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BAFTA’s ‘Guru Live’ Festival For Careers Starters To Take Place In London And Glasgow

25 April 2017

Professionals from film, television and games will speak in London on 6-7 May and in Glasgow on 6 May

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts will host its flagship festival for aspiring creatives, Guru Live in May 2017. For a second year, the festival will run at BAFTA 195 Piccadilly in London, from Saturday 6 May to Sunday 7 May and, for the first time this year, will also be taking place at the Centre for Contemporary Arts in Glasgow on Saturday 6 May. Professionals from across the film, television and games industries will speak at both venues.

Guru Live is an extension of BAFTA Guru (www.bafta.org/guru), BAFTA’s online resource that shares advice and inspiration from the best creative minds working in film, television and games, and will feature industry-specific masterclasses, Q&As and panel discussions, as well as cross-sector skills-based sessions led by professionals including BAFTA winners and nominees. Tickets for all individual sessions are priced at £6.

Speakers confirmed to attend Guru Live in London include: BAFTA-nominated writer-directors Peter Middleton and James Spinney (Notes on Blindness); writer, director and actor Alice Lowe (Prevenge, Sightseers); games writer Rhianna Pratchett (Tomb Raider, Heavenly Sword); BAFTA-winning multi camera director Hamish Hamilton (London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony, Super Bowl 50 Halftime Show); BAFTA-nominated producers Tristan Goligher (45 Years) and Camille Gatin (Girl With All The Gifts); BAFTA-winning producer Oliver Roskill (Under the Shadow); and Vinay Patel, BAFTA Breakthrough Brit and BAFTA-nominated writer (Murdered By My Father). In the games programme, speakers from BAFTA-nominated studios including Triangular Pixels, Creative Assembly, Inkle, Bossa Studios and ustwo will explore their craft and how to build a career in games.

Speakers confirmed for Guru Live in Glasgow include: Writer-director Joe Ahearne and producer Nicole Cauverien (The Replacement); producer for games Luci Black (LittleBigPlanet, Tearaway, Dreams); producer Iain Smith OBE (Mad Max: Fury Road, Children of Men); actor and BAFTA Breakthrough Brit Sharon Rooney (My Mad Fat Diary, Two Doors Down); and the team behind the iconic Scottish sitcom Still Game.

The London event will open with an exclusive housewarming event for BAFTA-recognised new talent, including participants in the festival’s Guru Labs bespoke programme, on Friday 5 May, where the creative team from performance capture studio and production company The Imaginarium will share their visionary approach to storytelling, creative technology and performance. The opening night party is sponsored by Shutterstock. Closing the London festival will be networking drinks supported by Mad Dog Casting, open to all festival attendees. 

Tim Hunter, Director of Learning and New Talent at BAFTA, said: “Building on the success of our inaugural Guru Live in 2016, this year sees the festival return, bigger and better than before. Breaking into the film, TV and games industries remains highly competitive, and by extending the festival to Glasgow, we’re enabling even more people to learn from the amazing talent recognised by BAFTA through our awards. This year’s festival has a cross-sector focus, recognising how so many of the creative challenges of all three industries are the same. We’re looking forward to helping aspiring creatives overcome those challenges, make connections with their peers and learn first-hand from leading industry figures through Guru Live.”

Guru Live has received funding from generous individuals and BAFTA partners including Mad Dog Casting, Shutterstock, Channel 4 and Searchlight Recruitment.

Highlights from both events will be available on the BAFTA Guru website: www.bafta.org/guru.

Follow Guru Live by using #GuruLIVE and following BAFTA Guru on Twitter and YouTube.

GURU LIVE PANELS AND SESSIONS:

LONDON – SATURDAY 6 MAY 2017

  • Telling Stories: Film
  • The Ladder: TV
  • Telling Stories: Factual TV
  • The Ladder: Games
  • The Money Box
  • Telling Stories: Games
  • How to Pitch
  • Your First Game
  • The Ladder: Film
  • How to build a BAFTA-nominee: Games
  • The Business of Creativity

LONDON – SUNDAY 7 MAY 2017

  • Directing Your First Hour
  • Producing Games
  • Masterclass: Murder in Successful
  • Directing VR
  • How to Freelance (supported by Searchlight Recruitment)
  • Producing a Debut
  • Getting Commissioned
  • Masterclass: Notes on Blindness
  • Digital Creativity: Humans (supported by Channel 4)

GLASGOW – 6 MAY 2017

  • The Ladder: TV
  • Making a Debut Feature Film
  • The Ladder: Games
  • Masterclass: The Replacement
  • Masterclass: Games
  • Masterclass: Still Game

Notes to Editors
Tickets for individual sessions are all priced at £6. For full programme details and bookings, go to http://guru.bafta.org/live

For further information, please contact:
Eleanor Pickering at BAFTA
T: +44 (0)20 7292 5863
E: [email protected]

Niyi Akeju at BAFTA
T: +44 (0)20 7292 5865
E: [email protected]

For event photography, logos, accreditation and more, visit www.bafta.org/media-centre

About BAFTA

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is an independent charity that supports, develops and promotes the art forms of the moving image by identifying and rewarding excellence, inspiring practitioners and benefiting the public. In addition to its Awards ceremonies, BAFTA has a year-round programme of learning events and initiatives – featuring workshops, masterclasses, scholarships, lectures and mentoring schemes – in the UK, USA and Asia; it offers unique access to the world’s most inspiring talent and connects with a global audience of all ages and backgrounds. BAFTA relies on income from membership subscriptions, individual donations, trusts, foundations and corporate partnerships to support its ongoing outreach work. To access the best creative minds in film, television and games production, visit www.bafta.org/guru. For more, visit www.bafta.org.

About Mad Dog Casting

Mad Dog Casting are a well-established part of the film and TV community, providing supporting artists for many of the most popular and successful films and TV series including Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Skyfall, Sherlock, and Wolf Hall.  By providing thousands of supporting artists we bring life, atmosphere and authenticity to film, TV and commercials.  Mad Dog Casting prides itself on having its own unique quality controlled, registered book of artists with the looks and skills to meet the needs of the most challenging productions, from period dramas, to overseas settings, ethnic diversity to a vast range of skills and performers. Local knowledge and an experienced team in our London, Cardiff and Manchester Offices means we have registered artists available for work in all areas of England, Scotland and Wales with the range of looks and skills needed for any production.

Celebrating nearly 20 years in the business, we believe it is important to give something back to the industry which is why we have partnered with BAFTA to support, recognise and encourage excellence in the industry of the moving image. To find out more, contact Mad Dog Casting on 0207 269 7910, or visit their website at www.maddogcasting.com

About Shutterstock

Shutterstock, Inc. is a leading global technology company providing of high-quality licensed imagery, videos, and music to media organizations, businesses and marketing agencies around the world. Working with its growing community of over 190,000 contributors, Shutterstock adds a million images to the collection each week, and currently has more than 120 million images and 6 million video clips available.

Shutterstock expanded its portfolio to include editorial imagery through its acquisition of Rex Features in 2015, and since then established multi-year deals with Penske Media Corporation, The Associated Press and BFA Images, among others. The company's editorial offering provides media companies and advertisers, images and videos that capture the world around us, including a live feed of tightly edited celebrity, entertainment, sports, and news imagery, along with access to a multi-decade archive of iconic images.

For more information, please visit www.shutterstock.com and follow Shutterstock on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram

About Channel 4

Channel 4 is a publicly-owned, commercially-funded, not-for-profit public service broadcaster and has a remit to be innovative, experimental and distinctive. Its public ownership and not-for-profit status ensure all profit generated by its commercial activity is directly reinvested back into the delivery of its public service remit. As a publisher-broadcaster, Channel 4 is also required to commission UK content from the independent production sector and currently works with 300 creative companies across the UK every year. In addition to the main Channel 4 service, its portfolio includes: E4, More4, Film4, 4Music, 4seven, Channel4.com and digital service All 4.

About Searchlight

Searchlight is a leading provider  of recruitment and executive search for the media and entertainment sectors. We’ve been successfully placing candidates since 1997, and our continued success derives from the strength of the relationships our team has built with our clients and candidates. Our searches are completely diverse -  from a senior commercial position in a broadcaster to a highly creative role within a production company.

We work across a broad range of sectors including  Broadcast, Film, Production, Post Production, Content Distribution, Digital and Mobile Media, Licensing, Home Entertainment, Corporate Communications, Live Events, Games, Interactive, Music, and Advertising.

We have several divisions, covering both the UK and international markets.

  • Searchlight Executive: For senior-level searches
  • Searchlight Recruitment: For junior - middle management positions
  • Searchlight Freelance: For freelance positions within the creative field

For further details call 020 7383 3850, or visit www.searchlight.com