TALKS

Talks & Panels

We have five fantastic panels to offer audiences this year, and that doesn’t even include the three shorts screenings with special guest Q&As (pages 34-39)!

We start with the BAFTA nominated writer, director, actor, comic, and author Nat Luurtsema, and end with the Vice President and Entertainment Publicist at London Flair PR, Catherine Lyn Scott.

We are also thrilled to be back at UEA to host our Industry Day, aimed at 1619 year olds looking to break into the industry. There we will have panels with BAFTA winning Visual Effects Supervisor Paul Franklin, film producers Richard Johns and Debbie Gray, and Festival Strategists extraordinaires, Katie and Ian from Festival Formula.

Nat Luurtsema

Screening and Q&A

Tue 15th, 19:00, NUA Duke Street Lecture Theatre

Nat was an award-nominated stand-up comedian for eight years, with two series of a Radio 4 show with her sketch group, Jigsaw. She wrote and starred in short film Island Queen, which was nominated for a BAFTA in 2014. She then wrote or wrote/directed five more short films - Three Women Wait For Death, Wyrdoes, War Paint, Ouzo and Blackcurrant and Revenge Is A Dish - all comedies or horrors, backed by Film4, Babycow, Film London, Big Talk Pictures, Creative England and the British Arts Council, BAFTAlonglisted and now playing on Amazon Prime. Nat has a slate of features, as writer and/or director. They are all comedies and horror and in advanced stages of development.

Nat also writes short stories and has been nominated for the Royal Academy of Art and the V.S Pritchett Royal Society of Literature Short Story of the Year. As an author she has published five books, with Hodder and Stoughton, Walker Books, Panmacmillan and Harper Collins. She is now working on her sixth book, a graphic novel.

Her book Girl Out Of Water was long listed for the Waterstones Children’s Book of the Year and is being adapted into a TV show with the BFI.

Nat will be introducing each film and closing the evening with a Q&A to discuss all aspects of her varied career, including acting, writing, directing, and working with companies such as Babycow and Creative England. 83

Three Women Wait For Death Ouzo and Blackcurrant Island Queen

VFX Supervisor Paul Franklin

Fri 18th, 11:30, UEA Bob Champion Building

Double Academy Award winner Paul Franklin is best known for his long running collaboration with Christopher Nolan, gaining international recognition for his VFX work on films including Inception and Interstellar.

A new approach to filmmaking, ‘Virtual Production’, involves LED screens which provide realistic graphics and brings sets and locations to life on a studio stage. Fireworks, Paul’s second short as a director, utilises this approach to allow audiences to immerse themselves in this uniquely engaging and heart stoppingly tense thriller, told in real time.

Producing Your Film with Richard Johns & Debbie Gray

Fri 18th, 12:45, UEA Bob Champion Building

Our second panel provides an insight into producing both short and feature length films, with accalaimed film and television producers Richard Johns (Chivalry, The Shepherd) and Debbie Gray (Mrs Lowry & Son, Good Luck To You, Leo Grande).

Richard has produced and executive produced feature films and TV in the UK and internationally for nearly 30 years. He now runs his own production company, Corona Content. Debbie is a producer with over 20 years experience in film and television having produced the BAFTA nominated and award- winning film Northern Soul. She is also a qualified lawyer, working on films including Sliding Doors and The English Patient.

Festival Formula:

Film Festival Strategies

Fri 18th, 14:00, UEA Bob Champion Building

We’ll be joined be Katie McCullough and Ian Bignall who run Festival Formula - the leading film festival strategy consultancy and submission service in Europe. They focus on helping filmmakers navigate the world-wide circuit, increasing their probabilities of acceptances and helping them save time.

Drawing on extensive experience in the industry, Festival Formula creates bespoke strategies tailored to the budget and assets of each film. This session will be based around finding your place within the circuit, exploring today’s landscape amongst other like-minded directors, producers, actors and more.

Catherine Lyn Scott:

Publicity for Your Film

Sat 19th, 13:45, The Forum

Looking to generate some buzz for your film? Get a taste for Film PR with Catherine Lyn Scott from London Flair PR whose company have supported 5 Oscar Winning Shorts in the last 7 years. This will be a great opportunity for filmmakers to learn more around the importance of good PR.

London Flair PR specializes in working with actors, producers, directors, films, presenters, celebrities, and events. Films they have worked on have starred actors like J.K. Simmons, Skeet Ulrich, Lennie James, Sir John Hurt, Riz Ahmed, Brie Larson, Colman Domingo, Kevin Bacon, Catherine Deneuve, William Jackson-Harper, Will Ferrell, and Melissa Leo. Their clients have included Oscar winners and nominees, Emmy winners, BAFTA winners and nomineed, and those just starting out.

Academy Award wins include The Long Goodbye, Collette, The Silent Child, Sing, and Stutterer. BAFTA wins include The Black Cop and The Present.

This event is jointly hosted by Norfolk Screen

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WANT TO JOIN THE NFF TEAM?

We’re looking for enthusiastic film lovers to join our ONLINE SCREENING COMMITTEE and our EXECUTIVE TEAM for NFF2023!

As part of our Online Screening Committee you’ll be a vital member of the team, helping us to narrow down the thousands of film submissions we get each year and joining us in choosing the Official Selection for NFF2023.

As a member of the Executive Team you’ll be at the heart of the festival, creating events, booking guests, liaising with filmmakers, and so much more.

If you want to be a part of the team, just email info@norwichfilmfestival.co.uk for more information.

Thank You!

We would like to offer a huge thank you to everyone who has helped us pull together our festival this year - it has probably been the most difficult one to organise yet! It takes a huge amount of time, energy, and money to ensure that the film festival continues to run each year, so we are incredibly indebted to all our supporters and sponsors who have been with us over the last year. We also have a huge group of volunteers who commit large amounts of time to making sure we are in a position to put on a festival each year, and we really would be nothing with you all. Thank you all so much.

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