Seagate Foyle Film Festival to help promote creative careers

Anyone interested in a career in films, television or creative technologies will be given the opportunity to learn more about these industries during the 18th Seagate Foyle Film Festival which runs in Derry, Northern Ireland, from November 11-20.
A series of film market events featuring some of the leading figures from the worlds of film, television and creative technologies will be held during the Festival.
The experts range from Rob Coleman, who created special effects for the ‘Star Wars’ films and acclaimed director Martha Fiennes to Caroline Anderson, who is setting up a computer gaming company in the North West.
The events cover a wide gamut of topics including film finance, programme commissioning for radio and television, computer animation and special effects, screenwriting and how to set up a home music recording studio.
The film market events are being held in conjunction with the Northern Ireland Business Innovation Centre (NORIBIC) which aims to make Derry and the North West a recognised world class centre for the digital multimedia industry.
NORIBIC has devised a cross border programme aimed at helping companies in the digital multimedia and creative industries sector to form new networks, building relationships and identify new opportunities to help them grow and develop.
The programme, Cluster-net, is part of a £650,000 cross border project to form a creative industries cluster with national and international connections.
Dr Bernard Toal, Chief Executive of NORIBIC, said: “By collaborating together firms can exchange knowledge, information and ideas; they can often take advantage of economies of scale in purchasing and assist each other to establish a greater presence in the market place. Firms may also gain access to the benefits of other companies‚ assets such as skills and knowledge, production capacity and technology transfer.”
The series of events at the Festival are part of this clustering project, bringing industry-leading experts to Derry to meet people already working in the cultural industries or who are considering careers in the industries.
Shauna Kelpie, Director of the Seagate Foyle Film Festival, said: “Carving out a successful career in the film, television or creative technologies industries can be ‘A Long Shot’, the theme of this year’s Festival, but the panel of experts we have assembled can help to shorten the odds for those who are already working in the industry or considering joining.”
(GB)