NFM has yet more grant funds for NE content biz

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A European Union investment of £1.22m is to boost a three year project to create over 200 jobs and 18 new businesses in the creative media sector.

Northern Film & Media (NFM) has secured the additional finance through the European Regional Development Fund 2007-13 to extend the range of its business support activities for commercial creative enterprises over the next three years.

The latest investment is part of an overall £3m initiative currently focusing on five core sector themes: sector capacity building, innovation and business growth, social media, market development and NFM’s North East Production Service.

Using a mixture of funding streams, Northern Film & Media will take a lead role in the building of successful commercial creative industries in the North East, investing in talent, in people and in their ideas.

NFM offers support in a number of ways with direct funding of projects, a commitment to professional and non professional training, and by arranging a wide range of schemes and services, workshops, seminars, screenings and networking events.

The project will offer support for SMEs to engage in new markets by opening up more digital distribution across the web, mobile, games and interactive media industries.  It will also enable them to take advantage of associated national funding streams such as Channel 4’s 4IP fund.

“Our aim is to be the catalyst for a series of innovative, commercially successful ventures in the creative media sector through both new and established SMEs in the region,” explained Tom Harvey, Chief Executive of Northern Film & Media.

“The region currently lacks major commissioners, purchasers, market proximity and expertise. We must help build companies’ skills, contacts, clients, expertise and networks so that they can engage with and exploit the global digital market.”

Mentoring with relevant national industry experts and attendance at overseas film festivals will help regional companies test out innovative approaches and ideas with new contacts, as well as tapping into commercial media markets and production funding opportunities.

He added:  “Our core activities will facilitate innovation, business growth and collaboration in the commercial creative sector, connect clients to local, national and international markets, and increase inward investment opportunities for the region.”

The established Location and Production Service and Filming Friendly Strategy aim to make filming in the North East easy and accessible, especially for location managers in their dealings with local authorities.  Services offered include access to NFM’s photographic locations database and region wide crew list to identify potential filming locations and local support staff.

The £1.22m part financing from the European Union’s ERDF Competitiveness Programme 2007-13 was secured through regional development agency One North East.  The agency has already contributed £1.84m to NFM from its Single Programme.

“Northern Film & Media is boosting creative and technical talent and nurturing the growth of the region’s media sector,” said One North East head of business investment Dr Simon Goon.

“The additional investment from Europe will build and sustain successful creative and digital businesses, allowing them to exploit new technology and compete in national and global markets.  We want our region to become a focal point for the production of creative content, as well as a world class and cost effective place to shoot both film and television.”

NFM’s new office premises at Hoults Yard in Newcastle is developing into a fast growing hub for creative industries in the region.  On-site technical facilities for SMEs are to include 122m2 of space for ISDN-based video conferencing, flexible meeting and networking spaces and dedicated screening facilities.

The ERDF 2007-13 programme is bringing over £300m into North East England to support innovation, enterprise and business support.  It will help create and safeguard 28,000 new jobs, start 3,000 new businesses and increase the region’s productivity by £1.1bn per annum.

Northern Film & Media works to ensure that content is created and production is enabled in the North East to the benefit of regional talent and the regional economy.  It works closely with key agencies in the region including Business & Enterprise North East, Skillset, Codeworks Connect & GameHorizon, DigitalCity, UK Film Council and Generator.

The project delivers Business Collaboration Networks and Business Expertise for Growth and is funded as part of Solutions for Business, the Government’s package of publicly funded business support designed to help companies start and grow.

For further information about the project, call Northern Film & Media on 0191 275 5940.

For information on the wide package of support available to regional companies, call Business Link on 0845 600 9006 or visit www.businesslink.gov.uk/northeast

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Mobile media and branded entertainment event at HYBY

Northern Film and Media has a fab events programme and is kicking off 2010 with an amazing event on 28th Jan. It looks like it’s got gaming, user generated content and social media covered. So, it’s kicking off with several of my hot topics for 2010 in my recent predictions Opencast blogpost.

It’s taking place at Hoults Yard, Byker – hence HYBY.

Digital Media Workshop – Mobile Technology and Branded Entertainment

Date: Thursday 28 Jan, 10am-5pm (lunch provided)

Where: Studio 3, NFM
RSVP: Places are free but limited. Book now by emailing roxy@northernmedia.org

Mobile technologist and campaigner Alfie Dennen will run a session exploring a wide range of topics relating to mobile technology and locative media.
Specific themes will include: making money from mobile – application store-front economies: understanding what people pay for and why. Alternate and augmented RealityGaming – the nature of ‘play’ and narrative forms for mobile. Also, operating system wars and evolution: Symbian, Safari and Android and the explosion of casual gaming. The final part of the session will be a case study and practical focussing on mobile campaigns

James Kirkham from Holler will run a session around the theme of Branded Entertainment. The session will explore how we can create fans and vibrant communities around content, and how best to facilitate discussion, interest and intrigue around content online.Specific themes will include: social media – how best to operate in this field including best in class examples. The re-emergence of user generated content looking at examples from broadcast, film, gaming, music and FMCG advertising to demonstrate how convergence is creating cross industry influence and the influence of gaming on story telling and how tricks and techniques will enable you to bring about excitement and attention to your content.There will be a particular slant on how small companies examples of campaigns that flew because of can achieve success against more small-scale budgets, including deep thinking, not just deep pockets.

These Digital Media Workshops have been funded through the Sustain partnership

Speaker Biogs
Alfie Dennen has been doing onliney mobiley and web bits since about 2000. He co-founded Moblog in 2003 after a wobbly first start-up catering to the Palm OS and then in 2005 made ‘We’re Not Afraid‘, a 7/7 protest site that captured the public spirit in London (a bit likehttp://sorryeverybody.com). He’s been playing with art and maps lately, first Moblog made The Big Art Mob (For Channel 4) which documents all the public art in Britain, then he started playing with collaborative drawing/game playing on maps with ‘What Is The Question‘ and Britglyph which won a Webby this year for, it seems, being completely bonkers.
Alfie’s current main project is called Bus-tops and will create a london-wide networked canvas of LED displays on the roof’s of bus shelters that anyone can create art and games for. Bus-Tops was the winning entrant in the London arc of the Artists Taking The Lead fund, an Arts Council and London Olympics public art programme

James Kirkham is Managing Director of Holler, the digital strategy agency.
Based in London, its clients include BBC, Channel 4, E4, Covent Garden London, Jergens Naturals, John Frieda, Kickers, Living TV, P&G, Red Bull and Virgin One.

New Media Age listed Holler as ‘ones to watch’ in their Top 100 guide in 2009, and noting that Holler has “one of the most impressive client lists in the UK”
Holler was behind the critically acclaimed and award-winning marketing for Skins on E4, a groundbreaking approach to marketing and media strategy that led to a host of awards, including three prestigious IPA awards. Holler have been shortlisted for ‘Digital Agency of the year’ by Marketing magazine.

Highly involved in the digital marketing community James contributes to a broad range of publications from The Sunday Times to Creative Review and writes a regular column for the renowned, Broadcast Magazine

Studio takes shape on Hoults Yard

 

Behind the scenes on film set

This shot is taken from behind the scenes on set with Ways to Live Forever. 

It shows the flats of the set – a full downstairs interior of a modern house. More importantly, you can see the height of the Railhead studio space with the eaves of the roof and beams providing an easy method for rigging and lighting.

The shoot is well underway and we’ve had positive feedback for the way Hoults Yard works as a production base – WTLF has its production office, hair/make-up, costume, green room, prop store, tutor rooms and catering all within hards of each other and the set. The yard’s been busy with an extra 30 cars on site, too. All adding to the buzz.

This production coincided with the launch of Northern Film & Media’s new offices in our Kiln building. It provides modern offices with superfast broadband and all the other benefits we offer on the yard: 24 hour security and access, easy parking, on-site cafe, media cluster… Now you can also hope to snatch a glimpse of stars Ben Chaplin, Greta Scaachi, Emilia Fox, too!