With details of a Pro Connect Manchester workshop, the Festival of Marketing and more, here is the latest Creative England newsletter:

Creative England
October 2017

Stories about Place

Last week we celebrated the extraordinary films and talented filmmakers from across England’s regions with Stories about Place, an evening reception with speeches from respected filmmakers from across the country, including Stephen Woolley (Carol, The Crying Game, Their Finest), Alex Usborne (The Marker), Rubika Shah (White Riot: London), Loran Dunn (Lambing Season) and Moin Hussain (Real Gods Require Blood). Click here to watch the show reel of films we have supported, created by regional talent.

Film & TV

We have announced the final five filmmakers in our shortFLIX programme! Dior Clarke & Blain Ho-Shing, Abena Taylor-Smith, Ben Robins, Luna Carmoon, and Henry Gale will each receive a production award of up to £10,000 to create their short films, which will be showcased on Sky Arts.

Programme ambassador and Game of Thrones star Ellie Kendrick discussed the importance of programmes which back diverse voices for the film and television industry with the BBC, read the article here.

What does it take to make it as a freelance hair and make-up artist in film and television? Creative England’s ProConnect Hertfordshire Knowledge Bites returns next month with a two day workshop for freelancers looking to work in film and television.

We have several supported films competing at this year's London Film Festival: Apostasty, which follows a family in the Jehovas Witness community, was produced through iFeatures, Kingdom of Us, a documentary on a family coming to terms with grief , releasing on Netflix, and Real Gods Require Blood, a short film developed through iWrite.

Content creation is evolving - the worlds of game, film and tech are more connected than ever. ProConnect Converge looks at how the industries are merging in a one day workshop on the 26th October, co-hosted by Gameopolis. Learn more and register here.

Raising Films, a community group improving access for parents & carers working in the film and TV industries, are inviting applications for their Making it Possible development days. The event will help participants focus on their goals, plan a route to achieve them and address the barriers they face.

Sign up for the next ERDF funded ProConnect Manchester workshop! This highly practical and engaging workshop will teach freelancers and small business owners the ins and outs of finance and networking - a must-attend workshop for any freelancer.

Managing people for the first time can be a daunting prospect. Join ProConnect Hertfordshire on the 19th October for a one-day workshop, fully funded by ERDF, which teaches the skills of management at creative companies. Learn more and register here.

Tech & Digital

Future Leader & CE50 company Strange Thoughts have been to a TedX conference with their mind controlled beer pouring robots! The conference was surrounding the topic of 'Focus' - once you have reached the concentration threshold, the beer will begin to pour. If you lose concentration, the glass tilts back, and the beer stops pouring! Learn more about Strange Thoughts impressive work here.

We have partnered with The Festival of Marketing, which returns to Tobacco Dock 4-5th October 2017! Boasting 12 stages of content, workshops, intimate jam sessions and over 200 speakers, #FoM17 is the place for marketers to be!

Creative England supported company Cyber Coach Smart, with the help of Manchester Metropolitan University, have launched maths and language learning platform Emile, aiming to enhance learning through digital play. Learn more about the project here.

FreelanceDiary is offering one month FREE 'Pro X' membership (worth £30) and an opportunity to receive a further 3 months free 'Pro X’ once signed up. Coupon Code: 'CREATIVE_PRO_X'. FreelanceDiary increases opportunity in film, TV and creative industries by providing a faster, smarter way to hire. Visit FreelanceDiary.com to learn more or download the free iOS app.

Discover the £80m Creative Industries Clusters Programme at eight UK-wide briefing events this October. The programme, starting in 2018, will create new R&D partnerships across the UK. It’s a fantastic opportunity for leading organisations from industry and academic sectors to shape and build the future of the creative industries.

Games

Emerging tech, games and digital companies can join us in Leeds for a workshop on Emerging technology, which is fully-funded by the ERDF. Learn from industry specialists covering AR, VR, Bitcoin & blockchains, data analytics and Artificial Intelligence. The workshop is part of our Gameslab Leeds programme.

Auroch Digital release Ogre on the 5th October, the official adaptation of the legendary wargame from Steve Jackson Games. Engage in futuristic warfare with armored hovercraft, superheavy tanks, infantry, and giant cybernetic war machines called "Ogres".

EGX was on this month, offering game developers the opportunity to showcase their upcoming projects. The Guardian's write up of their favourite games included Laser Dog's Ava Airborne and Atomicom's Elevate: Combat League - both supported by Creative England.

CE50 and Future Leader Lucid Games announced their new game, Switchblade, this month. You can watch the trailer for the game here, and sign up for the beta version for PC and PS4 on their website.

CE50 and Future Leader Paw Print Games' Bloody Zombies featured on Steam this month! The game, which sees London overrun by hordes of mutated zombies, is now available to buy worldwide, on PC, PlayStation 4 and all major VR platforms.