Sundance Film Festival: London 2023 Industry Programme

All talks and social events at Picturehouse Central Industry events are open only to Industry badgeholders (no tickets sold for individual sessions) and are first come, first served.

The Picturehouse Team

19 Jun 23


Thursday 6 July

 

10am    Industry Badge Collection Opens

Location:  Ground Floor Industry Badge Desk


11.45—12.30    FEELS. Pre-Networking for Industry badge holders

Location:  Ground Floor Café

A relaxed and fun get-to-know-you session to meet the other creative people you'll be spending the next four days with.  

 

12.3014.00    Networking Brunch in Partnership with BBC Film

Location:  Ground Floor Café & First Floor Restaurant

Our brunches allow for informal group talks with a range of industry experts, providing opportunities to ask questions and hear about their careers and current work. Each day's speakers will be confirmed the evening before. Full list of brunch speakers below.

 

14.1515.15    Talk: Meet Sundance Institute

Location:  Screen 2                 

Speakers:   Joana Vicente, CEO, Sundance Institute; Eugene Hernandez, Director of the Sundance Film Festival and Head of Public Programming; Kim Yutani, Director of Programming, Sundance Film Festival

Moderator:  Wendy Mitchell (Sundance Film Festival: London Producer)

Learn all about the work of the Sundance Institute – including its festivals and year-round artist programmes – from key members of the team. We hear what excites them now about independent filmmaking, how Sundance supports artists across its various programmes, and the career paths for each of them that led to working at Sundance.

 

15.3016.30    Talk: Smart Ways to Meet your Audience         

Location:  Screen 3     

Speakers: Ollie Charles, Senior Communications Manager, Global, MUBI; Melanie Iredale, director, Reclaim the Frame; Micallar Walker, founder, Dark Matter

Moderator:  Sam Clements, Head of Marketing, Picturehouse

After making a brilliant film, the next step is connecting it to the right audience. As audience behaviours rapidly change in both cinemagoing and online viewing, distribution and marketing experts have to constantly think of innovative ways to reach audiences – not to mention ways to attract underserved audiences. This session will offer plenty of practical advice for marketing, press and social media strategies to get your stories into the world.


16.0017.00    Live From The Studio presented with Audible         

Location:  First-Floor Restaurant

Interviews with top filmmakers and industry guests visiting Sundance London.     

 

17.00—18.00    Happy Hour in Partnership with ScreenSkills

Location:  Members' Bar

Our daily happy hour welcomes badgeholders, industry guests and filmmakers to get to know each other over drinks and snacks.



Friday 7 July

 

10.3012.00    Networking Brunch in Partnership with BFI Network

Location:  Ground floor café & First-Floor restaurant

Our brunches allow for informal group talks with a range of industry experts, providing opportunities to ask questions and hear about their careers and current work. Each day's speakers will be confirmed the evening before. Full list of brunch speakers below.


12.15—13.15    Talk: Storytelling in Audio with Audible and RAW 

Location:  Screen 5

Speakers:  Clare Chadburn, Director of Original Content at Audible; Sheun Adelasoye De Nicola, Executive Producer at RAW

Moderator:  Nicole Davis, Writer, podcaster and creative producer

In this discussion, the teams from Audible, a leading provider in spoken word entertainment, and RAW, the multi-award winning film & TV production company behind films such as The Imposter and Three Identical Strangers, will discuss how podcasting can create more depth and open up new opportunities in documentary storytelling.   

 
13.30—15.00    Interactive Pitch Panel

Location:  Screen 2

This lively, interactive session will invite selected Industry badgeholders to pitch their film idea in front of a live audience and a carefully curated panel of experts, who will offer instant feedback. All Industry badgeholders can enter their names to be considered to pitch – those selected to pitch will be drawn out of a hat the night before. The session starts with a short talk with the experts explaining what kinds of pitches and projects impress them. We expect 8 filmmakers will do pitches of 3 minutes, followed by the experts' feedback. The experts will pick their best pitch winner, and the audience will also vote on their favourite. 

Expert Panel

Mary Burke, Producer, Public Dreams Ltd. 

Anthony Andrews, We are Parable

Lizzie Francke, Consultant 

Megan Gilbert, Development Coordinator, Film4

Ruby Kaye, CAA

Tejinder Jouhal, Director of Marketing & Distribution, HanWay

Danny Perkins, CEO, Elysian Film Group

Moderator: Sam Clements, Head of Marketing, Picturehouse 

 

15.30—16.45    Industry Keynote with Anthony Bregman: Why Film Producing Matters, and Nothing Else Does 

Location:  Screen 2

Veteran US producer Anthony Bregman talks about the lessons learned producing dozens of acclaimed films over the past 20 years, including hits such as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Foxcatcher and In The Heights; as well as Sundance Film Festival: London 2023 closing film You Hurt My Feelings, directed by Nicole Holofcener. In addition to reflecting on his own career, Bregman will offer his insights into the current landscape for independent film and how emerging creatives can find the best opportunities to tell their stories.

Speaker:  Anthony Bregman, Producer & Co-founder, Likely Story

Moderator:  Wendy Mitchell, Sundance Film Festival: London producer


16.0017.00    Live From The Studio presented with Audible         

Location:  First-Floor Restaurant

Interviews with top filmmakers and industry guests visiting Sundance London.     

 

17.0018.00    Happy Hour in Partnership with Sundance Ignite

Location:  Members' Bar

Our daily happy hour welcomes badgeholders, industry guests and filmmakers to get to know each other over drinks and snacks.

 


Saturday 8 July

 

11.00—12.30    Networking Brunch

Location:  Ground Floor Café & First-Floor Restaurant

Our brunches allow for informal group talks with a range of industry experts, providing opportunities to ask questions and hear about their careers and current work. Each day's speakers will be confirmed the evening before. Full list of brunch speakers below.

 

12.45—13.45    Talk: How to Make the Most of Film Festivals

Location:  Screen 3

Speakers:  Katie Bignell, founder, Festival Formula; Kristy Matheson, BFI Festivals Director; Axel Danielsson and Maximilien Van Aertryck, directors, Fantastic Machine          

Moderator:  Mike Plante, Senior Programmer, Sundance Film Festival

Film festivals are an integral part of the independent film ecosystem, but emerging filmmakers are often perplexed about film festival strategies. This session will include some practical advice about everything from the submissions process, to hiring a publicist, to getting the right materials (stills, poster, texts) ready for your festival launch. We'll cover festival journeys for shorts as well as fiction and documentary features, along with some advice about making the most of your time on the ground at any festival.

 

14.15—15.15    Masterclass with Gregg Araki

Location:  Screen 4

Speaker:  Gregg Araki

Moderator:  Michael Blyth 

In this exclusive industry masterclass, acclaimed US filmmaker Gregg Araki talks about his filmmaking journey.


16.0017.00    Live From The Studio presented with Audible         

Location:  First-Floor Restaurant

Interviews with top filmmakers and industry guests visiting Sundance London.     

 

17.00—18.00    Happy Hour in Partnership with Netflix

Location:  Members' Bar

Our daily happy hour welcomes badgeholders, industry guests and filmmakers to get to know each other over some drinks and snacks.

 


Sunday 9 July

 

11.30—13.00    Networking Brunch in Partnership with Doc Society

Location:  Ground Floor Café & First-Floor Restaurant

Our brunches allow for informal group talks with a range of industry experts, providing opportunities to ask questions and hear about their careers and current work. Each day's speakers will be confirmed the evening before. Full list of brunch speakers below.

 

12.45—13.45    Talk: Sustainability at Every Step

Location:  Screen 7

Melanie Dicks, founder of Greenshoot and CEO of Fingerprint Content

Moderator: Wendy Mitchell, Sundance Film Festival: London producer

We all know the film industry needs to be more sustainable in all its work, but what are some steps we can take to achieve this goal? One of the UK's top green film experts, Melanie Dicks, talks about best practices for how productions at any budget level can be more green and also why we also need more sustainable storytelling themes on screen. 

 

14.30—15.30    Masterclass with Nicole Holofcener

Location:  Screen 7

Speaker:  Nicole Holofcener, writer/director of our closing film, You Hurt My Feelings

Moderator Nicole Davis, Writer. Podcaster. creative producer

Lauded American filmmaker Nicole Holofcener talks about how her filmmaking has evolved across films like Walking and Talking, Friends with Money and Enough Said. She'll also discuss her new feature, Closing Night selection You Hurt My Feelings, starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Tobias Menzies.


16.0017.00    Live From The Studio presented with Audible         

Location:  First-Floor Restaurant

Interviews with top filmmakers and industry guests visiting Sundance London.     

 

17.00—18.00    Happy Hour

Location:  Members' Bar

Our daily happy hour welcomes badgeholders, industry guests and filmmakers to get to know each other over some drinks and snacks. Celebrate with us at the festival's final happy hour.




Confirmed speakers include:


Akua Gyamfi, British Blacklist

Alejandra Vasquez, filmmaker

Alice Lowe, filmmaker

Alison Owen, Monumental Films

Ama Ampadu, BFI, Senior Production & Development Executive

Ana Souza, Sundance

Andrew Orr, Sky Cinema

Anna Higgs, BAFTA

Axel Danielson, filmmaker

Bobby Allen, MUBI

Carlo Dresto-Dina, Tempesta Film

Cath Le Couteur, Shooting People

Catherine Bray, British Council

Chris Harris, Picturehouse

Christos Michaels, Lee & Thompson

Claudia Yusef, BBC Film

Emily Morgan, Quiddity Films

Emma Hindley, BBC Storyville

Eva Yates, BBC Film

Eve Gabereau, Modern Films

Farah Abushwesha, producer and founder, Rocliffe

Farhuna Bhula, Film4

Faye Ward, Fable Pictures

Finn Halligan, Screen International

Frederic Tcheng, filmmaker

Hannah Boulton, The Agency

Hannah Bush Bailey, Doc Society

Harpa Manku, A24

Heather Basten, casting director

Iyare Igiehon, BBC and S.O.U.L. Fest

Jonathan Rutter, Premier PR

Julie La'Bassiere, Apple

Karina Gechtmann, Anton Corp

Kate Leys, script consultant

Kristin Irving, BBC Film

Kristy Matheson, BFI Director of Festivals

Len Rowles, Protagonist

Lisa Higginson, Senior Director of Content Acquisitions, Audible

Luane Gauer, Black Bear International

Lucie Kon, BBC Storyville

Marianna Palka, filmmaker

Matthew James Wilkinson, Stigma Films

Maximilien van Ayterck, filmmaker

Melanie Iredale, Reclaim the Frame

Mia Bays, BFI Film Fund

Mia Powell, Pretty Bird

Mike Plante, Sundance

Miriam Newman, Talent Executive, BFI Short Circuit

Nainita Desai, composer

Naomi Joseph, Film Team Manager, ScreenSkills

Naomi Rhodes, BFI Network Coordinator

Negeen Yazdi, Fifth Season

Pamela Koffler, Killer Films

Paul Mayeda Berges, writer/producer/director, Bend It Films

Phil Hunt, Bohemia, Bankside and Headgear

Prano Bailey Bond, filmmaker

Roosa Toivonen, Aurora Studios

Ruby Kaye, CAA

Sam Osborn, filmmaker

Sarah Brocklehurst, Brockmedia

Shanida Scotland, Doc Society

Shaun Harrison, BFI NETWORK

Sophie Green, Bankside Films

Tejinder Jouhal, HanWay

Tom Lazenby, A24

Tony Grisoni, screenwriter

Toyin Ayinde, Directors UK

Tristan Goligher, The Bureau

Vicki Brown, BFI, Senior Executive, Sales and Distribution

Yvonne Isimeme Ibazebo, producer

Zeina Durra, filmmaker


(all speakers subject to change)


The Industry talks are only open to Industry pass holders. The number of passes sold is capped to protect the intimate nature of the event – please note that last year's badges sold out before the festival. 


Sundance Film Festival: London runs from Thursday 6 July - Sunday 9 July at Picturehouse Central.


Please be advised that the Industry Pass has now sold out, but regular passes are available here.


Industry Pass at-a-glance

Includes:

  • Industry pass: £100.
  • Includes exclusive access to more than 15 industry talks, panels, masterclasses, networking sessions and social occasions. 
  • Also includes three film tickets of the pass holder's choosing for the public programme.

Please note: Some screenings are now sold out. Check the listings above for the latest availability.

Full Price

SOLD OUT



Sundance Film Festival: London takes place from 6 to 9 July 2023. Click here to find out more!


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