Talentlab 2012

TALENTLAB 2012

INDUSTRY SHOWCASE

B3TALENTLAB 2012

WELCOME!! TAKE A LOOK AT THE NEXT WAVE OF BRITISH FEATURE AND CROSSMEDIA PROJECTS FOR THE B3 MEDIA TALENTLAB

2012

SHOWCASE

AT

BAFTA, THURSDAY 6 DECEMBER. SIX EXCITING STORYTELLERS ARE HERE TO PITCH THEIR PROJECT TO YOU, AFTER WORKING WITH B3 ON THEIR DEVELOPMENT.

B3 Talentlab is a bespoke talent development programme aimed at Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) artists and filmmakers, run in conjunction with Creative Skillset, part of the A Bigger Future 2 programme. Talentlab offers writers and directors a unique opportunity to re-assess their professional practice, refine their skills, and gain the confidence and contacts to push their careers and projects to the next level. We sought 24 individuals with short, feature-length, multimedia fiction, documentary or animation ideas to participate in a series of development labs in June 2012. From this lab 12 projects were selected for further exploration and then these six projects were taken forward for extended development. This is an eclectic cohort of storytellers with distinctive voices and track records in visual and digital arts, film, theatre and TV. You’ll hear pitches of up to seven minutes from each Talentlab participant – there will then be time for a very quick question or two, after each pitch. There will be discussion and drinks after the pitches. Thanks for coming – and we hope you enjoy the evening. Marc Boothe B3 Media / Executive Producer

PROJECTS IN DEVELOPMENT SIX EXCITING STORYTELLERS AHMAD EL-SANHOURI ALEEM KHAN ASHISH GHADIALI KAZUKO HOHKI NILESH BELL-GORSIA SHAN NG

B3TALENTLAB 2012

WELCOME!! TAKE A LOOK AT THE NEXT WAVE OF BRITISH FEATURE AND CROSSMEDIA PROJECTS FOR THE B3 MEDIA TALENTLAB

2012

SHOWCASE

AT

BAFTA, THURSDAY 6 DECEMBER. SIX EXCITING STORYTELLERS ARE HERE TO PITCH THEIR PROJECT TO YOU, AFTER WORKING WITH B3 ON THEIR DEVELOPMENT.

B3 Talentlab is a bespoke talent development programme aimed at Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) artists and filmmakers, run in conjunction with Creative Skillset, part of the A Bigger Future 2 programme. Talentlab offers writers and directors a unique opportunity to re-assess their professional practice, refine their skills, and gain the confidence and contacts to push their careers and projects to the next level. We sought 24 individuals with short, feature-length, multimedia fiction, documentary or animation ideas to participate in a series of development labs in June 2012. From this lab 12 projects were selected for further exploration and then these six projects were taken forward for extended development. This is an eclectic cohort of storytellers with distinctive voices and track records in visual and digital arts, film, theatre and TV. You’ll hear pitches of up to seven minutes from each Talentlab participant – there will then be time for a very quick question or two, after each pitch. There will be discussion and drinks after the pitches. Thanks for coming – and we hope you enjoy the evening. Marc Boothe B3 Media / Executive Producer

PROJECTS IN DEVELOPMENT SIX EXCITING STORYTELLERS AHMAD EL-SANHOURI ALEEM KHAN ASHISH GHADIALI KAZUKO HOHKI NILESH BELL-GORSIA SHAN NG

AHMAD EL-SANHOURI

ALEEM KHAN

AHMAD

SUDANESE

ALEEM KHAN IS A GRADUATE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF WESTMINSTER FILM

FILMMAKER AND PHOTOGRAPHER, IS KEEN TO EXPLORE

SCHOOL, WHERE HE DIRECTED AND PRODUCED SEVERAL PLAYS AND SHORT

STORIES THAT TOUCH UPON HIS HERITAGE AND

FILMS BEFORE JOINING EVIDENTLY, ONE OF LONDON’S LEADING CREATIVE

EXPERIENCES. IN PARTICULAR, WORKS THAT EXPRESS

CONTENT AGENCIES AS A DIRECTOR-PRODUCER.

EL-SANHOURI,

A

BRITISH

BORN

AND CELEBRATE THE VIBRANT CULTURES THAT CO-EXIST IN THE UK TODAY. Graduating from The University of Creative Arts in 2003, he has

PROJECT: FAMILY PORTRAIT GENRE: SHORT FICTION DRAMA

since worked on several creative projects. Haringey Council funded his 2007 short film, ‘Dear Anne Frank’, the story of an Arabic girl chosen for the lead role of Anne Frank in a school play and the tension this causes within the family. Ahmad’s photography has been exhibited at the British Museum and his projects have been hugely diverse, from crossing The Sudan, documenting the Hajj pilgrimage to taking photographs of Underground commuters for his website www.tubepeople.org .

SYNOPSIS: Family Portrait, is a short film about a mother and her son and the ensuing tension that arises when he suspects that she is having an affair. At its core, this film deals with the relationship between a mother and her son and the conflict that can arise when another man attempts to enter this circle and take the role of a father or provider.

His first short film, Diana, was funded

distribution with Shorts International and is

through

and

scheduled to do the festival circuit in 2013.

premiered at The 23rd BFI London Lesbian

Aleem was selected to take part in this year’s

& Gay Film Festival. It has screened at over

Locarno Summer Academy in Switzerland

26 film festivals internationally, winning

and is currently developing another short

the Screen Academy Wales Award for

film, whilst looking ahead to his first feature.

The

Big

Lottery

Fund

Best British Short Film at the Iris Prize Film Festival 2009 and the Jury Award for Best

In addition to his film work, Aleem continues

Short Film at The Seattle Lesbian and Gay

to direct for theatre. He directed the play,

Film Festival 2009.

Frank Sent Me, at the Soho Theatre (Winner of Best Play at Writer’s Avenue Competition

Last year, Aleem produced the short

2012) and he is currently involved in a series

film, What You Looking At? through Film

of short plays for Writer’s Bloc at The Old

London’s Southern Exposure programme

Red Lion Theatre and is attached to direct

and completed his second short film, The

for Theatre 503’s ‘Rapid Write Response’

Wayfaring Stranger, which has since secured

programme in February 2013.

PROJECT: TASTING THE SALT GENRE: SHORT FICTION DRAMA SYNOPSIS: Tasting the Salt follows Riz, a young British Muslim who joins the British Army in an attempt to leave the humdrum of his hometown behind and follow in his paternal grandfathers’ footsteps. Caught between Islamic and British nationalist extremism, Riz is faced with a dilemma that threatens to destroy his fledgling career in the military and forces him to question where his allegiances lie.

AHMAD EL-SANHOURI

ALEEM KHAN

AHMAD

SUDANESE

ALEEM KHAN IS A GRADUATE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF WESTMINSTER FILM

FILMMAKER AND PHOTOGRAPHER, IS KEEN TO EXPLORE

SCHOOL, WHERE HE DIRECTED AND PRODUCED SEVERAL PLAYS AND SHORT

STORIES THAT TOUCH UPON HIS HERITAGE AND

FILMS BEFORE JOINING EVIDENTLY, ONE OF LONDON’S LEADING CREATIVE

EXPERIENCES. IN PARTICULAR, WORKS THAT EXPRESS

CONTENT AGENCIES AS A DIRECTOR-PRODUCER.

EL-SANHOURI,

A

BRITISH

BORN

AND CELEBRATE THE VIBRANT CULTURES THAT CO-EXIST IN THE UK TODAY. Graduating from The University of Creative Arts in 2003, he has

PROJECT: FAMILY PORTRAIT GENRE: SHORT FICTION DRAMA

since worked on several creative projects. Haringey Council funded his 2007 short film, ‘Dear Anne Frank’, the story of an Arabic girl chosen for the lead role of Anne Frank in a school play and the tension this causes within the family. Ahmad’s photography has been exhibited at the British Museum and his projects have been hugely diverse, from crossing The Sudan, documenting the Hajj pilgrimage to taking photographs of Underground commuters for his website www.tubepeople.org .

SYNOPSIS: Family Portrait, is a short film about a mother and her son and the ensuing tension that arises when he suspects that she is having an affair. At its core, this film deals with the relationship between a mother and her son and the conflict that can arise when another man attempts to enter this circle and take the role of a father or provider.

His first short film, Diana, was funded

distribution with Shorts International and is

through

and

scheduled to do the festival circuit in 2013.

premiered at The 23rd BFI London Lesbian

Aleem was selected to take part in this year’s

& Gay Film Festival. It has screened at over

Locarno Summer Academy in Switzerland

26 film festivals internationally, winning

and is currently developing another short

the Screen Academy Wales Award for

film, whilst looking ahead to his first feature.

The

Big

Lottery

Fund

Best British Short Film at the Iris Prize Film Festival 2009 and the Jury Award for Best

In addition to his film work, Aleem continues

Short Film at The Seattle Lesbian and Gay

to direct for theatre. He directed the play,

Film Festival 2009.

Frank Sent Me, at the Soho Theatre (Winner of Best Play at Writer’s Avenue Competition

Last year, Aleem produced the short

2012) and he is currently involved in a series

film, What You Looking At? through Film

of short plays for Writer’s Bloc at The Old

London’s Southern Exposure programme

Red Lion Theatre and is attached to direct

and completed his second short film, The

for Theatre 503’s ‘Rapid Write Response’

Wayfaring Stranger, which has since secured

programme in February 2013.

PROJECT: TASTING THE SALT GENRE: SHORT FICTION DRAMA SYNOPSIS: Tasting the Salt follows Riz, a young British Muslim who joins the British Army in an attempt to leave the humdrum of his hometown behind and follow in his paternal grandfathers’ footsteps. Caught between Islamic and British nationalist extremism, Riz is faced with a dilemma that threatens to destroy his fledgling career in the military and forces him to question where his allegiances lie.

KAZUKO HOHKI

ASHISH GHADIALI

KAZUKO HOHKI IS A FOUNDER MEMBER OF THE POP PERFORMANCE GROUP FRANK CHICKENS WITH WHOM SHE NYU’S

HAS RELEASED 5 ALBUMS, TOURED WORLDWIDE AND WON

GRADUATE FILM PROGRAMME IN

THE PUBLICLY VOTED FOSTER’S COMEDY AWARD IN 2010.

SINCE

GRADUATING

FROM

SINGAPORE IN 2010, ASHISH HAS WORKED AS A SCREENWRITER WITH SHEKHAR KAPUR, BOLLYWOOD PRODUCER MUKESH BHATT AND OSCARWINNING

AUSTRIAN

PRODUCER,

JOSEF AICHHOLZER.

He was the winner of the first UK Film Council John Brabourne Award in 2008, and helped to set up, in 2007, the media unit of The Freedom Theatre in Jenin Refugee Camp. As Director, he is currently in development on: Revolutionary Art, a feature-length documentary on art and politics in the middle east; Realism, a psychological cop thriller set in Mumbai; and Transmission, a vampire story set in contemporary Berlin.

Kazuko’s past performance work includes a trilogy of solo theatre performances: Toothless (1998), The Shining Princess (1999) and

PROJECT: TRANSMISSION GENRE: FEATURE DRAMA

My Husband is a Spaceman (2002), all of which toured the UK and internationally, to wide acclaim. Other shows include Herald Angel and

SYNOPSIS: Matilda is an English expat living a life of anonymity in Berlin. When Anton, her ex, turns up from London, she’s drawn from her isolation into a disturbing world of sensuality and suffering that changes her forever. She finds herself abandoned, harbouring a mysterious ailment, and her life slips into a state of destitution. She’s discovered, collapsed on the floor of a supermarket in Neukolln by Shahid, a Palestinian immigrant. Led by a series of dreams, Shahid ignores her confused warnings to keep his distance from her, believing he can help

her out of this situation. Only when it’s too late, does he discover that the condition developing inside Matilda, the process he has been nurturing, is her transformation into a vampire. Shahid escapes from her, returning to his family. He takes refuge in Islam. But Matilda’s torment continues to haunt him, and he wonders whether he is in some way to blame for her downfall. Risking destruction, Shahid returns to Matilda to pit the strength of his faith against the power of her bloodlust. Testing this dream of redemption, he ventures back into the darkness once again...

Total Theatre Award winning Evidence for the Existence of Borrowers (2005), created in collaboration with artists Andy Cox and Mervyn Millar; Oh Doh (2006), Kazuko Hohki’s Wuthering Heights (2007) and Last Night I Dreamed I Was An Eskimo (2010), commissioned by Nordland Visual Theater in Norway, which toured Norway in 2010. Kazuko and Andy created Great Escape (A Borrowers Tale) as a Children’s Christmas show for BAC (2010); You Only Live Twice (But Die Once) for the One on One Festival at BAC (2011); Tottenham Travesties for Birmingham Rep (2011), Incontinental (funded by Wellcome Trust, 2012), and Battersea Beehive (commissioned as part of The Good Neighbours at BAC, 2012). Kazuko is a founder member of Japanese American Toy Theatre Of London and has presented C4’s Kazuko’s Karaoke Klub and The Good Wife Of Tokyo (directed by Kim Longinotto). She has also published 4 books in Japan.

PROJECT: MAN FROM FUKUSHIMA GENRE: CROSS PLATFORM SYNOPSIS: Kazuko is a Japanese woman, an exile in England. She left Japan 30 years ago, feeling she was a misfit and has become an artist in England. One day in April 2012, Kazuko meets Takashi, a polite Japanese businessman in his forties, on a London bus. He is watching a Godzilla movie - one of Kazuko’s favourites - on his iPad. He comes from Fukushima, the area of Japan that recently suffered a big earthquake and a tsunami. Kazuko notices some strange things about Takashi: he emits little Godzilla-like roars now and then. Kazuko senses there is something deeply troubling him. Takashi eventually tells her he is in London looking for his wife and daughter, who disappeared after the Tsunami incident. He thinks they came to the UK, as they were both very keen on the royal wedding. Kazuko realizes that Takashi believes his whole family have changed into Godzillas, due to radiation from the Fukushima nuclear plant destroyed by the tsunami. Takashi’s family were two of the 15,000 people missing after the incident. Kazuko is lost for words. The only thing she can do is promise to search for his family on the day of the royal wedding. The day of the royal wedding arrives. Kazuko first pretends, but among the national frenzy, she starts to believe she might actually see his family there.

KAZUKO HOHKI

ASHISH GHADIALI

KAZUKO HOHKI IS A FOUNDER MEMBER OF THE POP PERFORMANCE GROUP FRANK CHICKENS WITH WHOM SHE NYU’S

HAS RELEASED 5 ALBUMS, TOURED WORLDWIDE AND WON

GRADUATE FILM PROGRAMME IN

THE PUBLICLY VOTED FOSTER’S COMEDY AWARD IN 2010.

SINCE

GRADUATING

FROM

SINGAPORE IN 2010, ASHISH HAS WORKED AS A SCREENWRITER WITH SHEKHAR KAPUR, BOLLYWOOD PRODUCER MUKESH BHATT AND OSCARWINNING

AUSTRIAN

PRODUCER,

JOSEF AICHHOLZER.

He was the winner of the first UK Film Council John Brabourne Award in 2008, and helped to set up, in 2007, the media unit of The Freedom Theatre in Jenin Refugee Camp. As Director, he is currently in development on: Revolutionary Art, a feature-length documentary on art and politics in the middle east; Realism, a psychological cop thriller set in Mumbai; and Transmission, a vampire story set in contemporary Berlin.

Kazuko’s past performance work includes a trilogy of solo theatre performances: Toothless (1998), The Shining Princess (1999) and

PROJECT: TRANSMISSION GENRE: FEATURE DRAMA

My Husband is a Spaceman (2002), all of which toured the UK and internationally, to wide acclaim. Other shows include Herald Angel and

SYNOPSIS: Matilda is an English expat living a life of anonymity in Berlin. When Anton, her ex, turns up from London, she’s drawn from her isolation into a disturbing world of sensuality and suffering that changes her forever. She finds herself abandoned, harbouring a mysterious ailment, and her life slips into a state of destitution. She’s discovered, collapsed on the floor of a supermarket in Neukolln by Shahid, a Palestinian immigrant. Led by a series of dreams, Shahid ignores her confused warnings to keep his distance from her, believing he can help

her out of this situation. Only when it’s too late, does he discover that the condition developing inside Matilda, the process he has been nurturing, is her transformation into a vampire. Shahid escapes from her, returning to his family. He takes refuge in Islam. But Matilda’s torment continues to haunt him, and he wonders whether he is in some way to blame for her downfall. Risking destruction, Shahid returns to Matilda to pit the strength of his faith against the power of her bloodlust. Testing this dream of redemption, he ventures back into the darkness once again...

Total Theatre Award winning Evidence for the Existence of Borrowers (2005), created in collaboration with artists Andy Cox and Mervyn Millar; Oh Doh (2006), Kazuko Hohki’s Wuthering Heights (2007) and Last Night I Dreamed I Was An Eskimo (2010), commissioned by Nordland Visual Theater in Norway, which toured Norway in 2010. Kazuko and Andy created Great Escape (A Borrowers Tale) as a Children’s Christmas show for BAC (2010); You Only Live Twice (But Die Once) for the One on One Festival at BAC (2011); Tottenham Travesties for Birmingham Rep (2011), Incontinental (funded by Wellcome Trust, 2012), and Battersea Beehive (commissioned as part of The Good Neighbours at BAC, 2012). Kazuko is a founder member of Japanese American Toy Theatre Of London and has presented C4’s Kazuko’s Karaoke Klub and The Good Wife Of Tokyo (directed by Kim Longinotto). She has also published 4 books in Japan.

PROJECT: MAN FROM FUKUSHIMA GENRE: CROSS PLATFORM SYNOPSIS: Kazuko is a Japanese woman, an exile in England. She left Japan 30 years ago, feeling she was a misfit and has become an artist in England. One day in April 2012, Kazuko meets Takashi, a polite Japanese businessman in his forties, on a London bus. He is watching a Godzilla movie - one of Kazuko’s favourites - on his iPad. He comes from Fukushima, the area of Japan that recently suffered a big earthquake and a tsunami. Kazuko notices some strange things about Takashi: he emits little Godzilla-like roars now and then. Kazuko senses there is something deeply troubling him. Takashi eventually tells her he is in London looking for his wife and daughter, who disappeared after the Tsunami incident. He thinks they came to the UK, as they were both very keen on the royal wedding. Kazuko realizes that Takashi believes his whole family have changed into Godzillas, due to radiation from the Fukushima nuclear plant destroyed by the tsunami. Takashi’s family were two of the 15,000 people missing after the incident. Kazuko is lost for words. The only thing she can do is promise to search for his family on the day of the royal wedding. The day of the royal wedding arrives. Kazuko first pretends, but among the national frenzy, she starts to believe she might actually see his family there.

NILESH BELL-GORSIA

SHAN NG

NILESH

ANGLO-INDIAN

SHAN NG IS A WRITER AND DIRECTOR WHO WORKS IN

FILMMAKER FROM LONDON. HE IS EVERY BIT THE

FILM AND THEATRE AND SPECIALISES IN CHALLENGING

HARDWORKING PERFECTIONIST; HIS FILMS ARE OFTEN

AND ABSTRACT DRAMA. SHE HAS PREVIOUSLY WORKED

MADE FOR LITTLE OR NO MONEY AND DISPLAY A HIGH

CLOSELY WITH AND HAD PROJECTS FUNDED BY FILM

BELL-GORSIA

IS

A

YOUNG

TECHNICAL STANDARD.

LONDON AND THE ARTS COUNCIL ENGLAND. FOR THE PROJECT: CAROUSEL GENRE: SHORT FICTION DRAMA

PAST FOUR YEARS SHE HAS BEEN A STUDIO DIRECTOR/ VISION MIXER AT THE BBC WORLD SERVICE.

As a Director / Writer, he is determined to entertain and challenge audiences with a unique visual flair, whilst exploring characters set in darkly comic environments. Regardless of the genre, his films are thought provoking and made to leave a lasting impression on the audience. Nilesh is a truly versatile artist and his films hold up a mirror to the world reflecting a paradigm of human emotions. Although relatively young, he displays all the maturity, talent and ambition of someone that has been in the industry for many years.

SYNOPSIS: 15-year-old SATYA is a misfit teen who dreams of escaping her humdrum suburban life. She lives with her distant father and 9-year old brother Raj, who has an unhealthy obsession for horror films and makes threats on her life daily. One day, walking home from another failed audition, comically dressed as a swan, Satya meets a neighbourhood boy called CHARLIE. There is something different, even

develop a charming and offbeat rapport. Satya soon learns about Charlie’s bizarre plan to escape to Blackpool, a place he has never been to. Unsatisfied with their lives, they hatch a plan to flee in Charlie’s rusting car. With dead end suburbia almost behind them both Satya and Charlie face the beginning of the end. Will they make it to the bright lights of Blackpool and discover what they have both been searching

exotic about Charlie. She is instantly drawn to him. On an impromptu date the two

for all along? Carousel is an exuberant and darkly comic tale of restless youth.

Shan’s debut short film, Playground, was screened at many international festivals including Berlin, Budapest, Essen and New York. Her second film, Merry-Go-Round, was the winner of the Borough Film Fund Award in 2008. In 2010 her 18- minute film, May Wong, was premiered in London at the Royal Opera House and is now touring Asia having also been shown at the Hong Kong Arts Festival and the Beijing Britain Now Festival. Her most recent short, Narcissus, a music video commissioned by Bomba Suicida, has just finished post production and is being entered in festivals for 2013. Her first theatre work, The Pilgrimage of the Heart was funded by the Arts Council and had a three week run in London before also being performed in Slough. She is currently writing a new short film and is developing an opera with her regular production designer Edward Lidster. Shan’s first feature length script, My Half Night With Him, was shortlisted by Microwave Film Fund, Film London last year and is now in development with B3 media.

PROJECT: MY HALF NIGHT WITH HIM GENRE: FEATURE DRAMA SYNOPSIS: Set in London but heavily influenced by Buddhist ideas of reincarnation and destiny, My Half Night With Him, explores themes of contemporary female sexuality and selfworth. The film is both poetic and deeply unsettling. Using the backdrop of a busy and often unwelcoming London, My Half Night With Him follows Chinese immigrant Bee as she struggles to come to terms with the way that the relationship with her boyfriend El is changing and disintegrating. Having been

told by El that his feelings for her are still deep but now purely platonic, Bee embarks on a series of progressively troubled attempts to sexually satisfy him. However, none of these ploys work; and as their relationship enters its death throes El and Bee each have a series of flashbacks to their former lives - and the past seemingly prevents the chance of their relationship ever working in the present. My Half Night With Him is a haunting and provocative urban tale about sex, breaking up and karma.