Plans are afoot for the Creative Cities Convention 2021. Not to be defeated by the current situation we’ll be continuing to liaise with the fantastic speakers we’d lined up before this year’s conference had to be rescheduled and we‘ll also be working hard to ensure the people you most want to hear from right now are included in our panel debates and keynotes. There will also be opportunities for our much valued meet-the-commissioner sessions. Updates on tickets, conference news and much more will be sent out soon so watch this space!
As the global production community addresses the enormous challenges brought on by Covid-19, the Creative Cities Convention plans to return next year with a much-needed platform for discussion and debate as life (we hope) begins to return to normal.
We’ll be continuing to liaise with the fantastic speakers we’d lined up before this year’s conference had to be rescheduled and we‘ll be working hard to ensure the people you most want to hear from at this challenging time are there in Glasgow when we reconvene at the Royal Concert Hall on 22-23rd April 2021, supported by our brilliant stakeholders and Scottish partners.
We’d like to assure delegates and speakers alike that responsibility for the health and wellbeing of all our guests is of paramount importance to us as we start to plan the delivery of a fantastic event in 2021. All 2020 bookings are valid in full for 2021 and we will update our website when we start refining our plans towards the end of this year.
Paul Mortimer, Karl Warner, Sanjay Singhal, Stephen Lambert and Laura Crowson are amongst the top industry names confirmed to speak at the Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow on 23-24 April.
This year’s Creative Cities Convention is shaping up as the biggest and busiest yet, as a second tranche of speakers is announced to help delegates navigate their way through the global media jungle and consider the future of production outside London.
E4 Controller Karl Warner joins ITV’s controller of digital channels Paul Mortimer in the line-up to consider audiences of the future. Meanwhile Voltage chief executive Sanjay Singhal, Studio Lambert founder Stephen Lambert, Channel 4 head of daytime and Glasgow hub Jo Street and ITV Studios’ MD of Global Creative Network Mike Beale will reveal the secrets of global success.
Laura Crowson, senior director of development for Discovery Channel US and Science Channel US joins Pact’s MD of business development and global strategy Dawn McCarthy-Simpson MBE to share insights for producers on preparing to go global.
Babita Bahal and Miranda Wayland, the new heads of creative diversity at Channel 4 and the BBC respectively, will join ITV commissioning diversity chief Ade Rawcliffe, filmmaker Stewart Kyasimire and Screenskills CEO Seetha Kumar to ask how diversity across the nations and regions can be improved.
Internationally the panellists will be joined by Hélène Ganichaud from Arte France, development producer Ruth Underwood from Synchronicity Australia and YouTube’s EMEA head of originals Luke Hyams.
Their names join a list that already includes BBC Three controller Fiona Campbell, Channel 4 Nations and Regions MD Sinead Rocks, director of programmes for Viacom CBS Networks UK Ben Frow, and ex BBC commissioner Craig Hunter, who’s returned to his native Glasgow as creative director for factual at STV. Kirstie Allsopp and Phil Spencer will mark twenty years of popular property shows and Kirsty Wark and Sanjeev Kholi will host.
Delegates at the Creative Cities Convention will also have the opportunity to Meet the Commissioners. Register now for a highly sought-after one-to-one meeting with UK and international commissioners, including Muslim Alim BBC, Tom Coveney BBC, Sean Doyle Channel 4 and Louisa Compton Channel 4.
Between them the speakers will also consider how TV can save the planet and offer different views of the future, updates on production growth in the nations and regions and insights on a range of challenges and opportunities facing the industry outside London at a time of global growth
Further speakers, including international media figures, will be announced in the lead up to the convention, whose stakeholders are Pact, the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 – and for 2020, Scottish commercial broadcaster STV. Additional support from Glasgow City Council and Screen Scotland.
Fiona Campbell, Sinead Rocks and Ben Frow are amongst the first speakers confirmed for the convention in Glasgow on 23-24 April.
BBC Three Controller Fiona Campbell will talk about her strategy for reaching different parts of the UK when she speaks at this year’s Creative Cities Convention on April 23rd and 24th at the Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow. Commissioning more homegrown programmes and casting contributors from different parts of the country are a priority for Fiona and she will discuss how she’s collaborating with digital teams to deliver content that cuts through for young audiences.
Announcing the first tranche of names in the 2020 convention line-up, director Ruth Pitt said “We’re delighted that once again some of the industry’s biggest players are joining us to discuss and celebrate the fantastic growth of media production outside London.”
Managing Director of Channel 4 Nations and Regions Sinead Rocks will update the Creative Cities Convention on the broadcaster’s move out of London, reflecting on the recent launch of brand new hubs in Leeds, Glasgow and Bristol and the challenge of building the talent base to match production growth across the UK.
Channel 5’s Ben Frow will return to the convention this year in his newly expanded role as Director of Programmes for all Viacom’s UK content including Comedy Central and MTV. He will also update on the broadcaster’s commitment to improving the diversity of the companies it works with.
Continuing the theme, ITV’s Head of Diversity Ade Rawcliffe will be joined by TV changemakers to discuss how the industry can improve the diversity of the workforce outside London.
Also on the agenda and reflecting the convention’s ‘Going Global’ theme is a timely session: Can TV Save The Planet? With the COP26 UN climate change summit taking place in Glasgow later this year, and the greatest ever gathering of world leaders on UK soil descending on the city, Creative Cities Convention 2020 will ask how producers can influence global opinions on climate change and sustainability.
Maramedia’s Creative Director Nigel Pope will introduce Stormborn, a global co-commission between BBC Scotland, Arte in France and joint US venture Love Nature, which is a partnership between international giants the Smithsonian Channel and Blue Ant Media. Nigel will be joined on stage by partners including Love Nature’s Vice President of Development and Production, Alison Barrat.
UK drama is having a big global moment too. Synchronicity’s Managing Director Claire Mundell will talk about the company’s international activity and discusses the making of The Cry, set across Scotland and Australia. “The opportunity in high end TV drama is more global than ever and at Synchronicity we are developing a range of shows to speak to an international audience, exploring universal themes but also rooted in Scotland in some way”, says Claire.
Craig Hunter, Creative Director, STV Productions, will talk about his big decision to come home to Glasgow to take up this role after five years in London as a BBC commissioner.
Glasgow’s own Kirstie Allsopp and Phil Spencer will open the convention by looking back on twenty years of making property shows together. And once again the convention will be hosted by broadcaster Kirsty Wark, helped this year by comedy writer and actor Sanjeev Kohli.
Further speakers including international media figures will be announced regularly in the lead up to the convention, whose stakeholders are Pact, the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 – and for 2020, Scottish commercial broadcaster STV.
Early-bird tickets are available until 14th February at a cost of £155, with additional discounts for group bookings and students. To buy a ticket and find out more about the Creative Cities Convention, visit www.creativecitiesconvention.com
High profile London launch kicks off early-bird ticket
sales for the UK’s leading conference for content producers and
distributors outside London
Top creatives, industry leaders and representatives from the Scottish
government attended the 2020 Creative Cities Convention (CCC) launch
party at Scotland House in London last night, as tickets went on sale
for the upcoming event to be held at the Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow
on April 23 and 24 2020. Glasgow plays host in 2020 after winning the
convention’s annual ‘Big City Challenge’ competition, following a hugely
successful event in Cardiff, with over 350 delegates, and 2018’s
inaugural event in Leeds.
Launching the 2020 convention theme of ‘Going Global’, and opening
early-bird ticket sales, director Ruth Pitt announced that Glasgow based
comedian, writer and actor Sanjeev Kohli will be joining broadcaster
and Newsnight producer Kirsty Wark to co-host next year’s Creative
Cities Convention.
2020 will be Kirsty’s third year hosting, which she considers an
important platform and forum for conversation about production growth
and the improved representation of audiences outside London. “It’s been
an incredible couple of years for producers and broadcasters across the
UK,” said Kirsty. “The Creative Cities Convention helps delegates
consider how to make the best of the opportunities and challenges that
have come as a result of the strong growth of our production industry
outside London.”
Following a screening of Glasgow’s compelling showcase video from
their winning 2019 bid, the CCC team and the leader of Glasgow City
Council, Cllr Susan Aitken, welcomed guests with an emphatic thumbs up
for the production community in the nations and regions. “There’s never
been a better time for Glasgow to host the Creative Cities Convention
and we look forward to welcoming hundreds of delegates to discuss and
debate this immensely valuable sector,” said Susan.
TV property royalty Kirstie Allsopp and Phil Spencer have also been
confirmed to open the convention, along with leading UK and global media
figures. “We are proud to add our voices to the many key players who
will be attending next year,” said Kirstie Allsopp when the date and
venue were announced earlier this year.
Also attending the launch were representatives from the conventions
generous supporters, including Pact, the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel
5 – and for 2020, by Scottish commercial broadcaster STV.
Early-bird tickets are now available on the Creative Cities Convention website, at a cost of £155.
A rich line-up of controllers and commissioners, large and small indies, freelances and distributors lit up the magnificent Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in April 2019. Highlights included contributions from Channel 4 CEO Alex Mahon, BBC2 Controller Patrick Holland, political commentator Ayesha Hazarika, Sugar Films’ Pat Younge, BBC3 commissioner Nasfim Haque, Bad Wolf’s Jane Tranter, Channel 5 controller Ben Frow and BBC3 controller Fiona Campbell to name just a few.
Glasgow has been chosen as the host city for next year’s Creative
Cities Convention by an industry judging panel comprised of
representatives from the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, Broadcast
magazine and industry trade body Pact.
Glasgow faced stiff competition from NewcastleGateshead and
Nottingham. The three cities each premiered a short video demonstrating
their credentials to host the 2020 convention on the main day of this
year’s event and also submitted detailed written proposals. The winning
bid was led by Sandy Robertson, head of production at Raise the Roof
Productions, on behalf of the Scottish Production Talent Forum which is a
group made up of local independent production companies, broadcasters
and other creative bodies. Narrated by Glaswegian comedian, writer and
actor Sanjeev Kohli, the video bid, produced by Hot Button Productions,
highlighted the city’s outstanding creative output, diversity and youth
schemes, with cabinet secretary for culture Fiona Hyslop describing the
city as ‘Scotland’s most vibrant creative centre’. Underlining the
significance of the creative industries to Glasgow’s future, the bid
made reference to the investment by the Scottish government of £20
million per year, and the fact that the city was chosen recently as one
of Channel 4’s three new creative hubs, alongside Bristol and also
Leeds, where the channel’s new national HQ will be based.
Ruth Pitt, director of the Creative Cities Convention,
commented: “Once again it’s been a really difficult decision, with
Glasgow, NewcastleGateshead and Nottingham all making outstanding bids.
Together these cities demonstrate what a rich and thriving sector we now
have outside London, and although Glasgow’s sheer scale and support
clinched it for us, we are delighted that the bid process has brought
producers and local government leaders closer together in all three
locations. We’re hugely grateful to them for producing inspiring videos
and proposals that showcased their brilliant media sectors and talent,
reminding everyone that there’s never been a better time to be working
in our industry outside London”.
Leader of Glasgow City Council, Susan Aitken, said:
“Glasgow is the beating heart of Scotland’s creative sector, boasting a
wealth of young, dynamic talent, established broadcasters and
industry-leading indies. With the BBC’s new dedicated channel for
Scotland now on the air and Channel 4 preparing a new Creative Hub in
the heart of the city, there couldn’t be a better time for the
convention to come to Glasgow. The event will benefit from the energy
and enthusiasm that typifies Glasgow and its creators – but also inspire
our up-and-coming talent, ready to make their mark.”
Phil Spencer, co-director of Raise the Roof Productions
(along with Kirstie Allsopp) added: “This is brilliant news for Glasgow
and I am absolutely delighted that the Creative Cities Conference is
heading our way! There are so many wonderfully creative and talented
people in Glasgow nowadays; it’s sure to be a massive success for all
concerned. I’m absolutely delighted as this is the type of endorsement
that really positions the City where it deserves to be – as an
inspirational and creative hub.”
Sandy Robertson, head of production at Raise the Roof Productions
commented: “Having led the charge for Glasgow to host the 2020 Creative
Cites Convention, I am thrilled that the city has been recognised to
host next year’s event. I am in no doubt that our city is home to some
of the most innovative and talented creatives in the country and the
opportunity to celebrate, share and nurture this talent is very exciting
indeed.”
John McVay, Chief Executive at Pact, said: “We are
delighted to see the next Creative Cities Convention move to Glasgow, a
city with an established and vibrant TV production sector. The CCC is
going from strength to strength as a platform to really explore both the
issues and opportunities that companies in the Nations and Regions face
and we look forward to continuing the dialogue in Glasgow in 2020.”
Following a whirlwind two days of conversation, revelation and
optimism we would like to thank everyone who came along to the
Convention in Cardiff.
Hundreds of delegates from all corners of the UK joined us at the
glorious Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama to meet, network, learn,
challenge and celebrate the best of our industry; we were hoping for a
real statement of intent from anyone working in the business of digital
content creation across the UK and we were not disappointed.
A huge thank you to all our speakers and panellists, commissioners
and presenters who made the event so relevant and engaging as well as
our fantastic volunteers who were on hand throughout the Convention to
ensure a smooth running and enjoyable experience for everyone.
Watch this space for video from the event. In the coming weeks, we’ll
also be announcing which city – Glasgow, NewcastleGateshead or
Nottingham – has won the Big City Challenge and will be the location for
Creative Cities Convention in 2020.
