London, 2 June: The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) and Sargent-Disc today announced that the Sargent-Disc BAFTA Filmmakers’ Forum – an annual networking and skills development event for first-time feature filmmakers – will take place on Saturday 11 July at BAFTA’s headquarters, 195 Piccadilly in London. Tickets are available to book now at bit.ly/FilmmakersForum
The day-long event will feature masterclasses, panel discussions and one-to-one speed sessions offering first-time feature filmmakers advice to help them navigate and progress in the industry.
Highlights of the day include: a panel on writing and developing real life stories with BAFTA-winning screenwriters Jeff Pope (Philomena) and Stephen Beresford (Pride), BAFTA-winning documentary-maker Morgan Matthews (X&Y) and BAFTA-nominated director Elaine Constantine (Northern Soul); a session on the rewriting process with the team behind Testament of Youth, Rosie Allison (Head of Development, Heyday Films) and writer Juliette Towhidi; a session on casting presented by RADA with casting director Des Hamilton (Nymphomaniac, This Is England); and a series of panels and roundtables looking at the craft and business of film.
BAFTA has run the Filmmakers’ Forum (formerly Filmmakers Market) since 2009 and this year’s event, which is sponsored by Sargent-Disc for a third year, is supported by 15 of the UK’s major film organisations.
Tim Hunter, Director of Learning and Events at BAFTA, said: “For emerging filmmakers the opportunity to hear directly from experienced practitioners is invaluable – as evidenced by the continuing popularity of the Sargent-Disc BAFTA Filmmakers’ Forum. BAFTA is uniquely able to harness the knowledge of BAFTA winners, members and partner organisations and Filmmakers’ Forum is a really practical way we can share that expertise with the next generation of filmmaking talent.”
Dr. Laurence Sargent, Director at Sargent-Disc, said: “We are delighted to support BAFTA through the Sargent-Disc BAFTA Filmmakers’ Forum and to be participating in the Boardroom session ‘Greening your Film’. The full day of events offers a unique platform for our industry partners to share their experience and provide guidance on best-practice to a large number of first-time filmmakers.”
Other panels and sessions at the Sargent-Disc BAFTA Filmmakers’ Forum will include:
- Creative keynote speech;
- A series of panels focussing on the craft of film, sponsored by Technicolour including Meet the Sound Team behind BAFTA-nominated ’71;
- Sustainable filmmaking tips from Albert+ and Sargent Disc;
- Script feedback from BBC Writers’ Room;
- Creative Europe Desk UK on securing European co-production funding;
- Advice on low budget VFX;
- One-to-one speed sessions to get your CV in shape, practise pitching, rework your script, find the right festivals for your film and get advice on funding applications;
- ‘Would Like to Meet’ networking breakfast sponsored by Mad Dog Casting;
- The Filmmakers Forum Wrap Party, sponsored by Shutterstock and Grolsch.
All main programme tickets are £6 each. Speed sessions and the Wrap Party are free to anyone who books a ticket for a main programme event. For the full programme, and to book, visit bit.ly/FilmmakersForum
Highlights from the day will be published on Twitter with the hashtag #filmmakers
Partners of the Sargent-Disc BAFTA Filmmakers’ Forum:
Sargent-Disc
BBC Writer’s Room BAFTA Rocliffe New Writing Forum
British Council The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
Creative Europe Desk UK Sara Putt Associates
Film London Shutterstock
Grolsch Story Campus
Mad Dog Casting Technicolor
The Production Guild ThinkSync
About Sargent-Disc BAFTA Filmmakers’ Forum
Sargent-Disc Filmmakers’ Forum (Formerly Filmmakers Market) was developed in 2009 with Rushes Soho Shorts Festival and has been staged continuously since then, with sponsorship from Sargent-Disc since 2013.
