Making it in the Creative Industries  

Overview of the day

An interesting and valuable day was had by all at Grand Parade on 20th June.  Staff and students representing Further Education and Higher Education institutions across Sussex gathered together with local industry professionals from the fields of Creative Arts and New Media. 

Provocative questions from Simon Fanshawe

Local celebrity and arts campaigner Simon Fanshawe made an impassioned speech about the implications of Brighton’s position as a hub of the arts, and lunchtime entertainment was provided by the rising Brighton singer-songwriter Alice Shaw, recently signed to a major record label.

Local media-based organisations

Delegates enjoyed presentations from two local media-based organisations; Dominic Minns of Plug-in Media displayed his company’s web design prowess, while Thomas Bidaux of NCSoft explained the demands placed on the workforce of his international company, which is a games developer.  Both presenters gave a view of the benefits and drawbacks of current education provision in the AV & New Media sector, and explained what qualities they are looking for in new recruits. 

Performing arts employers and professionals

Delegates participated in small workshop group sessions, interacting with fellow professionals to debate the notion of ‘creativity’ and its value in the workplace.  The third session of the day gave delegates an opportunity to hear the perspective of Performing Arts employers and professionals. This was led by a panel consisting of representatives from Prodigal Theatre Co., Melting Vinyl music promotions, Tru Thoughts record label, New Writing South and a current theatre performer.  The subjects debated included the adequacy of current degree programmes in providing potential employees; the difficulty of providing in-work training in arts and media based organisations because of their small workforce; and the parity needed for the development of ‘soft skills’ alongside of ‘hard skills’ within the sector.

Panel session

For the final session of the day an active moderator brought some provocative ideas to the table, and provided an opportunity for the representatives of education and industry to feed back their thoughts about the issues raised throughout the day.

Links to the materials from the event are at the bottom of the screen.