This Birmingham-born movie mogul produced all of Hitchcock’s UK movies, ran a US film studio, and produced all of the Ealing films. Now, in this new digital age we can pay tribute to a man who was committed to throwing light onto new techniques, new technologies and onto new film makers. Michael Balcon chaired the Experimental Film Fund, created in 1952, an organisation which went on to become part of the BFI and supported the earliest works of directors such as Ridley Scott and many other UK directors.

The aims of the Experimental Film Fund were technical and artistic, providing creative opportunities for ambition and innovation. In this way, many new film makers took their first steps into the film industry. In light of this emphasis on innovation and exploration of new talent, this event will team up with Film Dash – a 48-hour film challenge to show support to any such new film makers.

“Kind Hearts and Coronets” – Clip

“Forever Ealing” – Narrated by Daniel Day-Lewis

Terence Davies chooses Kind Hearts and Coronets as film to show future generations – 75 Years of the BFI

Terence Davies on Kind Hearts and Coronets for 75 years of BFI:

“ The film that I would choose, if I had to choose one film above all else, would be Kind Hearts and Coronets by Robert Hamer. I think it’s the most perfect comedy, much as I love Some Like it Hot, Kind Hearts and Coronets is utterly flawless. It has one of the great voiceovers; probably the great voiceover in cinema, delivered by Dennis Price. It’s flawless, I just love it!”

They will be screening five shortlisted films of ten minutes or less from this year’s entries to Horrorfest, Propeller TV’s short horror film competition. A Sunday Times Critics Choice curated by Shane Meadows in 2007, this year, a 4Talent selected shortlist will be screened at the oldest cinema in the country, The Electric, and is your only chance to see these films on the big screen.

The screenings will be immediately followed by an industry Q&A with film-makers and special guests, which will be made available as a podcast on 4Talent Central.

4Talent are also programming a range of film events as part of Hello Digital, so for other screenings, check 4Talent Central from 1st October.

Horrorfest Programme:

COLLAR
Dir By: Dan Birt
When is a faithful hound not a faithful hound? Watch Dan Birt’s interpretation of a popular urban legend to find out.

SHELTER
Dir By: Stephen Hedley
A man on the run from an unknown assailant wants just one thing: shelter. And he’s prepared to look anywhere to find it.

EDITOR WANTED
Dir By: Tom blackham
An editor is wanted, but by whom and why? This short from Tom Blackham nods to various horror influences. If Poltergeist scares you, look away now…

JEMIMA: DATING IS MURDER
Dir By: Uisdean Murray
Something wicked this way comes… Jemima is a strong, confident girl. Will she get hurt in the rough and tumble of modern dating games?

BREAK-IN
Dir By: Ryan Braund
Break In breaks the mould of traditional horror shorts with an animated film showing a small boy’s perspective during a burglary.

Announced as part of Channel 4’s Next on 4 strategic blueprint, 4iP is a major new initiative to encourage innovation on digital platforms, which aims to re-invent public service media for the digital age.

Taking creative risks, nurturing new talent, championing fresh perspectives and offering new ways of looking at the world are at the core of Channel 4’s vision, and 4iP aims to extend these objectives to new platforms.

Over the next two years, Channel 4 and our 4iP partners will be investing up to £50m in content and services which will help the Channel deliver its public purposes on new platforms, in new ways, for new audiences.

This will be the regional launch of 4iP in association with Advantage West Midlands and Screen WM, and the first public opportunity to hear from Tom Loosemore, newly appointed as Head of 4iP, and previously Senior Advisor of Digital Media Strategy at Ofcom.

He was awarded an Annie in 2008 for Outstanding Character Animation in a Feature Production by ASIFA Hollywood for his work in Ratatouille. In addition to his work at Pixar, Michal has been teaching animation since 2005. He has contributed lectures, as well as taught classes for the online school, Animation Mentor. He is currently teaching classes at his alma mater, Academy of Art University. He is also a contributing animator to Spline Doctors, a blog/podcast dedicated to animation education.

An award-winning designer with over ten years’ experience, she co-founded JPG Magazine with her husband Derek Powazek prior to joining Flickr in May 2005. Heather has seen the Flickr community grow to 26 million members sharing over 2.6 billion photos.

Speakers include:

• BT
• Cisco
• Dave Harte, Digital Birmingham
• Andrew Dubber, New Music Strategies
• Mary Matthews, Blitz Games Studios

The “Talent 2 Market” report will be launched at the Hello World conference.

Find out more about virtual worlds and how this is relevant to you. Journey with us to our newly created Birmingham Island in Second Life and explore many dimensions of the city through b-scape, an interactive access portal to Birmingham’s city centre in the virtual world. It demonstrates the potential of virtual world technologies for helping to shape and support public engagement and the development and delivery of local city services. Integrating applications such as 2D Google Maps in the 3D world of Second Life, b-scape provides a novel way of exploring the opportunities of a 3D virtual environment that would address specific needs from the visitor economy enabling partners to deliver better services to visitors and residents, attract inward investment, enable planning simulation for consultation as well as putting Birmingham firmly on the digital map.

Speakers include:

• Philip Mcgrahan, Digital Birmingham
• David Burden, Daden Ltd.

FAINTHEART is the world’s first user-generated movie with users of the world’s largest online community, MySpace, playing an integral part in every stage of the filmmaking process from directing the film, to joining the cast, submitting music for the soundtrack, or being part of the production crew.

Does this mark the dawn of a new era of user-generated content in mainstream media?

Romantic comedy, FAINTHEART is set in the world of battle re-enactments and stars Eddie Marsan (Miami Vice, The Illusionist), Ewen Bremner (Hallam Foe, Trainspotting), and Jessica Hynes – formerly Stevenson – (Spaced, The Royle Family, Shaun of the Dead) and Paul Nicholls (Eastenders, Bridget Jones)

Speakers include:

• James Fabricant, Director of Business Development and Media, Europe, MySpace.com
• Wahida Begum, Marketing Manager, Vertigo Films
• Dan Lawson, Senior Manager, Production & Development, Screen West Midlands

Digital art in the public realm

Exploring the revolution in digital content development in the arts, this panel will discuss the huge opportunities for digital media to bring art to the public realm. Featuring Arts Council England West Midlands, award winning national touring theatre company, Pilot Theatre and Multistory, a charity that develops innovative participatory arts projects with communities and artists in the fields of regeneration.

Speakers include:

• Bren O’Callaghan, BBC
• Steve Manthorp
• Marcus Romer, Pilot Theatre
• Emma Chetcuti, Multistory
• Sandra Hall, Friction Arts

Once you have sent in your image, you will get a text with the next hour’s theme. There will be 8 themes in total given out, starting at 10:00am with the last theme at 5:00 pm. It should be a lot of fun and great to see so many people around the town and beyond hunting for images.

There is a cash prize of £75 for the best set of photos over the whole day and special Hello Digital T-shirts for the first 20 people to complete the full marathon.

How to register: We will need your full name and postal address, mobile number and email address. E:mail hellodigital1@yahoo.co.uk to register for the marathon before Saturday 25th.

The West Midlands region, which has long been a hotbed of entertainment games development, is leading the way in terms of both industry applications of Serious Games as well as academic research into the field. To continue to bolster its position as a key driver of the Serious Games industry, the region has invested in an a number of initiatives including the Interactive Digital Media Project, Warwick University’s Digital Laboratory, and the Serious Games Institute.

The panel will be made up of a wide range of companies operating in this space to show the breadth of games-based applications.

Speakers include:

• Geoff Henderson, Director, Digital Native Academy * LearnPlay Foundation
• Matt Dunn, Business Development Manager, fish in a bottle
• Kam Memarzia, Managing Director, PlayGen

Chaired by David Wortley, Director, The Serious Games Institute

Joy Armitage, B&I Interactive Manager, Cadbury, will be speaking.

Cadbury’s Gorilla Advert

There will be a brief introduction from the Killriculum team followed by the viewings and concluded by a short presentation and prize giving to the young people.

Come along and support the rising film talent of the region.

Whilst you are there, please ensure you get to experience the Killriculum coffin installation where you can scare yourself silly watching short horror clips whilst entombed in the coffin! Not for the faint hearted.

If you’d like to upload your own film to the Killriculum Gallery or to find out more about Killriculum, please visit the Killriculum website. If you plan to make something new, you might want to have a look at their Make Your Own section for some tips and check out their Guidelines for Submissions too.

“The Last to Leave” – are you alone in the building?

“The Toilet” – a short film made by young people at the last Killriculum workshop, using a mobile phone.

Q&A Session with John Hough and John Bradburn

The showcase will be followed by a Q&A on all things horror with a panel of guest speakers which so far includes John Hough – legendary director with credits including Escape From Witch Mountain, Legend of Hell House and Biggles and John Bradburn – very interesting film director who shot several experimental films from feature to short in the region.

Bride of Frankenstein

A very rare chance to see the amazing Bride of Frankenstein (1935), a classic masterpiece of 1930s horror films, that appeared as a superior sequel to the original prototype Frankenstein (1931).

The macabre, satirical film is generally considered one of the greatest horror films of all time – a spectacular, bizarre, high-camp, excessive, humorous, farcical and surrealistic film.

Both Frankenstein films were produced by Carl Laemmle Junior – the head of Universal – and directed by horror master James Whale (born in Dudley, West Midlands), at a time when monster films were diminishing.

The film reunited Colin Clive (as Dr. Frankenstein) with Boris Karloff as the Monster.

About Killriculum

Killriculum is an original and innovative West Midlands-based project aimed at enabling a broad range of young people to engage with film and new media.

At the heart of the project is its interactive website. The website also features a Horror Timeline, a Horror Mash-Up in which users can make their own horror film trailer and a writing wiki in which they can actually contribute to the writing of the Killriculum feature film.

Please be aware that the website is recommended for ages 12 and above as it contains some mild horror imagery and themes.

Killriculum is a collaboration between Blue Hippo Media, Reel Access, One Small Barking Dog and it is funded by Hello Digital.

If you require more information about the project please contact: laura@killriculum.co.uk or call Blue Hippo Media on 0121 687 1404.

“OK” – ShitDisco

“Starlett Johansson” – The Teenagers

“Just a Song About Ping Pong” – Operator Please

At its heart is the new website dedicated to Killriculum and horror films. The website aims to be user-friendly and interactive and includes an inventive Horror trailermaker. We envisage the project running for the next 18 months in three phases, culminating in Oct 2009, with a feature film premiere.

Phase 1 – Funded by ‘Hello Digital’ Sept – Dec 2008. Engage young people in a web based short film initiative: Creation of innovative online environment to enable Young People to access the project and network: receive training opportunities, upload short films via bespoke YouTube viewer.

We would also recruit young people for filmmaking workshops across region. Showcasing a variety of the films made by young people as well as ‘best of’ event at the Hello Digital showcase.

Phase 2 & 3 – Nov 2008, obtain funding that will potentially enable young people to participate in a full-length feature film to be distributed nationally and internationally.

Beginning Dec 2008. Further recruitment for the Killriculum feature film. Online script collaboration. Online film development workshops. Casting of roles.

Mar – Aug 2009 – Moving into Pre-production and shoot, which will be run over a 3 week residential film school summer 2009. The film will be going into Post Production and premiered at the “Hello Digital’ event in Oct 09.

Killriculum is a collaboration between Blue Hippo Media, Reel Access, One Small Barking Dog and it is funded by Hello Digital.

If you require more information about the project please contact: laura@killriculum.co.uk or call Blue Hippo Media on 0121 687 1404.

“The Last to Leave” – are you alone in the building?

“The Toilet” – a short film made by young people at the last Killriculum workshop, using a mobile phone.

At its heart is the new website dedicated to Killriculum and horror films. The website aims to be user-friendly and interactive and includes an inventive Horror trailermaker. We envisage the project running for the next 18 months in three phases, culminating in Oct 2009, with a feature film premiere.

Phase 1 – Funded by ‘Hello Digital’ Sept – Dec 2008. Engage young people in a web based short film initiative: Creation of innovative online environment to enable Young People to access the project and network: receive training opportunities, upload short films via bespoke YouTube viewer.

We would also recruit young people for filmmaking workshops across region. Showcasing a variety of the films made by young people as well as ‘best of’ event at the Hello Digital showcase.

Phase 2 & 3 – Nov 2008, obtain funding that will potentially enable young people to participate in a full-length feature film to be distributed nationally and internationally.

Beginning Dec 2008. Further recruitment for the Killriculum feature film. Online script collaboration. Online film development workshops. Casting of roles.

Mar – Aug 2009 – Moving into Pre-production and shoot, which will be run over a 3 week residential film school summer 2009. The film will be going into Post Production and premiered at the “Hello Digital’ event in Oct 09.

Killriculum is a collaboration between Blue Hippo Media, Reel Access, One Small Barking Dog and it is funded by Hello Digital.

If you require more information about the project please contact: laura@killriculum.co.uk or call Blue Hippo Media on 0121 687 1404.

“The Last to Leave” – are you alone in the building?

“The Toilet” – a short film made by young people at the last Killriculum workshop, using a mobile phone.

Four weeks after a mysterious, incurable virus spreads throughout the UK, a handful of survivors try to find sanctuary.

Q&A: The Future Of Digital Film

Back in 2006, 4Talent Central’s commissioning editor visited the set of DNA Films’ visceral 28 Days Later to meet zombie extras, see helicopter stunts in action, and investigate the latest digital cameras capturing all this footage.

Now, 4Talent is getting together with digital filmmakers to debate how the digital technology used to film 28 Days Later has changed the cinematic landscape in the two years since, in a special Q&A panel following a screening of the film on The Electric Cinema’s cutting-edge digital screen.

Speakers include:

• Daniel Cormack, Director
• Chris Gill, Editor 28 Days Later
• Dan Lawson, Screen West Midlands
• Catherine Bray, Commissioning Editor, 4Talent Central

Chaired by Tom Lawes, The Electric Cinema

“28 Days Later”

On Friday, October 17 filmmakers will be told the criteria of their short film (1-5 minutes) at The Theatre at the Custard Factory. Teams of no more than five or individuals will have 48 hours to make their film. By 7pm on Sunday, 19 October, films will have to be returned to Chris Unitt at Cafe Bebo in Paradise Forum.

Film Dash organiser Chris Unitt said: “The judging criteria has more to do with how it’s put together. It doesn’t matter whether you’ve got a stack of expensive camera equipment or just a mobile phone to film on.

“And remember – experience is no match for a good idea. This is all about imagination, playfulness and telling a story. The competition is meant to be all-inclusive and fun.”

A panel of experts will be judging the entries.

Information about the challenge can be found on the Film Dash blog. You can also join the Facebook Group and follow Film Dash on Twitter.

If your business would benefit from free advice and support on marketing strategies and business growth, sign up for a half hour one-to-one surgery with Business Link’s specialist advisers at Hello World.

Voice Talent:
Fred Willard (Shelby Forthright)
Jeff Garlin (Captain)
Ben Burtt

Introduced by Pixar animator Michal Makarewicz, this special screening of WALL•E will be shown in HD at The Electric Cinema’s state of the art digital screen. Michal joined Pixar Animation Studios in 2003, where he has been an animator on such features as The Incredibles, Cars, Ratatouille, WALL•E and most recently the upcoming Disney•Pixar feature, Up.

Academy Award®-winning writer-director Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo) and the inventive storytellers and technical geniuses at Pixar Animation Studios (The Incredibles, Cars, Ratatouille) transport moviegoers to a galaxy not so very far away for a new computer-animated cosmic comedy about a determined robot named WALL•E.

After hundreds of lonely years of doing what he was built for, WALL•E (short for Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class) discovers a new purpose in life (besides collecting knick-knacks) when he meets a sleek search robot named EVE. EVE comes to realize that WALL•E has inadvertently stumbled upon the key to the planet’s future, and races back to space to report her findings to the humans (who have been eagerly awaiting word that it is safe to return home).

Meanwhile, WALL•E chases EVE across the galaxy and sets into motion one of the most exciting and imaginative comedy adventures ever brought to the big screen.

Joining WALL•E on his fantastic journey across a universe of never-before-imagined visions of the future, is a hilarious cast of characters including a pet cockroach, and a heroic team of malfunctioning misfit robots.

Filled with surprises, action, humor and heart, WALL•E was written and directed by Andrew Stanton, produced by Jim Morris, co-produced by Lindsey Collins and features original and innovative sound design by Academy Award®-winner Ben Burtt (Star Wars, Indiana Jones, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial).

“WALL•E (U)” – What if mankind had to leave Earth, and somebody forgot to turn the last robot off?

Starting with the notion that a classical painting is a chosen point in a narrative, they explore what happens before, as well as the still moment itself, using actors and the latest High Definition technology.

They employed optical devices believed to have been used by classical painters, ‘using a camera obscura was wonderful, and especially exciting was the realisation that we were creating images in the same way that the likes of Vermeer are thought to have done, but recording them with 21st Century technology’.

The installation was co-commissioned by Rugby Art Gallery and Museum, and Fracture Dance and Moving Image Programme.

Pure Cinema has subsequently been exhibited in galleries in the UK and China to rave reviews.

Artists will respond to a a set of instructions, or obstructions, given out at the beginning of the day. Each artist will produce their own work and at the end of the day there will be a screening or showcase of the produced work. The Working Social is a new media production event, but does not exclude artists who usually work in other media, as long as they are technically self-sufficient.

Fowler+Sumner

Fowler+Sumner are new media artists based in Shrewsbury. They are exploring ideas of fractured and layered narratives, and how creative technology can be used and subverted into recording, generating, telling, retelling and distorting narrative.

While Kinopixel makes creative links between experimental film avant-gardes and contemporary arts practice, it avoids looking for a defining history, instead opening the visual content up to interpretation, free from narrative. Kinopixel is part of an on-going research and production programme with exhibitions at the Herbert Gallery and the V&A.

Get hands on! Discover more about sound diffusion and live video at Millennium Point between the 24th and 26th October. Bring your sound/video compositions and try these systems for yourself (Video required in Quicktime or MPEG4 format, Audio in WAV format).

Hi8us undertook recruitment activity to attract applications from far and wide. Together with Greg and Myles (Brothers McLeod), Hi8us selected six people based on talent and potential, but also on those who would most likely benefit the most from the support.

Ending up selecting six female applicants was a bonus because the DigitToons Talks with people from across the animation industry revealed that there are very few female animators or animation directors.

Hi8us is very pleased to be re-dressing the balance in the animation industry in the same way that it has with Comic Art —there are more published comic artists as a result of it.

To give a snapshot of the sessions — each session begins by the group looking at some really cool and hard to obtain, groundbreaking animations as well as those that are very bad.

The screenings are accompanied by Greg & Myles insightful commentary on what makes them work well or not work at all. Essentially, it’s Greg & Myles deconstructing animations.

In addition to this, over the sessions, Myles has worked with the group to develop story ideas by sharing with them key elements that make up a great story, plus how or when to break those rules. After everyone came up with their stories, they were shown how to storyboard them.

Alongside, this, Greg has given the group an intro into using Flash for Animation, and how to get the best out of it. Often, this is aided by Greg showing the group animations he’s made, and then showing them how he achieved effects and movements in Flash — all very, very useful stuff — it’s inside knowledge!

Along the way, Greg and Myles have also been explaining how the group’s ambitions need to match their timescale — so they may dream of making some complicated animations, but this needs to be balanced with the deadline!

After the storyboarding, most of the group are putting together animatics. At each stage, the group gets support and feedback from Myles and Greg. In the next week or so, the group will complete their animations and then they will add the sound. Then voila!

The animations will be ready to be premiered at the Hello Digital Festival (TBC). Having been armed with important knowledge around distribution from the workshops, each animator will also send their final animations to all the relevant festivals, blogs and showcasing sites.

But why make shorts in the first place … to break into features? We are delighted to be able to hear from Geoff Thompson, Justin Edgar and Samm Haillay about their journey from shorts to features – what they learned, how they coped with the pressure plus their tips…

This is in preparation for the digishorts application – deadline Monday, November 10. Please see digishorts.co.uk for more information.

About the scheme

digishorts offers you the chance to develop and produce a short film with support from Screen WM and the UK Film Council, including a budget of up to £10,000.

The scheme is open to filmmakers with at least one short film on a showreel already, or moving image artists, designers, animators etc with at least one equivalent piece of work to view.

The scheme is currently open for submissions – check out the How to Apply section for more details.

digishorts is co-financed by the UK Film Council’s New Cinema Fund and Screen WM with support from the European Regional Development Fund.

“Special People” – Trailer

“Sunshine” – Trailer

Starring
Richard Griffiths
Clive Merrison
Frances de la Tour
Stephen Campbell Moore
Samuel Anderson
Samuel Barnett
Dominic Cooper
James Corden
Sacha Dhawan
Andrew Knott
Jamie Parker
Russell Tovey
Georgia Taylor

Directed by
Nicholas Hytner

They’re watched by millions, allow new levels of interaction with audiences, and require a different set of writing and film-making skills. Online dramas and comedies can also pull in big sponsors and be lucrative if you get them right – our panellists share their views.

This FREE day-long event forms part of the 4Talent Inspiration Sessions and would be of particular interest to writers, directors, producers, development and interactive producers/directors and production companies.

Speakers include:
Luke Hyams – head writer KateModern, creator of Dubplate Drama, writer on LonelyGirl15
Dan’l Hewitt – Director of Digital Content, Bebo
David Bausola – Creator Where Are The Joneses?
Robert Wulff-Cochrane – Head of Drama Development, Channel 4

In association with Televisual.

Attracting thousands of people to join up every day, how are online communities developed, grown and sustained? What does the future look like for the major social networks and for niche communities, and how could you create one?

This FREE day-long event forms part of the 4Talent Inspiration Sessions and would be of particular interest to producers, community managers, designers, new media companies and those who’d like guidance on creating an online community around a brand, service or interest.

Speakers Include:
Heather Champ – Director of Community, Flickr
Emma Monks – Safety & Education Officer, Habbo
Ed Mitchell – Community Consultant
Ally Branley – Community Manager, Channel 4

Behind the official merchandise and brilliant taglines are the blockbuster hits and the groundbreaking adverts. Technology has come a long way since the first fully computer-generated film was released nearly 15 years ago.

This FREE day-long event forms part of the 4Talent Inspiration Sessions and would be of particular interest to animators, modellers, art directors and animation studios.

Speakers include:
Michal Makarewicz – Pixar
Andrew Proctor – Aardman
Jeff Pratt – Escape Studios

In association with Broadcast and Brodacast Freelancer.

More than just a gimmick, alternate reality games are for serious players, often funded by major brands. So how do you create a successful ARG?

This FREE day-long event forms part of the 4Talent Inspiration Sessions. This session would be of particular use to anyone interested in creating an ARG on any scale.

Speakers include:
Dan Hon – Six to Start, The Beast for Microsoft, Perplex City for Mind Candy
Hazel Grian – The Sky Remains for Hewlett Packard
Alex Fleetwood – Hide and Seek Festival, The Soho Project for the London Games Festival

Inspiration Sessions are a series of high-level talks by leading industry figures designed to give professionals the opportunity to spend a full day with four of their digital media heroes. Each panellist will provide advice, entertainment and inspiration for the attendees. All sessions are free, recorded and released as podcasts via 4talent Central and here on the Hello Digital site.

The day-long sessions are split into presentations from the speakers, question and answer sessions and small group discussions. These allow attendees to receive feedback on and further develop their own ideas.

This year’s sessions will run for four days covering online drama and comedy, alternate reality games, computer-generated animation and online communities.

These sessions are not about attendees pitching ideas, instead they are about them leaving inspired by the panel and gaining important advice from those that have reached the top of their industry.

When a young art teacher starts an illicit affair with one of her pupils, her friend and colleague takes advantage of the situation, with scandalous consequences.

Starring
Judi Dench
Cate Blanchett
Bill Nighy

Directed by
Richard Eyre

“Notes on a Scandal” – Trailer

Starring
Robert Carlyle
Rose Byrne
Jeremy Renner
Harold Perrineau
Catherine McCormack
Idris Elba
Imogen Poots
Mackintosh Muggleton
Amanda Walker

Directed by
Juan Carlos Fresnadillo

“28 Weeks Later” – Trailer

Starring
Forest Whitaker
James McAvoy
Kerry Washington
Simon McBurney
Gillian Anderson

Directed by
Kevin Macdonald

“The Last King of Scotland” – Trailer

Tutor Neville Thompson has practiced photography for over 20 years, working in a diverse range of situations and exhibiting nationally. His main focus is documentary and he continues to research and practise in addition to lecturing at Hereford College of Arst and at Worcester.

“Jump in the Pool” – Friendly Fires