LFF industry

Source: Academy Of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences / BAFTA/Sophia Spring / Charades / Disney

[Clockwise L-R]: Bill Kramer, Jane Millichip, Carole Baraton, Jennifer Lee

Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Bafta managing director Jane Millichip will participate in a conversation as part of the 67th BFI London Film Festival’s industry programme (LFF, October 4-15).

The talk is titled ‘Academies, awards and the future of cinema’ and will be hosted by BFI CEO Ben Roberts on October 5. 

There will also be three Spotlight conversations with industry leaders: Jennifer Lee, Walt Disney Animation Studios’ chief creative officer and the co-writer and co-director of the Frozen films, will be in conversation with Tricia Tuttle, head of directing fiction at the National Film and Television School and former LFF director. Charades co-founder and CEO Carole Baraton will talk with Isabel Davis, executive director of Screen Scotland; and Emile Sherman, Iain Canning and Helen Gregory, the creative team of See-Saw Films will be in conversation with Clare Stewart, managing director, International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) and also a former LFF director. 

The industry panels include ‘I Am Not A Robot – using generative AI in the screen industries’, in association with Screen International, in which experts will talk about how they use AI as a tool for writing, storyboarding, and generating new images. The speakers will be Rianna Dearden, narrative designer and a writer at Charisma.ai, Sami Arpa, founder and CEO of Largo.ai, Tim Webber, chief creative officer at Framestore, and  Hannah Wylie, partner at law firm Harbottle & Lewis.

There will also be a talk with emerging writers called ’Fade In. Emerging writers in conversation’ which will feature Emily Burnett, Lisa Clarkson, Karim Khan, Caleb J. Roberts, Sufiyaan Salam, Rashida Seriki, Charlie Tidmas and Temi Wilkey.

Additionally, the creative teams behind In Camera and The End We Start From will also talk about how the two directorial debuts came together, and there will be a focus on international co-production with a look at The Settlers. 

International partnerships

Producers from France, South Africa and Nigeria will also be in town to encourage collaboration with UK producers. The second edition of the New Waves co-production meetings will see 12 producers from France meet with UK producers at the LFF, organised by the Institut français UK, the BFI and the CNC, in partnership with Unifrance.  There will also be a networking reception hosted by Dragoslav Zachariev, deputy director, Institut Français UK. The Institut Français and BFI International will also be meeting CNC representatives on October 7  ahead of the Cultural Olympiad 2024 which will take place in Paris.

South Africa’s National Film & Video Foundation is supporting a delegation of South African producers at the LFF, while producers from Nigeria will be in London for the Nigerian International Film Summit and will be meeting UK producers to explore collaboration opportunities. 

The festival’s UK Talent Days (October 6-9) runs in partnership with British Council and includes the fourth edition of its Works-In-Progress showcase for feature films and documentaries made by emerging talent to be presented to international buyers, commissioners, producers and programmers.

The LFF will also host the return of the popular BFI NETWORK@LFF programme for UK-based writers, directors and producers; and the LFF Critics Mentorship Programme. 

For buyers and sellers, the Film London Production Finance Market (October 10-11) will connect filmmakers and financiers from around the world and will include a case study of Janis Pugh’s Chuck Chuck Baby.

Additionally, the LFF’s annual Buyers & Sellers event for festival films which have yet to secure UK distribution or sales representation will take place on October 7. 

Kristy Matheson, LFF director, said: ”We’re excited to be welcoming European, international and UK talents to this year’s Industry Forum. In sharing their expertise, experience and ideas, we all have the opportunity to learn with each other which is more vital than ever in this fast-evolving landscape. We’re looking forward to welcoming colleagues to our Industry Forum to gain insights and build contacts.”