Stories, Audiences and Organisations
Christine Bell - Curriculum Leader for Media Studies, Heaton Manor School, Newcastle Upon Tyne
This session considers the essential links between the media text, the organisation that produces it
and the audiences that consume it. When we look at a channel's schedule, television drama
constitutes a major part of that schedule. How do television dramas construct narrative and
representations? What hybrids and sub-genres are on offer? What pleasures does the genre offer
audiences? Why are television dramas important to channels and organisations? These questions
will be discussed and the session includes reference to examples of useful extracts from television
dramas that address different areas of the specifications. There will also be ideas for classroom
activities to engage students and broaden their understanding of this topic.
• Study focus: Key Concepts; Genre; TV Drama; Audiences; British TV industry, for teachers
of GCSE, AS and A2 level Media Studies
The British Film Industry by Numbers
Alex Tosta - Research Manager, BFI Research and Statistics Unit
This session provides a statistical overview of the British film industry from production through to
theatrical distribution, exhibition and the rapidly changing home entertainment market, showing
how it contributes to UK GDP. Focusing on young people in particular, it will include an overview of
film education and the workforce, showing the number of children studying film and those working
in film. The presentation highlights some of the issues with the market: cinema is the focus of film
release with an audience of 166 million, but film on TV has the largest audience of around 3.6 billion;
video on demand is the new(ish) home entertainment (sort of), but how do we know its impact on the
market when there is little data on it and US studio films still dominate the market? And will this be
the case in the future with China’s growing cinema population and increasing flexibility regarding
exhibiting non-Chinese film?
• Study focus: Institutions; Audiences; British Film industry
SESSION 5
Developing a Game Franchise: Fable
Mike West - Lead Designer, Lionhead Studios
Including an overview of the key different kinds of games available, how they and audiences have
developed in recent years and the impact this has had on the games industry in the UK, the session
focuses on Mike’s roles on the Fable franchise at Lionhead, from contributing to the script for Fable I to
lead combat designer for Fable III. Find out how game designers devise the core elements of a game
and gameplay, and how they and the development team go about creating the art assets and
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computer code, within budget and timescale: what are the working differences between independent
development studios and publisher-owned (Lionhead is owned by Microsoft)? How does a designer
link the capabilities and benefits of different hardware platforms (PC, console, handheld…),
familiarity with software technologies and techniques appropriate to each platform and the creative
needs of a game’s narrative over successive editions?
• Study focus: Computer Games/Video Games industry; Digital Media and New Technologies;
Audience; Genre
News Providers in the Online Age
Roger Gillett – Consultant and Head of Media and Film Studies, Mill Hill County High School, London
News is a transmedia product, seen on all platforms, with the internet as a central hub. This session
looks at news provision pre-internet and goes on to examine the impact of the web on news
providers and news audiences. There will be some consideration of newspapers, using The Guardian
as a case study, as well as exploration of the effects of portable technologies and social media on the
News Industry.
• Study focus: OCR GCE Media Studies (G322 Audiences and institutions- Newspapers, G323 Advanced
Coursework Portfolio -Television News, G325 Global Media, Media in the Online Age, We Media); OCR
GCSE Media Studies (B321 Individual Media Studies Portfolio – News, B324 Production Portfolio - The
News); AQA GCSE Media Studies (Unit 1 - Set topic 2015- Television News) and AQA GCE Media
Studies (MEST1 – Cross Media Study- News, MEST2 - Current Affairs, MEST3 - Critical Perspectives)
Watching (Digital) Media Learning
Keith Perera - Assistant Headteacher at St Paul's Catholic College in Burgess Hill and Lead Tutor PGCE English
at the University of Sussex
Keith’s on-going research is into the relationship between youth media practices and formal media
study. It is an ethnographic action research study based on the preparation of one A-Level media
studies class for their examination over the course of a year. Research data has been gathered in
various forms: video recordings of all lessons, focus groups, teacher blog, and students’ written and
practical work. In addition digital data that crosses the boundaries between home/school and
work/leisure has been collected: SMS texts, e-mails and Internet search history. It has been necessary
to convince a stringent research ethics board of the vital need for this kind of data whilst protecting
the students, the school and the researcher in devising effective child protection systems that
primarily safeguard the young people taking part in the research. Through a supposedly simple
before/after series of action research cycles on teaching film, journalism and new media, the research
has questioned notions of digital natives, agency and literacy - immersed in wider debates initiated
by the Media Studies 2.0 critique. The session also looks at reasserting the ‘political’ nature of both
youth media practices and institutionalised media learning, offering a nuanced approach to the
studying of media texts in the digital age.
• Study focus: Digital media; Social media; Pedagogy
SPECIAL EVENT: Writer Owen Jones on representations of the working class on TV
SESSION 6
Producing TV Drama: The Smoke
Noelle Morris – Executive Producer, Kudos
Following an overview of Noelle’s work as a producer for the BBC, Red and Kudos, this session focuses
on The Smoke, the recent Kudos drama series for Sky 1 HD. We consider how an Executive Producer
for an independent production company balances the needs and structures of their own work with
the commissioner’s requirements from initial pitch to final delivery, also developing and nurturing
relationships with writers and directors. The session includes a case study focusing on how some of
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the core elements of The Smoke - a character-driven script, the SFX required for a series focusing on
the emergency services – came together in production.
• Study focus: British TV industry; Key Concepts; Genre
Commissioning Original Programming for YouTube
Rosie Allimonos - Head of Content Partnerships, Original Channels, Google EMEA
Google and other technology giants such as Yahoo, Amazon, Netflix, Hulu and Microsoft are
challenging traditional producers of television content in the increasingly competitive world of high-
quality digital video. Google streams via YouTube, commissioning web channels - the most popular of
which gain more than a million views per episode – generating online video ad revenue and
impacting on the production of drama and other genres as well as on audience viewing habits for
cable, satellite and terrestrial. Broadcasting online offers unique access to audience insight: YouTube
has instant feedback from its ‘Comments’ section as well as data revealing exactly when audiences
fast forward or switch off. In this session Rosie offers insight into why YouTube stopped being a place
to put clips and started being a channel and her key considerations when deciding what to
commission next.
• Study focus: Digital Media; New technologies; Drama; Social media; Cross platform; Changing Media
Regulation
Understanding Contemporary Media Regulation
Rob Miller - Media and Film consultant, freelance writer, examiner, private tutor and editor of
Edusites Ltd. MediaEdu and FilmEdu
This session focuses on whether there is a need for media regulation in the digital age. The concept of
regulation is at times complex but fundamentally simplistic – regulation of the media seeks to protect
sections of society who may be ‘victim’ to passive consumption, but is this still relevant? As an
interactive session it examines the workings of media industry regulators, and develops theoretical
approaches incorporating existing theory and debate.
Study focus: Introduction to Regulation – PCC (print and online); Television Regulation and
Censorship - The role of Ofcom; Regulating Films and Video Games - BBFC and PEGI; Advertising
and the ASA. Relevant for OCR A2 Media Studies (G325 Section B – Contemporary Media Issues),
WJEC A2 Media Studies (MS4 regulation topic), AQA Media Studies (MEST1 and MEST3) and also OCR
A2 Film Studies (F633 topic Film Regulation and Classification).
Making Learning Visible in the Media Classroom with the Help of iPads
Hélène Galdin-O’Shea – TeachMeet organiser, conference programmer (Pedagoo London, researchED) and
Teacher of English and Media at Park High School in Stratford, London
This hands-on session looks at a range of activities whose purpose is to encourage reciprocal
teaching, a great tool in our AfL palette, and scoring high on Hattie’s list of strategies that ‘work’.
The aim is to use the iPad as a flexible tool which allows to record students’ ongoing work, helping to
assess their learning and informing teacher planning to ensure learning is happening over time. This
session will show a few useful apps to make this work well but most importantly, will showcase a
range of tasks using iPads. The session explores the time-saving possibilities of using the Ipad as a
camera and editing tool including making work available for audience review on YouTube. Using the
iPad for structured research is also something worth exploring (and combined with the use of QR
codes), as is the great app that is Explain Everything, a great tool for powerful AfL. There will also be
an opportunity to explore ways of using Twitter, blogs, and other resources.
PLEASE NOTE: This is a hands-on session with a limited number of iPads available. More delegates
can be accommodated if they can bring their own iPads: when completing your Session Selection
Form, please note whether you will bring an iPad or wish to borrow one.
• Study focus: GCSE and A Level classes and all exam boards
The Special Relationship: British Cinema and Hollywood in Edgar Wright’s Cornetto Trilogy
Frances Smith - PhD in Film and Television Studies at the University of Warwick, lecturer at the University of
Winchester
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The session explores concepts of transnational cinema and relates them to the way in which Shaun of
the Dead (2004) Hot Fuzz (2007) and The World’s End (2013), collectively known as the ‘Cornetto Trilogy’,
playfully rework the conventions of Hollywood cinema in a uniquely British setting. The session will
unpick what aspects make these films particularly British and consider what attributes are derived
from Hollywood in order to consider the nature of the transnational. If time, the session will also
analyse the construction of British masculinity in the films and explore what traits are seen to be
appropriate or otherwise with reference to the Hollywood action hero figure that the films do much
to satirise.
• Study focus: National, transnational and global cinema; British Film industry; Hollywood cinema;
Gender and popular cinema
SESSION 7
The VFX Industry
Ian Murphy – VFX Compositor and Trainer
We are exposed to the UK’s VFX talent every day, from the films in the cinema to commercials, idents
and promos on TV; VFX is no longer the icing or gloss on a film or television production but often
integral to both story and style. The UK’s VFX industry is world renowned and strategically important
to the future of the infrastructure of film production in the UK: its quality work attracts studios to
shoot films here, since it is in their interest to maximise activity in the UK throughout the filmmaking
process and VFX can be one of the highest earning areas of the filmmaking process (in 2010, VFX was
a significant lure for the $920 million of inward film investment). In this session Ian covers wider
issues for the VFX industry, links to key issues surrounding the teaching of skills needed by the
industry, as well as focusing in detail on one film and the VFX work it involved.
• Study focus: British Film Industry; VFX; core skills for VFX
Writing for TV: Babylon
Jesse Armstrong - Co-creator, Executive Producer and Writer (Peep Show, Fresh Meat), Writer/co-writer (The
Thick of It, In The Loop, Four Lions, Babylon)
Having developed and written for film and television in the UK and US, Jesse has also moved beyond
writing into producing and directing, allowing him to work with a script throughout its life on a
production. In this session we explore how Jesse writes, often with Sam Bain and other key
collaborators, what his methods are for bringing the script to screen, how TV and film operate
differently and why comedy is his preferred genre. Focusing on Babylon and this take on modern
policing as a case study, we look at how he created characters and constructed narrative and how far
and in what ways he held on to his initial vision through the production process.
• Study focus: British TV industry; Genre; Representations; Screenwriting
Teaching Editing for A-Level Media
Michael Parkes - Teacher of Media, Bilborough College, Nottingham
In this session, Michael considers ways in which you can help your students to understand the
crucial role of editing in making meaning in film and television texts. Please note that this is not a
practical editing workshop. There will be activities to take away to use in your own classrooms.
• Study focus: All courses involving theoretical study of editing.
Teaching Documentary and Spectatorship
Mark Piper - Head of Media and Film, Godalming College VI Form College, Surrey
This session focuses on pragmatic approaches to teaching documentary and spectatorship studies. It
aims to provide guidance on choosing suitable texts which students will find engaging and inspiring;
helping students apply relevant spectatorship theories to a diverse range of texts within the context
of documentary; providing classroom resources and practical ideas to approaching the topic;
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constructing a coherent scheme of work. During the session we will watch a range of material –
Koyaanisqatsi, Être et Avoir, Biggie & Tupac - and discuss ways in which audiences’ understanding of
‘reality’ and ‘truth’ can be challenged by the form. The main aim is to offer inspiration and innovative
and practical approaches to teaching the topic.
• Study focus: A-level Film and Media, particularly WJEC Film Studies but also OCR Film Studies (Film
& Audience Experience) and AQA Media Studies (Investigating Media / cross media topic)
Early Cinema: Learning to Love the Past
Andrew Utterson - Assistant Professor of Screen Studies, Roy H. Park School of Communications, Ithaca College,
New York
Approximately 120 years after the so-called birth of cinema in 1895, as teachers and students of film,
one of the fundamental questions we face today is how best to transport ourselves back in time to
contextualize and understand the history of cinema, not least in its very earliest years. Specifically,
how might we best understand and explore this history in relation to the particular moving image
experiences, cultures, and practices of an entire generation of students for whom cinema arguably
exists in the past tense, i.e. subsequent to what Susan Sontag described in 1996 as cinema’s
“ignominious, irreversible decline”? With a particular focus on early cinema (i.e. its very first
decades), this session analyses and discusses a series of recent films including Martin Scorsese’s
Hugo to consider exactly what we might learn of early cinema through today’s late - or even post-
cinematic -lens, and indeed of the birth of cinema through its subsequent death.
Study focus: AS and A2 Media, particularly OCR AS (F631 topic Cinema in Context: Early Cinema
1895–1915) the specification for which mentions by name several of the shorts that Scorsese
references and extracts in Hugo; WJEC A2 (FM4 topic Varieties of Film Experience – Issues and
Debates: Spectatorship and Early Cinema Before 1917) and also potentially OCR AS (F631 section
Cinema in Context: Contemporary English Language Film); OCR AS (F631 topic Cinema in Context:
Developments in 21st Century Cinema and Film 2000–present); AQA A2 (MEST3 topic Critical
Perspectives: The Impact of New/Digital Media)
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SPEAKERS
Samira Ahmed is an award-winning journalist, broadcaster and visiting professor of journalism at
Kingston University. She presents Newswatch on BBC1, and her TV work includes 2 series of Sunday
Morning Live, The Proms on BBC4 and the acclaimed Channel 4 series Islam Unveiled. She presents
Something Understood on Radio 4 and Free Thinking on Radio 3 and makes documentaries for Radio 4,
including I Dressed Ziggy Stardust and Archive on 4: Riding into Town about Westerns. She writes a
column for The Big Issue and contributes to newspapers including The Guardian. She won a Stonewall
Broadcast of the year award for her report on "corrective" rape in South Africa while a reporter and
presenter at Channel 4 News. Samira began her career as a BBC News trainee and has worked as a
reporter on Newsnight, the Today programme, as the BBC's Los Angeles Correspondent and news
anchor for Deutsche Welle TV in Berlin.
Rosie Allimonos is Head of Content Partnerships, Original Channels, Google EMEA. Throughout her
career she’s focussed on combining the art of storytelling with the power of digital technologies.
Before joining Google, she worked with the BBC as a Multiplatform Commissioner where she
pioneered the BBC’s most successful digital content ventures, developing made-for-web dramas,
narrative gaming and augmented reality experiences (see her TED Talk from 2011 in which she argues
for working across ‘silos’ to create narrative http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lv2_jZ6tIGg).
Passionate about innovation in online video, Rosie worked closely with the BBC’s R&D arm where she
conceived The Mythology Engine – a prototype that mapped long-running TV series into a transmedia
wiki for unlocking the BBC archive. She has won numerous awards for her work including SXSW,
BAFTA and a Webby for online series.
Leanna Arkell is Assistant Head, Head of VI Form & Head of Media at Churchdown School in
Gloucestershire. She and Sally Thomas run a highly successful Media Department at Churchdown,
motivated by a belief in drawing out the best in their students and having a great deal of fun in the
process, coupled with a thirst for ever-expanding their knowledge. They have presented their work
on Horror previously at the MEA conference 2013 and the OCR annual conference 2014. See their work
at http://churchdownmediahub.weebly.com/
Jesse Armstrong is co-creator, executive producer and writer of 8 series of Channel 4’s Peep Show. He
also wrote for The Thick of It from its inception and co-wrote the script for the film In The Loop. With
long-term collaborators Sam Bain and Chris Morris, Jesse co-wrote the script for Four Lions. He also co-
created, executive produces, and writes comedy drama series Fresh Meat (C4) and co-created Babylon
with Sam Bain and Danny Boyle, focusing on modern policing, politics and PR. Working as a solo
writer, Jesse wrote The Entire History of You for Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror C4 series (since optioned
by Warner Bros. and Robert Downey Jnr’s Production company), the first season finale of HBO’s Veep
and an as-yet unproduced screenplay about Rupert Murdoch and his family which appeared on the
2010 Hollywood ‘Black List’ of best unproduced screenplays. He has a film about US political strategist
Lee Atwater in development with Adam McKay’s Gary Sanchez Productions. He is currently
developing a TV series about contemporary UK politics called Sex & Politics for Kudos and BBC TV
based on his short story Life During Wartime, and a pilot for HBO about freebooting young men in
Africa called The Ambassadors. He is also completing a novel for Jonathan Cape about a group of
idealistic young people who travel to Bosnia during the conflict with the aim of stopping the war
through the power of experimental theatre. In 2013 he directed his first short film, No Kaddish in
Carmarthen.
Christine Bell graduated from Goldsmiths, London University (BA Hons: Drama and English) and
Newcastle University (MA: British and American Modern Literature, Film and Television). She has
been teaching Media Studies for 28 years and is currently Curriculum Leader for Media Studies at
Heaton Manor School, a large 11-18 secondary school in Newcastle Upon Tyne. For several years she
has been an examiner for WJEC and at present she is Principal for the AS examination and a Team
Leader for the A2 internally assessed unit. She has also delivered CPD events around the country and
spoken at conferences. She is an experienced author having contributed to Exploring The Media,
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Teaching The Music Press (Auteur), and The Media Teacher's Handbook (Routledge), as well as AS and A2
Media Studies: Study and Revision Guide (Illuminate) and the recent GCSE Media Studies: Revision and
Study Guide.
Lucy Brett is Head of Education at the BBFC, coordinating the education and outreach programme
including education visits, creating online resources and running the BBFC’s series of in house
seminars. Lucy joined the BBFC as an Examiner in 2004 and became Education Officer in 2010. Prior to
joining the BBFC, Lucy was a journalist for trade and consumer home entertainment magazines and a
Media Studies teacher.
Dorothy Byrne is the Head of News and Current Affairs at Channel Four. She has strategic
responsibility for Channel Four News and for all current affairs output as well as commissioning
current affairs programmes directly herself, many of which, such as recent reporting on war crimes
in Sri Lanka, have been multi-award winning. Dorothy was previously the editor of Channel 4’s
Dispatches. She began her television career at Granada Television on Granada Reports and was a
producer/director on World in Action, and was also the editor of The Big Story on ITV. Dorothy is a
visiting Professor at The School of Journalism at Lincoln University and was made a Fellow of The
Royal Television Society for her “outstanding contribution to television”.
David Clews is Head of Documentaries at Twofour where he oversees the company’s documentary
output for major UK and international broadcasters. As a producer, he has made observational
documentaries including the critically acclaimed Surviving Gazza, Boys from the Brown Stuff, and The
Family. In 2012 he was awarded a BAFTA Television Craft Award for his work directing Educating Essex
and went on to produce Educating Yorkshire. Current projects for Twofour include include an ‘ob doc’
series for Channel 4 exploring the experiences of Royal Marines in training, using a combination of
fixed-rig cameras and embedded directors.
Ashley Collins-Richardson has been employed as a software engineer outside of the games industry
since graduating from the BSc in Games Software Development at SHU in 2012 under the PlayStation
First academic partnership programme. During his time as a software developer at Qualsys Ltd Ash
designed and developed a number of enterprise applications such as iEQMS and iEQMS Auditor for
both iPhone and iPad and has worked with a number of clients such as SODEXO, BT and DIAGEO. As
Technical Director of Scrapbook Development, Ash been responsible for the design and development
of a number of video game and business applications for PlayStation Vita, Windows Phone, Android
and iOS platforms. He has also spoken at a number of industry talks such as Games Britannia 2013.
Dr Steve Connolly currently divides his time between teaching Media at Bishop Thomas Grant
School Streatham and a range of other writing and research activities including freelance work for
amongst others, Into Film, The English and Media Centre and DARE (Digital Arts Research in
Education). He has written for Media Magazine, In the Picture and contributed chapters to both
Current Perspectives in Media Education (eds. Fraser and Wardle, 2013) and Media Teaching (eds. Burn and
Durran, 2008). Before this, he was Director of Specialism at a Visual and Media Arts College in South
London, as well as teaching Media and Film for many years at a number of London Schools.
David Dunkley Gyimah was one of the first video journalists in the UK (1994) and has since worked
or consulted for a number of bodies including the Press Association, BBC (Newsnight, World Service),
WTN, Reportage, ABC News, Channel 4 News, PowerHouse, Breakfast New, Channel One and
dotcoms. He is a regular conference speaker and presenter on issues of next generation TV and
videojournalism. David has a degree in Applied Chemistry, postgrad in Journalism and postgrad
modules in International Relations. He is an Artist in Residence at the Southbank Centre, a member
of think tank Chatham House and lecturer in Digital Media & Communications at the University of
Westminster.
Rebecca Ellis is a freelance writer and the Head of Film & Media at Thomas Rotherham College in
Rotherham, Yorkshire. She currently writes for Little White Lies magazine. Her main academic
interests lie in gender and representation in contemporary media.
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Dr Ieuan Franklin is currently a Lecturer in Film and Media Theory at Bournemouth University
and Wiltshire College (Salisbury). Ieuan has been working as post-doctoral Research Assistant at
the University of Portsmouth, on a four-year project funded by the Arts and Humanities Research
Council (AHRC) to examine the influence the broadcaster Channel 4 has had on British film culture.
This has created several outputs including a major 30th anniversary conference in 2012, a BUFVC
database based on the digitization of C4 Press Packs, and two special issues of key journals in the
field. Ieuan was awarded a PhD at Bournemouth University in 2009, where his thesis focused on the
uses of oral history in radio documentaries and features. He also has a background as a film archivist
and freelance consultant with expertise in media archives. He is also currently pursuing a research
interest in community media.
Hélène Galdin-O’Shea is Teacher of English and Media at Park High School in Stratford, London. She
has been a teacher, primarily of English, for seventeen years and has led the teaching of Media
Studies for the last seven at A Level – and at GCSE level for the last year. She has been a moderator for
AS coursework for OCR and is part of the CPD team at Park High School, championing lesson study in
particular and facilitating the work done by staff enquiry groups. Outside school, she spends much of
her time organising TeachMeets and Conferences, notably Pedagoo London and the researchED
events with Tom Bennett. Of this work she says “I am always in awe at the generosity of teachers to
share their practice and their willingness to learn from another and do anything I can to facilitate
that. “ @hgaldinoshea @parkhighmedia
Roger Gillett has worked as a teacher of Media and Film and as a media consultant since 1995. He is
currently Head of Media and Film Studies at Mill Hill County High School.
Chris Gray is a co-Founder and Creative Director of Scrapbook Development Limited, an independent
software development company operating out of Sheffield. He graduated from Sheffield Hallam
University in 2012 with a Masters degree in Animation where he currently lectures in Games Design.
At Scrapbook Chris has lead a variety of projects ranging from mobile apps to videogames for the
PlayStation Vita, Windows Phone, Android and iOS platforms. Chris has developed several
promotional videos for clients such as the NHS and Sheffield City Council. He has also received
numerous accolades for his animation work, some of which have been screened at local film
festivals.
Jennifer Johnston works as Programme Manager for Into Film, based in Northern Ireland. Into Film is
a film education charity funded by the British Film Institute, that provides audiovisual teaching
resources for schools, CPD training for teachers and film clubs for students. Passionately committed
to the use of film for teaching and learning, Jennifer has worked in a number of schools developing
programmes that increase student engagement, improve literacy skills and raise attainment. Jennifer
is a filmmaker whose work has been screened in the 15-second and Belfast Film Festivals. As a
teacher of Moving Image Arts, her students have won a range of awards including the Cinemagic and
Foyle Film Festivals, Cinemagic young filmmaker of the year (2012 and 2013), and the National Youth
Film Festival (2013). Jennifer is a member of the Board of Northern Ireland Screen, Principal Moderator
for CCEA’s Moving Image Arts (AS) and an Apple Distinguished Educator.
Sam Lavendar joined Film4 in 2006 as Development Editor, was promoted to Head of Development in
2009 and Commissioning Executive in 2012. The films he has worked across in development include
Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire, Joe Cornish’s Attack the Block, Ben Wheatley’s Sightseers and
Jonathan Glazer’s Under the Skin. He was Executive Producer on David MacKenzie’s Starred Up and
upcoming titles include Lone Scherfig’s The Riot Club, Yann Demange’s ’71 and Gerard Johnson’s
Hyena. Before joining Film4 he did an MA in Film at the BFI and worked as Head of Development at
London-based production company F&ME.
Dr Sarita Malik lectures and researches in the Department of Sociology/Communications at Brunel
University, London. Her doctoral research, based at the British Film Institute, analysed the history of
Black and Asian representation on British television and was supervised by the renowned sociologist,
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Stuart Hall. Subsequently she worked for the BBC as a Researcher, and later as an Arts Programmer,
research bid writer and Research Fellow on a large ESRC project exploring public understandings of
regulation. Sarita’s academic research is focused on how social processes and systems operate in
relation to ideology and inequalities, with a particular focus on the relationship between the media
and cultural representation. Current projects examine cultural diversity and public service
broadcasting, reality TV and discourses of equality, and black and Asian British cinema. Sarita
frequently blogs for The Guardian and contributes to a wide range of print and web publications.
Media appearances have included Channel 4, the BBC, Sky Television and Russia Today.
Kate McCabe has been Head of Media Studies at St Gregory The Great Catholic School in Oxford for 4
Years. The department has grown significantly in that time, with many classes running throughout
KS4 and KS5, working towards BTEC level 2, BTEC Level 3 and A level. Like many Media teachers, her
career path began in English. Prior to Secondary English teaching, she taught EAL for a number of
years and completed an MA in Applied Linguistics with a dissertation focus on the process of
Reading, specifically how the brain constructs meaning from ‘chunks’ of information. This research
has proved invaluable in her teaching when considering how students create and make meaning
from reading media texts.
Rob Miller is a Media and Film consultant, freelance writer, examiner, private tutor and editor of
Edusites Ltd. MediaEdu and FilmEdu. Increasingly he is providing online and onsite support for
teachers and students in schools and colleges on a range of topics and specifications. He regularly
runs study days for the BFI and also privately CPD and topic booster and revision workshops on every
Media Studies and Film Studies topic at GCSE, AS and A2 as part of his broad freelance portfolio. Rob
started teaching Media and Film Studies in 1998 and for 10 years ran a large grade 1 Media Studies
department, since developing his career as a full time freelance consultant.
Noelle Morris studied at the Central School of Speech and Drama, before working at the National
Theatre Studio and the Royal Court. Her first job in TV was as trainee script editor on Psychos. She
then joined the BBC, working on a variety of projects, including: Peter Moffat’s Cambridge Spies, Abi
Morgan’s Murder, Andrew Davies’ Tipping the Velvet, and World Productions’ seminal series Cops.
Noelle became Head of Production at Red in 2002, where her projects included Clocking Off and Linda
Green by Paul Abbott, Sparkhouse, Jane Hall’s Big Bad Bus Ride by Sally Wainwright and Conviction by Bill
Gallagher (BAFTA and RTS nominated). Noelle joined Kudos, one of the UK’s leading television
production companies, in 2007 as Head of Development, and is currently an Executive Producer there.
Projects at Kudos include The Hour (Golden Globe nominated), Utopia, We’ll Take Manhattan, West 10
LDN, Law & Order: UK, Mayday and The Smoke.
Ian Murphy has over 13 years’ experience of delivering VFX for feature films and in the design and
facilitation of industry led training courses. Having worked with companies including Double
Negative, Cinesite, Rushes and Passion Pictures, he has also delivered courses for the National
Film & Television School and Escape Studios in the UK and Atomic Fiction in the US. He works with
industry, runs in-house apprenticeship schemes and mentors VFX industry start-ups. As an advisor
in careers, industry practice and VFX skills, he helps colleges, universities and training providers get
up to speed on current industry practice. He conducts training needs analysis, designs courses and
provides customised staff training and help with pitch documents and funding proposals.
@compcoach
Michael Parkes is Teacher of Media at Bilborough College in Nottingham, and has over ten years
experience teaching Media and Film Studies. He has presented sessions at the OCR annual conference
on postmodern media, the music industry and textual analysis and is currently completing research
in audience behaviour and consumption of film piracy for a PhD from the University of Nottingham.
Keith Perera is Assistant Headteacher at St Paul's Catholic College in Burgess Hill and Lead Tutor
PGCE English at the University of Sussex.
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Mark Piper is Head of Media and Film at Godalming College 6th Form College in Surrey – one of the
highest achieving state 6th forms in the UK. With a Masters Degree in Media, Culture and Education
from the Institute of Education, he has been working in the field of media education for over 15 years.
Prior to this Mark had a career in film and television archive research and more recently, was an
employee of the British Board of Film Classification – first serving as a Film, Video and Video Games
Examiner and then as Education Officer. His main specialisms include documentary, horror and
exploitation cinema.
Alison Preston is Head of Media Literacy Research at Ofcom, the independent regulator and
competition authority for the UK communications industries. She leads Ofcom’s media literacy
research, which provide a wealth of data on the media habits and opinions of children aged 5–15
and their parents, and adults aged 16+, interviewing over 6,000 people annually. Ofcom’s Media Use
and Attitudes reports show trends since 2005 in the areas of take-up and use of different media, with
a particular focus on internet habits and attitudes. Alison joined Ofcom in 2003, and previously
worked as a research consultant on digital media policy and independent TV production business
models. She has a doctorate from the University of Stirling which examines the development of the
UK’s TV news industry, and has carried out a number of multi-country analyses of TV news coverage
of conflicts.
Frances Smith recently completed a PhD in Film and Television Studies at the University of Warwick
and is currently a lecturer at the University of Winchester. Her doctoral thesis investigated gender
and class in the Hollywood Teen Movie. She has since published widely, on gender and genre in
Hollywood cinema and is currently preparing a monograph that draws from her doctoral research.
Additionally, she is co-editing with Professor Timothy Shary (Clark University) a volume of original
essays on director and screenwriter Amy Heckerling, which is due to appear in 2015. Frances’ latest
research focuses on the construction of masculinity in American film and television, and the
relationship between Hollywood and British cinema.
Hugh Spearing is Head of UK Marketing for film distributor Studiocanal.
Emma Sullivan is a filmmaker who works as a drama director for the BBC, a writer and a teacher. She
has directed continuing dramas Holby City and Doctors for BBC1. She is attached to direct a feature
film and also writes scripts and prose. In 2012 she reached the final shortlist of the Wellcome Trust/
BFI/ Film 4 Screenwriting Prize, and in 2011 she was mentored by director John Hillcoat (The Road, The
Proposition), as part of the Guiding Lights scheme. Her short film After Tomorrow was nominated for a
Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival 2009, and won Best Short Film at the Edinburgh Film Festival
2009. She is also one of Screen International's ‘Stars of Tomorrow’.
Rachna Suri is a London-based director working across film, broadcast and online. Through her
company, PEEK Films, Rachna directed Our Lad, a live-action short film supported by Channel 4,
which was selected for BFI London Film Festival, Encounters Film Festival, LA Shorts Festival in 2013
and London Short Film Festival and Seattle International Film Festival in 2014. She is currently
developing her first feature. Previously, Rachna was Executive Producer/Director for Google Creative
Lab EMEA, where she oversaw the video team making over 400 videos across campaigns including
Google Chrome. She also directed online programmes for broadcasters including bite for Channel 4
and Ford, which won the 2008 AOP and IMA Awards. After reading Philosophy, Politics and Economics
at Balliol College, Oxford, and initially training with the National Youth Theatre as an actor, Rachna
started her career behind the camera working for studios on films such as the Oscar-nominated
Children of Men. She also directed no-budget short films including In The Cannes, which was given the
2007 Kodak/Straight 8 Award.
Sally Thomas is Technical Media Teacher at Churchdown School in Gloucestershire. She and Leanna
Arkell run a highly successful Media Department at Churchdown, motivated by a belief in drawing
out the best in their students and having a great deal of fun in the process, coupled with a thirst for
ever-expanding their knowledge. They have presented their work on Horror previously at the MEA
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conference 2013 and the OCR annual conference 2014 – see their work at
http://churchdownmediahub.weebly.com/
Alex Tosta is Research Manager of the BFI’s Research and Statistics Unit. He joined the Research and
Statistics Unit, at BFI, after several years at the Office for National Statistics. At BFI, his areas of focus
are audience demographics, films on TV, British Film and production. Previously Alex worked in
various areas of population statistics included contributing to the development of a new type of
census, deprivation analysis, quality assessment and working on the design of the 2011 Census
questionnaire. Alex also delivers the BFI statistics presentation at some of the school events
organised by BFI Education and is currently acting as research consultant on the 5-19 Year Old
Education Baseline Research and Evaluation project.
Dr. Andrew Utterson is Assistant Professor of Screen Studies in the Roy H. Park School of
Communications, at Ithaca College NY, USA. He is the author of From IBM to MGM: Cinema at the Dawn
of the Digital Age (Palgrave Macmillan / British Film Institute, 2011), editor of Technology and Culture: The
Film Reader (Routledge, 2005), and co-editor of the 4-volume anthology Film Theory: Critical Concepts in
Media and Cultural Studies (Routledge, 2004). Among other publications, he has most recently
published articles in Leonardo and Film Criticism and reviews in Screen and Historical Journal of Film,
Radio and Television. As well as his role at Ithaca, Andrew is a Regional Visiting Fellow at the Cornell
Institute for European Studies (CIES), Cornell University, NY. He joined Ithaca in 2012 having
previously taught in the UK as Senior Lecturer of Film and Digital Media at Canterbury Christ Church
University.
Karin Wahl-Jorgensen is Professor in the Cardiff School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies at
Cardiff University, where she is Director of Research Development and Environment. Her research
focuses on the relationship between media practices and democracy. She has published or edited five
books, most recently Disasters and the Media (2012, Peter Lang, with Mervi Pantti and Simon Cottle) and
is currently working on Emotions, Media and Politics for Polity Press. In 2012-2013, she was the Principal
investigator for the content analysis in the BBC Trust Impartiality Review on breadth of opinion. Her
research has also been funded by the European Commission, the ESRC and the AHRC. She has worked
at Cardiff since earning her Phd from Stanford University in 2000. Prior to her academic career, she
worked as a journalist for print publications in Denmark and the United States.
Victoria Walden teaches Media, Communication and Culture, and Extended Project at Strode's Sixth
Form in Egham. She is also reading her PhD in Holocaust film and the materiality of memory at
Queen Mary, University of London. She runs the Holocaust, Contemporary Genocide, Popular Culture
and Digital Technologies research group, and is the author of Teaching the Film Industry teacher's pack
(ZigZag), many resources for Mediaedu and Filmedu, and the academic paper The Non-Human and
Affect in Seven Minutes in the Warsaw Ghetto (Short Film Studies). She was awarded a teacher-research
fellowship by the 21st Century Learning Alliance which enabled her to carry out the action-led project
she will be discussing at the conference. She has presented for the BFI and MEA on several occasions
and is delighted to be returning for this year's teachers' conference.
Andy Wallis is currently Head of Media at Ashfield School (Nottinghamshire), prior to this he was
Subject Leader for Media at Ringwood School and taught Media in Scottish schools. He has taught
Media Studies for many years and is especially interested in engaging students in imaginative
practical production work. He is currently an A Level moderator for OCR and has also written
materials for Scottish Screen and SQA relating to Media and Film Literacy. He has presented at
several conferences including MEA New Voices in Media Education, OCR annual conference,
Handheld Learning Conference, and Crossroads in Cultural Studies Conference.
Mike West is a games developer with 19 years experience in the Industry. Throughout his career
he has been involved in Programming & Scripting but now works as a Lead Designer at the 150+
person Lionhead Studios in Surrey. For the last 10 years he has been working on the hugely
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successful Fable franchise which has sold around 14 million copies on PC and various Xbox platforms.
Mike has already participated in a number of Q&A sessions at the BFI and has presented a number of
successful lectures on Fable & the games Industry at universities around the world.