Events (W.C. 17 April)
1.#MERKY BOOKS LITERATURE FESTIVAL – DAY 1
Announcing the #Merky Books Literature Festival as part of Roundhouse’s In the Round Festival. A celebration of creativity, culture and arts, the event will showcase both established authors and new voices from Stormzy’s award-winning imprint at Penguin and beyond. Sponsored by Netflix, the festival will aim to demystify creative industries and inspire a new generation of creatives.
Each day of the festival will be split out into 3 Chapters. A Chapter 1, 2 or 3 ticket is required to gain access to the respective session in our Main Space. Tickets will also grant access to activity across the venue including book signings, live mural painting, film screenings, career workshops, food and drink trucks, book design and photography workshops, live podcasting and more. Discover the full programme below.
**SIGN UP WILL BE REQUIRED FOR SESSIONS IN DOORFMAN HUB. THIS WILL BE AVAILABLE AT THE VENUE ON THE DAY OF THE FESTIVAL AND OPERATED ON A FIRST COME FIRST SERVE BASIS.
SATURDAY SCHEDULE:
(For Sunday’s schedule, click here)
CHAPTER 1
11.00 – 11.45 – Main Space
ASK ME ANYTHING
Fancy a career in the creative industries but unsure where to start? Montana Hall, founder of Run The Check, a platform that showcases paid creative opportunities, is joined by a range of experts from across Penguin and Netflix to share everything you need to know about getting into TV, film and publishing.
12.15 – 13.15 – Main Space
GET FUNDED
Ever wondered how to get a creative project off the ground? Love Island star and broadcaster Priscilla Anyabu interviews finance expert Bola Sol, author of How to Save It, and Damola Timeyin, author of How to Build It, as they share the steps to securing creative funding and show how to make entrepreneurship work for you. This session is sponsored by HSBC.
12.15 – 13.15 – Doorfman Hub
UNIT PHOTOGRAPHY 101 **
Join Melissa Terrelonge (UK Photo and AV Lead at Netflix) in discussion with seasoned photographers Ali Painter, Sam Taylor and Des Willie about all things unit photography. Get to know the vast range of styles and disciplines that exist and how they show up in the world. The panel will share practical advice on everything from getting into the industry, the right equipment to invest in and even how to set your rates. If you’re looking for candid and practical advice from experts in their field, you won’t want to miss this! In collaboration with Netflix UK Photo and AV team.
CHAPTER 2
13.45 – 14.45 – Main Space
NEW VOICES
Sofia Akel, cultural historian and founder of the ‘Free Books Campaign’, introduces the boldest new voices of 2023 with a discussion on writing fiction and how to get published. The event will feature debut novelists Taylor-Dior Rumble, whose romance novel The Situationship explores the dating lives of millennials; Jyoti Patel, winner of the #Merky Books New Writers’ Prize and author of The Things That We Lost; and Ore Agbaje-Williams, who wrote her suburban millennial comedy The Three of Us while in lockdown.
14.00 – 14.45 – Doorfman Hub
CREATIVES IN PUBLISHING **
Nick Shah (Creative Director of Orion Publishing Group) will be in discussion with Micaela Alcaino(Award-winning Designer and Illustrator), Claire Cheung (Head of Creative at Penguin Random House UK) and Bonita Ebuehi (Brand and Marketing Designer at Vintage). This will be a panel discussion with leading designers in publishing – reflecting on their career paths and entry in design roles, discussing current design trends and offering advice for aspiring creatives to gain roles in publishing and similar creative fields.
15.15 – 16.15 – Main Space
FROM PAGE TO SCREEN
Everyone has read a book that’s made them think ‘This should be a film or TV series!’ − but how does adaptation actually work? Join Jade LB, author of cultural phenomenon Keisha the Sket, Caleb Azumah Nelson, writer, actor and singer-songwriter, and Alice Pearse, an original series commissioner at Netflix, in conversation with Buzzfeed journalist Ade Onibada, as they discuss the process of taking words and turning them into something for the big screen.
15.00 – 16.00 – Doorfman Hub
EDITORIAL PHOTOGRAPHY 101 **
Join Melissa Terrelonge (UK Photo and AV Lead at Netflix) in discussion with seasoned photographers Marcelle Adrianna, Ron Timehin, Daniel Oluwatobi and Sama Kai about all things editorial photography. Get to know the vast range of styles and disciplines that exist and how they show up in the world. The panel will share practical advice on everything from getting into the industry, the right equipment to invest in and even how to set your rates. If you’re looking for candid and practical advice from experts in their field, you won’t want to miss this! In collaboration with Netflix UK Photo and AV team.
16.45 – 17.45 – Main Space
HOT WORDS
Join us for a dynamic celebration of the power of poetry, with a series of spoken word performances. Each poet will bring their unique voice and perspective to the stage, featuring Sophia Thakur’s evocative explorations of identity and belonging, Monika Radojevic’s unflinching commentary on social issues, Yomi Sode’s poignant reflections on family and heritage, and Caleb Femi’s raw and honest expression of the Black British experience.
16.30 – 17.30 – Doorfman Hub
REDSIGN A COVER – COLLAGE **
This workshop will give you an opportunity to get crafty and redesign a cover, using the medium of collage. A cover brief will be provided on the day and guidance offered by Penguin designers to gain new perspectives on the role of designers.
CHAPTER 3
19.00 – 20.30 – Main Space
EXPANDING CREATIVITY
Celebrating homegrown British talent and multi-disciplinary creativity, hosted by BBC presenter, Nihal Arthanayake. Join us for an inspiring conversation between acclaimed author and musician Wretch 32, award-winning poet and playwright John Agard, and the Director of UK Film at Netflix Fiona Lamptey. The panel will explore the creative process − from how to develop and refine your ideas, to finding inspiration in unexpected places. This event is presented in association with Renaissance One.
THROUGHOUT THE DAY
11.30 – 18.30 – Studio Theatre
MYM TAKEOVER
Join Million Youth Media – part of Fully Focused Productions – screening a selection of powerful short films by next-gen filmmakers from across the UK. Hosted by BBC presenter Emma-Louise Amanshia, hear from the filmmakers discussing the creative process, their experiences, how MYMsupported them and more.
11.00 – 17.30 – Circle Bar
CAREER DROP IN CLINIC
Feed your curiosity about all things publishing, film and TV with our series of career advice pop ups. A chance to get your questions about all things career and creative answered by people from Penguin Careers, #Merky Books and Netflix. Connect with industry organisations dedicated to supporting and equipping young people in the creative industries – Million Youth Media, Mama Youth Project and Equal Access Network – Film London – to learn more about their programmes.
11.00 – 17.30 – Roundhouse Bar & Cafe
POP-UP BOOKSHOP BY ROUND TABLE BOOKS
It all started with a party! The original bookshop was a pop-up to celebrate KNIGHTS OF turning one year – the team wanted to do something unique – and an inclusive pop-up on Coldharbour Lane, Brixton opened for a week. The response was overwhelming – loudest was the call for a permanent space – after a crowdfund caught the imagination of readers across the world, they opened doors to the shop May 2019. Round Table Books wouldn’t exist without the support of passionate people and readers.
11.00 – 17.30 – Roundhouse Bar & Cafe
LIT IN COLOUR LIBRARY
Lit in Colour will be showcasing a mini library of books by Penguin authors of colour and promoting the second edition of the ‘incomplete’ Lit in Colour book lists. These lists are publisher agnostic and bring together over 200 new and classic texts for young people to read. There will also be prize giveaway opportunities for young people to win book bundles.
Lit in Colour was created in 2020 by Penguin Books UK and equality think tank The Runnymede Trust. Their aim is to find innovative and practical ways to give schools the support and tools they need to introduce more books by people of colour into the classroom, for all ages.
This event is part of the In the Round Festival, the renowned annual festival that sees an eclectic mix of artists perform incredibly special, intimate gigs in a fully seated, circular stage setting. Surround yourself in music and discover more artists here
2. Legacy of the Black Square – 26 April
After the murder of George Floyd in 2020, many companies worldwide issued statements of solidarity and support and posted black squares on their websites and socials.
‘Legacy of the Black Square’ is a live event where we will look at the impact of that tumultuous time; on programming and commissioning, promises made, what has been delivered so far and what may be to come.
Panel
Joanna Abeyie, Head of Creative Diversity at the BBC
Marcus Ryder, Head of External Consultancies at The Lenny Henry Centre for Media Diversity
Lucy Pilkington, Managing Director at Milk and Honey Productions
Shaminder Nahal, Head of Specialist Factual at Channel 4
Miranda Wayland, Head of International DEIA, Content and Strategy, Prime and Amazon Studios
The moderator is K Biswas; a critic who has written about politics and culture for the New Statesman, New York Times, The Nation, and the Times Literary Supplement and is Editor of Representology, The Journal of Media and Diversity.
Event Details
Date: Wednesday 26 April
Location: Cavendish Conference Centre, W1G 9DT
Time: 6.30pm for a 7.00pm start
Booking Details
Tickets for RTS members are free but must be booked in advance (please input your membership number when booking). If you do not know your membership number, please email membership@rts.org.uk.
Tickets for non-members are £15.
Tickets are non-refundable.
3. In Conversation with Zai Bennett
Join the RTS for an exclusive conversation with Sky UK & Ireland’s Managing Director of Content Zai Bennett. Hosted by TV and radio broadcaster Nikki Bedi.
More details to follow in due course.
Event Details
Date: Tuesday 16 May
Location: Cavendish Conference Centre, W1G 9DT
Time: 6.30pm for a 7.00pm start
Booking Details
Tickets for RTS members are free but must be booked in advance (please input your membership number when booking). If you do not know your membership number, please email membership@rts.org.uk.
Tickets for non-members are £15.
Tickets are non-refundable.
4. Indie Arthouse Film Shorts/Movie Screenings @ The Film Atelier
Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2023 18:00 – 22:00 BST
Location: The Film Atelier 314 Sangley Road London SE6 2JT United Kingdom
# Movie Shorts/Short Film Screening Social evening
We meet at CAT café @ The Film Atelier 314 Sangley Road LONDON SE6 2JT for an evening of two surprise Film shorts. These may be in a foreign language, silent movies or English in the art house tradition with subtitles.
A complimentary drink of your choice is included in the entry fee. We list a few tickets on the Eventbrite pages as well as Meetup; locally and on social media.
The screenings take place in The Film Atelier which brings together the disciplines of photography; psychotherapy and music to refract and analyse what we experience in life and the visual field. During the break, we are a social meetup and analyse and discuss the film in the original language (if you can) and another person tries a translation. The discussion is social and also encourages talking in different languages when possible.
NB We do not show commercial interest shorts. This is very much in the independent and arthouse realm. If you are under 18 years, please let us know in advance. All film shorts are carefully curated.
Check dates: some weeks are sold out already.
Free Admission, Book your tickets HERE
5. Movie Screening – Avatar
Starts on Fri, 28 Apr 2023 4:00 PM AEST
The Crossing Theatre 117 Tibbereena Street Narrabri, NSW 2390 Australia
Free Admission, Book your tickets HERE
6. BAFTA Masterclass: The Urgency of Climate Storytelling
Monday, 24 April 2023 – 7:00pm
BAFTA 195 Piccadilly, BAFTA, 195 Piccadilly, London, W1J 9EU
Princess Anne Theatre
The panel will be followed by industry networking.
Please book into these events separately.
Speakers include:
Lisa Cadwallader, VP, Content & Development, WaterBear
James Honeyborne, wildlife filmmaker and Creative Director of Freeborne Films and Wild Space Productions (BBC’s Blue Planet II)
Alex Miller, Executive Creative Director and Head of Content at VICE Media UK
Tom Mustill, award-winning nature writer and Head of Gripping Films (#ForNature, The Answer to Everything)
Josh Appignanesi, filmmaker, My Extinction
Register HERE
7. The BAFTA Television Sessions
Saturday, 29 April 2023 – 10:00am
BAFTA 195 Piccadilly, BAFTA, 195 Piccadilly, London, W1J 9EU
BAFTA 195 Piccadilly
Hear from the teams behind some of the best of this year’s telly, as they share insights into bringing reality TV to our screens, the craft of directing factual shows, and how it feels to be nominated as emerging talent in fiction. Delve into the worlds of Costume Design and Production Design in our exhibition space by getting up close and personal with the costumes and designs that brought their characters and worlds to life. All of this, and the opportunity to watch the nominated Short Form programmes from the small screen, on the big screen.
Explore, feel inspired, and celebrate the joy of television in all its forms.
See below for the full line-up.
BAFTA Television Sessions: Costume Design
Creative and Futures Gallery
10.00 – 16.00 BST
Whether it’s a period piece, historical drama or a western – or a comedy-horror puppet show, for that matter – a huge amount of thought goes into every stitch we see onscreen. See the costumes from this year’s nominated shows up close, and, between 12-1pm, hear more from the nominees who created them.
Hear from the following nominees from 12pm – 1pm:
Becky Sloan, Joe Pelling, Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared
Phoebe De Gaye, The English
Amy Roberts, The Crown
This is a drop-in exhibition you can visit at any time throughout the day.
BAFTA Television Sessions: Production Design
Creative and Futures Gallery
10.00 – 16.00 BST
The art of creating a show’s aesthetic is no small feat. Whether it’s the set design, location, props or lighting, every element goes into creating the visual world in which the story is set. Look behind the scenes at the process of bringing these worlds to life and, between 2-3pm, hear more from the nominees who created them.
Hear from the following nominees from 2pm – 3pm:
Becky Sloan, Joe Pelling, Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared
Kave Quinn, Tim Blake, Penny Crawford, Pistol
Chris Roope, The English
This is a drop-in exhibition you can visit at any time throughout the day.
BAFTA Television Sessions: Entertainment Performance and Reality & Constructed Factual
Princess Anne Theatre
11.00 – 12.00 BST
With its powerful ability to reflect the world we live in and offer an entertaining escapism, reality TV is more popular than ever. Hear insights from this year’s nominees as they discuss their approaches to storytelling, the casting of contributors, and the challenges of working with people from all walks of life in a brand and social media-led world.
Speakers include:
Ryan Samuda, Jess Mitchell, We Are Black And British
Daniel Nettleton, Derek McLean, The Masked Singer
Diego Rincon, Anthony Chuck, Gemma Nightingale, Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway
BAFTA Television Sessions: Short Form Programme
Run Run Shaw Theatre
11.30 – 13.15 BST
Introduced in 2018, this category was created to celebrate and recognise the craft of short form storytelling, and the shift from traditional scheduling formats. Watch the Shorts in full, followed by a Q&A with their creators.
Shiva Raichandani, Alex Balcombe, Always, Asifa
Christine Robertson, Biscuitland
Anna Hashmi, Sindha Agha, Tobi Kyeremateng, How To Be a Person
Ben Zand, Josh Reynolds, Kingpin Cribs
BAFTA Television Sessions: Emerging Talent: Fiction
Princess Anne Theatre
12.45 – 13.45 BST
Recognised as emerging talent within their field, this year’s nominees are also among those with the most named nominations this year, so they’re clearly doing something right. Join us as we hear more about their processes, how they are navigating the TV industry, and where they see themselves heading next.
Speakers include:
Jack Rooke, writer, Big Boys
Pete Jackson, writer, Somewhere Boy
Nicôle Lecky, writer, Mood
BAFTA Television Sessions: Director: Factual
Princess Anne Theatre
14.30 -15.30 BST
Delve into the fast-changing factual landscape, and hear this year’s nominees discuss the craft of storytelling, creative freedom and collaboration.
Speakers include:
Felicity Morris, The Tinder Swindler
Emma Cooper, The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes
James Jones, Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes
Sophie Robinson, My Dead Body
BAFTA Television Sessions: Specialist Factual
Run Run Shaw Theatre
15.00 – 16.00 BST
Described as the “genre that explores and explains the world, and makes us think about it differently”, Specialist Factual spans history, politics, science, natural history, arts and religion. We invite this year’s nominees to discuss the process of giving these stories a platform and the challenges they faced.
Speakers include:
Morgana Pugh, Mark Henderson, Aids: The Unheard Tapes
Munya Chawawa, How To Survive A Dictator With Munya Chawawa
More speakers to be announced.
BAFTA Television Sessions: Comedy Performance
Princess Anne Theatre
16.15 – 17.15 BST
We invite this year’s nominees from the Comedy Performance categories to share insights into their nuanced performances and to discuss the journey behind crafting these captivating characters and bringing them to life onscreen.
Speakers include:
Taj Atwal, Hullraisers
Jon Pointing, Big Boys
Stephen Merchant, The Outlaws
More speakers to be announced
Please note, the Richard Attenborough Rooms will be closed on this day.
Register HERE
8. Chronic Youth Film Festival 2023
Sat 22 – Sun 23 Apr; Barbican Cinema
Chronic Youth Film Festival 2023 presents A Time and a Place: A series of films depicting memories of life. Tackling the big and the small, the personal and the political, this year’s festival’s array of films from a mix of documentary, fiction and something in between. Featuring a special screening and Q&A of the Sankofa Film and Video Collective’s first feature The Passion of Remembrance.
“Tackling the big and the small, the personal and the political, this year’s festival’s array of films couldn’t be more different. But they each capture a moment, blips in space and time, that have resonated with each of us, a collective of very different perspectives that have been thrown together. A mix of documentary, fiction and something in between, this year we jump from each scattered pinpoint, and celebrate the different snapshots.” The Barbican Young Programmers 2023
Book your ticket HERE
9. Beau is Afraid + Director Q&A
Thu 27 Apr, 6:45pm; Picturehouse Central
Join Picturehouse Central for a special screening of Beau is Afraid. Beau (Joaquin Phoenix) is middle-aged, profoundly paranoid, and preparing to face one of his greatest fears: paying a visit to his mother when bizarre circumstances conspire against him. Writer/director Ari Aster will be in attendance for a live Q&A following the screening.
Book your ticket HERE
10. Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Thu 27 Apr, 8:10pm; Garden Cinema
Join Garden Cinema for a special screening of Portrait of a Lady on Fire, a historical romantic drama by director Céline Sciamma. Screening
during Lesbian Visibility week, Dr Alice Pember will introduce the screening. The film is part of Garden Cinema’s Celebrating Queer Cinema season.
Book your ticket HERE
11. What My Mother Told Me + Introduction
Sat 22 Apr, 6:30pm; Raven Row
Join Raven Row and The June Givanni Pan-African Cinema Archive for a screening of What My Mother Told Me. When an English woman goes to Trinidad to bury her father, she meets her estranged mother and is forced to confront the truth about her past, and a moving journey towards self-discovery takes place. The screening will be introduced by Frances-Anne Solomon.
Free Admission, Book your ticket HERE