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FOCUS 2022 meet the makers
THE MEETING PLACE FOR THE INTERNATIONAL PRODUCTION COMMUNITY IS BACK IN FULL FORCE
© Elliot Waloschek.
The traditional two-day in-person event takes place at the Business Design Centre London on 6/7 December, offering a packed programme of conference sessions, networking events, facilitated meetings and exhibition zones. FOCUS Virtual will run 8/9 December enabling delegates from across the globe to engage online.
The eighth annual edition of FOCUS remains free to attend for industry professionals and embraces the increasing convergence of all audiovisual disciplines, attracting thousands of attendees from across the creative screen industries – including film, television, advertising, animation, games and XR. It is the only UK trade event where attendees can meet with content makers and facilitators from over 100 countries.
Delegates will be able to attend over 60 in-person panel discussions, workshops and presentations featuring more than 150 leading industry experts. With so many sessions running during the event, FOCUS also offers the opportunity for delegates to catch up with on demand access to the full conference after the show, by purchasing a digital conference pass.
The event offers production intelligence and filming solutions for all types of projects and all levels of budget, from pre- through to post-production. Delegates can discover millions of dollars of filming incentives and find the most up-to-date advice on the current filming situation around the world. Attendees can pre-schedule in person and virtual 1-2-1 meetings with film agencies, production service companies and location providers from every continent. Over 200 companies are exhibiting at the Business Design Centre this year, with an A-Z of stands from APU Productions Peru right through to the Zagreb Film Office.
Supervising Location Manager Leann Emmert will speak at High Flyers: Learning from LA Location Pros.
There are a plethora of in-person networking events taking place throughout this year’s event, including the FOCUS Welcome Drinks sponsored by NEOM, Producers’ Brunch with Variety & PACT sponsored by CCS Rights Management, David Reviews Reception sponsored by Invest Cyprus, Location Managers’ Breakfast with Sao Paulo Film Commission & LMGI, Producers without Borders Lunch in partnership with Quebec Film & Television Council & SOS Event Logistics, Location Managers’ Xmas Drinks with Location One & LMGI. The FOCUS digital platform extends the networking experience with AI-powered matchmaking and pre-scheduling of meetings.
CONFERENCE PROGRAMME One of the centrepieces of FOCUS is its conference programme, presented in association with media partner Variety and sponsored by CCS Rights Management. It is developed in consultation with a Content Advisory Board featuring representatives from leading industry bodies including Pact, The Production Guild, British Film Institute, British Film Commission, UK Screen Alliance, ScreenSkills, Directors UK, Advertising Producers Association and Games London.
The conference programme at FOCUS will reflect key industry talking points of 2022, from the challenges of financing and crewing projects in turbulent times, through to boosting diversity, making best use of new production technology, creating content sustainably and improving training.
Here’s a hot topic: A Guide to Immigration for the UK Film and TV industry presented by the British Film Commission’s Head of Production UK Samantha Perahia MBE. Perahia recently won a Production Guild of Great Britain Award for the continuous guidance, advice and support she has provided to the production sector, particularly throughout the pandemic. She is joined by Victoria Stone, Founder/MD, Cosmopolitan Production Services. The Role of the Showrunner in association with MediaXchange will offer an overview of current showrunner styles in the UK and Europe in comparison with US practices. Speakers include Willem Bosch (Showrunner/Creator/Screenwriter, Pupkin), Pedro Lopes (General Content Director, SP Televisão & Spi/Screenwriter), writer/producer Sumerah Srivastav (Lupin, Manifest), Sydney Gallonde (CEO/Executive Producer, Make It Happen Studio)
This Just In: The Future of Global Content will look at the trends for both scripted and unscripted content and the challenges that this rapidly evolving industry is facing with Marc Lorber (SVP, International TV Acquisitions and Co-Productions, Lionsgate), David Cornwall (Managing Director, Scorpion TV), Maartje Horchner (EVP Content, All3media International), Karen Young (Founder/ Managing Director, Orange Smarty)
The new CEO of BAFTA joins us In Conversation with Jane Millichip as she reflects on her first weeks in the role and looks forward to leading BAFTA through its next chapter. Having most recently served as Sky Studios’ Chief Content Officer and prior to that as its COO, Millichip brings with her a unique and impressive combination of top-level commercial and creative expertise.
In Conversation with Col Needham, the CEO & Founder of the industry’s most popular resource, IMDb, will discuss how the business grew out of his lifelong interest in film and technology. Pact’s Dawn McCarthy-Simpson MBE will talk with Needham about how IMDb, which was acquired by Amazon in 1998, continues to innovate and evolve, helping hundreds of millions of customers all over the world discover and decide what to watch.
KNOWLEDGE
NETWORKING INSPIRATION
THE ROLE OF THE SHOWRUNNER CONFERENCE SESSION WILL OFFER AN OVERVIEW OF CURRENT SHOWRUNNER STYLES IN THE UK AND EUROPE IN COMPARISON WITH US PRACTICES. Another session in our In Conversation series will include founder of Good Chaos Mike Goodridge (Triangle Of Sadness, Quo Vadis, Aida).
In his Meet the Producer Podcast, in association with The Production Guild of Great Britain, presenter/producer Jason Solomons will talk to inspirational producers of film and television to find out the many ways to do this most mysterious of jobs, featuring Roopesh Parekh (Willow, His Dark Materials: The Subtle Knife).
In High Flyers: Learning from Location Pros of LA Location Scout Lori Balton (Argo, Being the Ricardos, Maverick: Top Gun 2), Location Consultant/ Producer Becky Brake (Star Trek Into Darkness, Mission: Impossible III, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol) and Supervising Location Manager Leann Emmert (The Fabelmans, Rebel, Moon), will share their experiences in problem-solving, negotiating and navigating cultural and legal nuances.
David Reviews Shoptalk – Around the World in 80 Shoots, sponsored by Invest Cyprus, brings together a stellar advertising panel including Anna Murray (Head of Production, Mother London), Daniel Kleinman, (Director, Rattling Stick) Fran Thompson, (Managing Director, Park Pictures) and Simon Cooper (Co-Managing Director at Academy Films).
ScreenSkills will convene the session The UK Production Boom – How the Nations and Regions are the UK's Superpower, in which leading indies and producers will discuss how working collaboratively can build the skills needed to cement future success. The panel includes producers Louise Gallagher and Suzanne Reid, Llyr Morus (Head of Production/Producer, Vox Pictures) and Niall Shamma (COO/CFO, Warp Films).
In a special screening session Straight 8 Shootout will premiere at FOCUS. The the global one-super8-cartridge-no-editing film challenge is a unique opportunity for companies worldwide to showcase their creativity and compete for charity with a new super 8 short film.
Sustainable Film: Reducing our Emissions in association with Film London explores the challenges, new developments and future opportunities, of addressing both air quality and greenhouse gas emissions from our sector. Roxy Erickson (Co-founder, Creative Zero), Lola Legros (International Promotion Manager, Film Paris Region) and Amelia Price (Co-Director, Sustainable Film) engage in conversation. Learn what it takes to Become a Self-Shooting PD with Andrea Corbett (Head of Career Development and Skills at Directors UK), Nic Guttridge, Story Consultant/Executive Producer (Netflix feature doc The Spy Who Fell to Earth), filmmaker JIJO, producer Rebecca Murden and documentary filmmaker Annika Hagemann.
Immersive technology and virtual production filmmaking go under the spotlight in sessions including The In-Camera VFX Hype Cycle with Giacomo Talamini, a director and producer whose company Onextra is a joint venture between Hive Division and the videogame company Centounopercento. Also programmed is a close look at the making of The Gallery in The Convergence of Film & Games with Michael French (Head of Games, Games London). Nicole Stewart Rushworth takes us through XR – The Business Model for Immersive.
Don’t miss the future of our industry in AI – Your New BFF for Storytelling. Johnny Johnson (StoryFutures Academy & NFTS technologist) and Peter Richardson (Head of Virtual Production, Story Futures) will guide you through what is to come. They are, among other things, bringing to life digital humans for the metaverse and entertainment industries using advanced Artificial Intelligence.
Many more FOCUS sessions will be announced leading up to the event. For up to the minute details on FOCUS, see focus2022.com
Jean-Frédéric Garcia, FOCUS Managing Director, said, “For FOCUS 2022 we are planning an ambitious live event, with lots of new features. In addition, the FOCUS digital platform, which has enabled us to greatly extend the reach of FOCUS over the past two years, will continue to take networking to the next level.
In these very fast-changing times for the creative industries, FOCUS provides a crucial space to catch up with trends, connect with old and new industry friends and access the right information to help projects move forward.”
FOCUS is produced by the team behind The Location Guide, whose brands include the makers & shakers Awards, makers magazine and the online portal thelocationguide.com
For the lastest details on FOCUS, see
focus2022.com
FOCUS TRAINING
CONFERENCE
