On Sunday evening, the Inside Pictures 20 participants met for the first time for icebreaker drinks at the Everyman Cinema in Kings Cross, London. They are set to embark on a week-long journey, not only to get to know one another but also to engage with sessions covering the entire value chain of film and TV, from the development process to distribution and exhibition.
Late night, they enjoyed a welcome dinner attended by the programme’s funders, ScreenSkills and the DCMS, as well as the Director of Marketing and External Relations at the NFTS, Ijeoma Akigwe and Inside Pictures founder and patron Michael Kuhn of Qwerty Films. Christos Michaels of Lee and Thompson, who proudly sponsor us, will also be in attendance and will be hosting us at their offices for the week.
New speakers this year include Jonny McCausland of Hat Trick Productions, who will discuss the integration of AI into the creative process, and James Penny from Mammoth Screen who will brief participants on Business Affairs during Development.
Returning speakers include Susan Wendt of TrustNordisk, Paul Hillier of Tysers, and Deblina Chakrabarty from Amazon MGM Studios Distribution. We are also returning to our very popular daily panel sessions chaired by Wendy Mitchell, Kezia Williams (Firefly Entertainment), Louise Ortega (BFI), and Inside Pictures patron and legend Julia Short. Jamie Schwartz of Now TV also returns to speak on the Power of Marketing.
We are particularly excited at the new look Project Work sidebar to the programme ‘From Paragraph to Pitch’. This will see groups of participants guided through a creative development process that builds an idea up to be pitched to a panel at the end of the programme.
