Announcing first wave of FOCUS speakers

At FOCUS, The Meeting Place for International Production, two days of free-to-attend programme sessions will feature over 150 industry leaders sharing their expertise, inspiration and insight through keynotes, panel discussions, workshops and case studies. Over 60 sessions will cover film, TV, advertising, animation and games.

The business model behind Love Island, Blockchain technology, a Bodyguard masterclass, workshops on Finance, Tax break Certification, Legal advice and Pact’s Export Accelerator are just a few of the sessions on offer.

New this year is On the Ground, a series of case studies including Mamma Mia – Here We Go Again, Mary Poppins Returns and three productions shot in the Nordic countries – The Girl in the Spider’s Web , Ailo’s Journey and Mission: Impossible – Fallout.

Over 150 Industry experts participating in sessions will include…

Adam Gee – Little Dot Studios, Ali James – Supervising Location Manager. Alison Small – The Production Guild, Alastair Clark – Wellington Films, Anna Mansi – BFI, Arif Haq – Freuds, Ashley Turing – LiveTree, Bill Darby – Supervising Location Manager, Christian Grece – European Audiovisual Observatory, Claire Heys – ITV, Claudia Balboa – HeyFilm, Dawn McCarthy Simpson MBE – Pact, Harriet Lawrence – Location Manager, Helen Hadfield – Snapper Films, Ilann Girard – Olffi, Jake Cassels – The Connected Set, James Lapsley – Production Designer, Katrien Roos – Harbottle and Lewis, Leifur B. Dagfinnsson – Truenorth, Leon Forde – Olsberg•SPI, Louise Say – Producer/Director, Melanie Stokes – Kindle Entertainment, Michael Othen – Fusebox Games, Michelle James – ScreenSkills, Phil Hunt – Bankside/Head Gear Films, Samantha Perahia – British Film Commission, Sara Putt – Agent, Simon Heeger – 2WEI Music

…& many more leading industry names to be announced. More info here.

To make sure that it is completely relevant to the industry, the FOCUS programme is developed in consultation with Pact, The Production Guild, Directors UK, BFI, BFC, UK Screen Alliance, Creative Europe UK, ScreenSkills, Advertising Producers Association and Women in Film & TV. It is presented in association with media partner Variety.

At FOCUS 2018, you can also meet with exhibitors from over 60 countries, showcasing their incentives, locations and production services.

Professionals from the creative screen sector who register in advance get complimentary access to the whole programme.