New Names on bill for Freelancers’ Fair

Iain Smith OBE, a leading film industry figure and acclaimed producer is to offer his insight into how people can make progress in the industry at next month's Freelancers' Fair.(Friday 17 June).

‘Local Hero’, ‘The Mission’, ‘The Killing Fields’,’ The Fifth Element’,’ Spy Game’, ‘Children of Men’ and the ‘A Team’ are just some of Iain Smith's credits; Iain is also the current chair of the British Film Commission, the Film Skills Council, the UK Film Industry Training Board and the Skillset Craft and Technical Skills Academy.

Iain joins Jo Taylor, the dynamic head of 4Talent and Hannah Springham, series producer of the popular hit ‘Pineapple Dance Studios’ and a former ‘Broadcast’ 'hotshot', to guide visitors on how to approach employment in tv and film, both sectors where competition is fierce and where the labour pool outstrips the availability of paid roles.

Iain Smith, Jo Taylor and Hannah Springham will be panel members on the ‘How to Stand out From the Crowd’ seminar.
Skills Development
Also confirmed, Dan Berbridge, C4 executive producer (freelance) for Factual Entertainment, will join Jane Stephenson from the Media Trust and award-winning documentary film maker Simon Berthon, to adjudicate at ‘Pitching for Success’, another seminar which is certain to prove popular. Those who would like to practice their pitching skills are invited to submit a summary programme proposal (200 words maximum) no later than Thursday 9 June.

Employment Debate
‘The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: how to survive TV's Wild West’ will debate the issues which give rise to the biggest number of employment disputes. BECTU's Martin Spence, Jude Winstanley from the Unit List, accountancy expert, Steven Sykes and Kate Fox from Thompsons Solicitors will be keen to provide advice on how to avoid the pitfalls often caused by a lack of certainty on issues such as contracts, rates and hours of work.

Meet the director

On the technical front, discussion centres on the impact of DSLR in a session which asks: ‘DSLR: the new digital revolution?’ Dom Bridges, director of ‘Shelf Stackers’, shot entirely in 5D for the BBC will share his views. More speakers to be confirmed.

In addition, just this week, the BBC Academy has agreed to deliver a session on the value of social media in tv. Simon Smith, interactive producer, will lead the discussion which will introduce the benefits which social media can bring to so many elements of the production process.

For more information on the seminar and to book a place go to the BECTU website.