Speakers confirmed so far:
Polly Betton
Edible Cinema
Edible Cinema is a unique way to experience film: through aroma, texture and taste.
Edible Cinema menus focus on environment, dialogue and the overall feeling of a scene rather than recreations of food shown on screen. Each guest is supplied with a tray of numbered ‘mystery boxes’ containing a bite-sized tasting menu tailored to specific moments. Food-matched moments are signalled during the film, indicating when a given package should be enjoyed.
Described as “gastronomic theatre” by Vogue and “the ultimate marriage of film and food” by Time Out, Edible Cinema began as a collaboration between Polly Betton (Teatime Production), Soho House and Bombay Sapphire. Now a peripatetic, independent entity, Edible Cinema continues to enjoy support from Bombay Sapphire and recently welcomed Blanch & Shock as lead chefs.
Alongside our programme of public screenings, Edible Cinema works with celebrity curators (Jonathan Ross, Ana Matronic), the film & TV industry (Disney, Now TV, Artifical Eye) and private clients to deliver special events.
Lisa Brook
Director of Live Cinema UK
Lisa is the Director of Live Cinema UK, the UK’s only organisation focused on bringing artists, exhibitors, distributors and producers closer together to create amazing experiential cinema experiences. Lisa recently acquired funding from Arts Council England to conduct the world’s first industry research into live cinema, which culminates at the Live Cinema Conference 2016.
Lisa works with organisations and partners across the UK but has a strong focus on developing non-London-centric projects and activity in the North of England. Project partners include the BFI Film Audience Network, Sneaky Experience, Leeds Young Film, Leeds International Film Festival, Bradford City of Film and the National Media Museum, with collaborating live soundtrack artists including DJ Yoda, British Sea Power, and Asian Dub Foundation. Lisa is keen to expand the development of live cinema internationally, and produced and spoke on two panels at SXSW 2016.
Prior to establishing Live Cinema UK, Lisa held senior positions Leeds International Film Festival, and Sheffield Doc/Fest where she worked on the world premiere live events of From the Sea to the Land Beyond with British Sea Power, and The Big Melt with Pulp’s Jarvis Cocker.
Stuart Brown
Head of Programme and Acquisitions, BFI
Stuart Brown is a Goldsmiths Fine Art graduate, who has been working for the BFI since 1998. Between 2000 and 2015 he was a core member of the Programme team for BFI Southbank and ran the events responsible for creating and delivering the venue’s internationally respected programme of cinema events. Through the Guardian Interview and Times Screen Talks series, he worked with many of the world’s leading lights of film, and he also developed a portfolio of regular events and festival partnerships designed to develop audiences for the BFI. These included BUG: The Evolution of Music Video, Sonic Cinema, Resfest, Noise of Art, Bird’s Eye View, The Disability Film Festival, Blacktronica, onedotzero and The London Indian Film Festival, and audiovisual club event Dark Fibre. During this time he worked with artists such as Lemon Jelly, Christian Fennesz, Trevor Jackson, The Light Surgeons, Nitin Sawhney, Kode 9, D Fuse, Scanner, Matthew Bourne, DJ Spooky, Laurent Garnier, Bishi, Shlomo and Mara Carlyle.
In 2005, he Co-established, co-programmed and co-produced ‘Optronica’, with AV artists Addictive TV, London’s first festival dedicated to live audiovisual performance or ‘visual music’, supported by the Arts Council England . In 2006 Stuart programmed a major, two month season of popular music on screen, ‘Access All Areas’, incorporating over 60 screenings and events including world and UK Premieres. In 2007, he co-programmed and co-produced the 2nd ‘Optronica festival of visual music, and managed the launch strategy for the opening of BFI Southbank. In 2010 Stuart co-programmed and co-produced the first ever live orchestral performance of Stanley Kubrick’s ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ in partnership with The South Bank Centre, an ambitious production that combines Kubrick’s timeless classic with over 120 musicians performing the film’s iconic soundtrack; the production is still touring globally, last year it was performed to an audience of 17,000 at the Hollywood Bowl. In 2012 he played a key role in the BFI’s blockbuster season The Genius of Hitchcock, leading on a number of newly commissioned scores for BFI National Archive restorations of Hitchock’s silent films, and he took responsibility for the programming of the London Film Festival’s ‘Sonic’ section.
Last year Stuart took up post as Head of Programme and Acquisitions at BFI, responsible for the programming and business performance of BFI Southbank, BFI Distribution, BFI DVD / Blu Ray and programming for BFI Player. He continues to programme the ‘Sonic’ section of the London Film Festival and BFI Southbank’s monthly ‘Sonic Cinema’ event series.
Johnny Carr
Alternative Content Manager, Vue Entertainment
Started out in exhibition way back in 1996 and now into my 20th consecutive year – five have been in film booking, seven as a manager and the earlier period in front of house teams across a number of the main UK and Ireland cinema chains (Vue, Picture House, Virgin/UGC & Omniplex Group Ireland).
I have been the Alternative Content Manager at Vue Entertainment since 2013 deciding content for 85 cinemas in the UK with advisory capacity to a European network of a further 125 cinemas. Over the past three years the UK has seen the live event cinema sector grow at an unprecedented rate not seen in any other area of exhibition and I’m very proud to have been at the forefront of decision making within the UK market during this period and going forward.
Dominic Davies
Founder and Creative Director of Backyard Cinema
What once started as a home-made project in Dominic’s very own back garden just four years ago, has grown to be one of London’s most recognised and sought after alternative cinema experiences. Backyard Cinema is now a roaming, theatrical, cinema that shows a wide selection of films in a variety of iconic, unusual and immersive locations both in and outdoors around London. Often creating a physical world surrounding the movie using in depth set builds, actors and live music, each show becomes a unique evening out, whilst staying true to its original ethos: somewhere cool you can watch your favourite films with great food, drinks and all your mates.
Isabelle Fauchet
LDC Ltd
Isabelle Fauchet is the founder and MD of Live Digital Cinema Ltd (www.livedigitalcinema.com), a consultancy dedicated to the distribution and technical set-up of live and recorded cinema events.
Between 2009 and 2013, Isabelle headed the Cinema Department at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, which carried out the successful distribution and delivery of some 40 recorded titles and more than 25 live events, some of which reached over 1,200 cinemas in over 45 countries. Since 2013, she has been working with distributors such as More2Screen and Cote Diffusion and content providers advising on the technical aspects and commercial strategy of cinema events ranging from ballet, opera, rock concerts and museum exhibitions. She also oversees the technical set-up, organisation and smooth running of live cinema relays.
She is a founding member of the Event Cinema Association, the international trade body to the event cinema industry of which she was a board member from 2012 to late 2015 (www.eventcinemaassociation.org). Since stepping down from the board, she continues to work for the ECA in a wide range of duties including representation of the association and the expansion of membership and the development of benefits worldwide.
Diane Henderson
Deputy Artistic Director
Edinburgh International Film Festival
A graduate of photography from Edinburgh’s Napier University, Diane first became involved in cinema exhibition in the 1980s through various front-of-house and marketing roles at Filmhouse, one of the UK’s foremost independent Art-house cinema venues and home to the Edinburgh International Film Festival.
In 1992 she took up a post at Edinburgh College of Art, and as the curator of the College’s year-round Exhibition programme worked with a wide range of artists from the UK and beyond. Then followed a period running Edinburgh’s Cameo Cinema before another buying and selling European documentaries as part of CinemaNet Europe. She took up her current post at Edinburgh International Film Festival in 2006. Diane is a voting member of Bafta UK and has served on the juries of various international film festivals.
Lucy Jones
Executive Director UK/Italy/S.Africa/ME
comScore
With over 800 clients around the world, comScore (formerly Rentrak) is the global movie currency. comScore’s International Box Office Essentials system covers over 85% of the worldwide box office. comScore serves exhibitors and distributors across the worldwide industry with box office results from 125,000 screens in 25,000 cinemas across the globe, every day. Our UK & Ireland operation celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2016.
Emma Keith
Head of Broadcast and Producer
National Theatre Live
Emma Keith has worked as part of National Theatre Live, the ground-breaking initiative to broadcast plays live from the National’s stages to cinemas worldwide for 6 years. Producing the programme for more than 3 years, it now reaches over 2,000 cinemas in more than 50 countries and since its launch has reached a global audience of more than 4.5 million people.
Her role also encompasses the recently launched On Demand: In Schools platform which provides free access to select National Theatre Live broadcasts for schools across the UK, reaching more than 1,500 schools in the 4 months since its launch. She also oversees the digital learning content for the National Theatre, as well as a team of in-house Film-makers and Editors.
She trained in Dance and then worked at Arts Council England and the UK Film Council before returning to education and completing a Masters Degree in Digital Culture and Technology at King’s College London.
Victoria Murray
Marketing Manager
National Theatre Live and Touring
Launched in June 2009, National Theatre Live is the National Theatre’s ground-breaking initiative to broadcast world-class theatre productions to global cinemas. Since its first broadcast of Phèdre, with Helen Mirren, more than 50 broadcasts have been experienced by over 5 million people at 2,000 venues in 52 countries globally – a number which continues to grow. In addition to productions from the National Theatre, broadcasts have also taken place from theatres such as Benedict Cumberbatch in Hamlet from the Barbican, Tom Hiddleston in Coriolanus from the Donmar Warehouse and Gillian Anderson in A Streetcar Named Desire from the Young Vic, as well as James Franco and Chris O’Dowd in Of Mice and Men from Broadway. Victoria Murray has been responsible for the programme’s brand and marketing since 2012, following time spent in the music and advertising industries.
Lucy Noble
Director of Events, The Royal Albert Hall
Lucy has been involved with the Royal Albert Hall for over ten years – she attended the Royal College of Music and during her studies worked as a steward at the Hall to support her musical education. She went on to work as an orchestral assistant at the Royal College of Music’s Junior Department, Sadler’s Wells Theatre and IMG Artists as Tours and Projects Manager.
In January 2015, Lucy was appointed the Director of Events, previously holding the position of Head of Programming and Education at the Royal Albert Hall, which combined both the programming and education departments.
Lucy is working on encouraging more people of all into the Hall through a programme of initiatives and workshops such as special matinees and the workshops for young people with world class artists She is also responsible for introducing many of the new programming initiatives outside of the Hall’s main auditorium that highlight the Hall’s public benefit messages by offering these events for free or at lower tickets prices, such as the free lunchtime music, an exhibition series and Late Night Jazz, Elgar Comedy, Classical Coffee Mornings, the new Elgar Room programme and Albert Sessions initiatives.
She is currently arranging all the Hall own promotes for our main stage ranging from films with live orchestra through to large scale dance projects.
Matt Parritt
Associate, Harbottle & Lewis LLP
Matt is a media lawyer specialising in the development, production and exploitation of creative content, principally in the film, TV, theatre and live event industries. He works at Harbottle & Lewis, a specialist media law firm which has been at the centre of many of the creative industries’ largest and most high profile transactions and cases. Matt has particular experience of the legal and commercial issues which arise in the live cinema sector having advised Secret Cinema for a number of years. Experience in the event cinema field includes advising Monty Python in connection with the live streaming arrangements for their O2 show and the producers of Billy Elliot The Musical Live.
Sam Smaïl
Co-creator
Choose Your Own Documentary
Sam Smaïl is the co-creator of the groundbreaking live interactive documentary film experience Choose Your Own Documentary – the true story of the search for the boy who’d left pages of his 1980s childhood diary inside a Choose Your Own Adventure book bought on eBay.
The search to find the writer and unravel the mystery of the diary’s pages took two years to film and has over 1,500 possible storypaths and multiple endings – and it’s the audience that dictate proceedings throughout in a uniquely immersive experience.
Since debuting in 2013 it has won the Scotsman Fringe First for Innovation and Outstanding New Writing at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and been award-nominated at Tribeca Film Festival and Sheffield Doc/Fest.
George Wood
Founder and Managing Director
The Luna Cinema
George Wood is the founder and Managing Director of The Luna Cinema, the country’s largest producer of open air cinema events. Each year The Luna Cinema presents over 150 screenings at sites across the UK including Kew Gardens, Hampton Court Palace, Warwick Castle, The Tower of London, Leeds Castle, Knebworth House, Cardiff Castle and Blenheim Palace to name a few. The rise in the popularity of open air cinema has seen numbers rise by in excess of 20% year on year for the past 5 years. Summer 2016 will see the Luna big screens play to over 125,000 people across more than 60 sites across the country. www.thelunacinema.com
Jason Wood
Artistic Director of Film at HOME and Visiting Professor at MMU
Jason Wood has over 20 years experience on the independent film sector and has worked across exhibition, distribution, production and journalism. Currently the Artistic Director of Film at HOME, Manchester, he is also a Professor of Film at MMU and the author of 10 published works on cinema.