It’s one of the industry’s biggest headaches: how can skills development keep pace with production growth outside London? During our Creative Cities Convention event back in April, we were joined by four expert panellists who considered what’s needed to future-proof the Nations and Regions workforce.
Sonny Hanley, ITV Academy Director said: ‘supporting the regions is at the heart of what we do at ITV. I am delighted to be a part of this year’s Creative Cities Convention. This is a step towards change in our industry and ensuring that the future is bright for talented creatives to pursue a career in a sector that needs them.’
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
