Future Screens NI Celebrates International Women’s Day with Antonia Forster

Future Screens NI and Reclaim the Agenda celebrated International Women’s Day with Antonia Forster with an insightful discussion on Closing the Gender Gap: Diversity and Inclusion in Tech

It is no secret that technology is having a diversity crisis. Despite initiatives to diversify, engineering & technology are still perceived as predominantly white, male, middle-class spaces. But this wasn't always the case - in 1943, computing was dominated by women, especially women of colour. What happened? Antonia Forster, XR Technical Specialist, presented a data-driven exploration of the gender gap:- how it affects your bottom line; how AI and machine-learning reinforce bias; and crucially, how we can employ evidence-based, highly effective strategies to combat it.

The event was attended by representatives from across the Creative Industries and Universities and has stimulated a movement of change.


Antonia is a keynote speaker and self-taught programmer, working in the field of AR, VR, and haptics. She travels worldwide, speaking on inclusion and diversity in the workforce. She is a passionate advocate for Women in STEM, a TEDx speaker and mentor, and has been shortlisted for Nature's John Maddox Prize for her work in LGBTQ+ inclusion.

Find out more about Antonia here:

https://antoniaforster.com/

This event was delivered in partnership with Reclaim the Agenda as part of the NI International Women's Day Programme. Find out more here:

https://www.reclaimtheagenda.com/iwd-2021

Celebrating International Women's Day Future Screens NI and Reclaim the Agenda present Antonia Forster for Future Tuesdays.It is no secret that technology is...

Future Screens NI Appoint 25 Mentors in Phase One of the Future Foundation

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In response to the impact of the on-going pandemic Future Screens have appointed 25 mentors to provide mentoring support to individuals and groups within the creative industries who have faced significant challenges and which to consider ways in which to become more sustainable.  Appointed mentors have been drawn from across the full spectrum of the creative industries including the screen industry, new emerging and immersive technologies, education, business development, R&D led Festivals and large scale events. 

 The Future Foundation aims to help artists and creative freelancers to develop new approaches to working in the Creative Industries: this will include mentoring in career and practice development, practical skills and advice on personal planning, identifying and applying for funding, and the acquisition of new practical and technical skills for working in post-COVID-19 environments.

To find out more information please contact Aileen Carson at a.carson@qub.ac.uk

Future Tuesdays: MMD Dance Studio "Dancing Alone Together During Covid-19" 9 February 2021

Future Tuesdays hosted Claire McMahon Mooney of MMD Dance Studios and some of her feature dancers providing first-hand stories of developing an online and in-person, pandemic appropriate studio practice. The talk featured several recorded interviews with Claire and her students as well as a premiere of select students’ response to the Covid-19 experience.

Young people have faced challenging times during the on-going Covid-19 pandemic. Claire McMahon Mooney of MMD Dance Studios in partnership with world-renowned choreographer Ryan Jenkins and Future Screens NI has kept young people connected throughout the on-going crisis by offering graded dance lessons in zoom. Claire has pioneered a new form of dance education and creativity in zoom with everything from 4 year olds choreographing their own dance routines through to award winning contemporary performance. The video presents Claire and her MMD dancers’ experience during Covid-19. They discussed the value that dance and connectivity has brought to them. See first hand their interpretation of Covid-19 through dance.

https://www.facebook.com/mmdstudios/

Future Screens NI Presents MMD Dance Studio Dancing Alone Together During Covid-19Future Tuesdays hosted Claire McMahon Mooney of MMD Dance Studios and some ...

Future Tuesdays Present: Italic Pig Takeover & 4-day Work Week, 2nd March 2021

The Award Winning Italic Pig team do a deep dive into their experience running a creative digital entertainment company on a 4-day work week. The panel includes a wide-ranging, hard-hitting, and honest look into the pros and cons of pioneering and adapting to a 4-day week within a project-driven studio. The panel hosts a cross-section of team members from all specialties within Italic Pig, each with their unique perspectives on what works and what needs work. Featuring a case study for anyone considering introducing a 4-day week to their own studios. 

About Italic Pig:

Italic Pig is a kickass Northern Ireland’s entertainment studio filled with creative, talented and attractive individuals. Italic Pig creates and develops award-winning, sarcastically epic, narrative-driven games and stories for all audiences and platforms. This is an opportunity to hear from: 

• Aimee Lingman, Panel Chair and COO of Italic Pig. Aimee Lingman has over 20 years producing digital content, dating back to The X-Files and Sliders during her time with SyFy (USA Networks). She was also responsible for the strategic direction of Girlguiding UK for seven years, with over 45 original online productions. Aimee has been with Italic Pig for the past 4 years ensuring that the rampant creativity is balanced with a good dose of budget-driven pessimism.

• Kevin Beimers, CEO of Italic Pig. Kevin has won three Very Big Indie Pitches, a Big Indie Award, GDC Best In Play, three Creative Europe awards, and been nominated for Best Script by both Writers' Guilds of Great Britain and Ireland on a few occasions. He's worked on a number of UK and International narrative projects, including The Bunker (Splendy), Wailing Heights (Outsider), and the recently released Beyond A Steel Sky (Revolution). He’s also a former chair of GamesNI, a STEM Ambassador, creator of Run For The Border, and is virtually mentoring a young coding team in an upcoming 2021 Cambridge robotics competition.

• Aisling McElroy is a young ambitious producer that has considerable experience in gaming, animation, TV and film and has worked within some of the very best local studios. Coming from an artistic background and originally graduating as a 3D generalist, she has an ability to communicate between creative and production, and she has an appreciation for all avenues in the creative industry here in NI.

• Rachel Dixon has had the pleasure of working on a wide variety of creative projects while exploring different areas of the game production pipeline by bringing worlds to life through modelling and animation. In doing so, she has found her passion and flair as a 3D animator and can't wait to push her skills further with new projects that come her way.

• Jakub Bojanowski is a talented 3D Artist experienced in all areas of Animation and Game production. His combination of 2D and 3D skills and expertise allows him to create award-winning characters, environments, landscapes and level designs.

• Dillon Hemphill is a North coast native living in Belfast, currently working in his first big boy job as a programmer at Italic Pig. He owns one cat and four guitars. The previous write up for this event labelled him as one of the best programmers in the gaming world, and despite his apprehension, no one can prove this statement isn’t true.

The Italic Pig Takeover Future Tuesdays!The Award Winning Italic Pig team do a deep dive into their experience running a creative digital entertainment compa...

Future Tuesdays Present “Storytelling in XR” with Alex Rühl 23rd Feb 2021

On Tuesday 23rd February 2021 Future Screens NI hosted Alex Rühl presenting on the topic of storytelling in Extended Reality and fielding questions on the opportunities in XR platforms. Alex is an award-winning virtual reality filmmaker, TED X Speaker and founder of VR production studio CATS are not PEAS.  As well as directing and producing VR projects, Alex is invited to speak globally on the topic of next-generation storytelling and the potential of VR as a cinematic art form. She is an advisor to companies and brands about the creative processes behind VR and the behaviours of the audiences that experience it. Alex has curated a strand of 360 films for a pop-up VR cinema in Leicester hosted at the Phoenix Cinema supported by the BFI.

Alex is the first VR creator to be funded by the BFI Network to bring her latest virtual reality drama 'Bad News' into existence.

 You can find out more about Alex and CATS are not PEAS here: https://www.catsarenotpeas.com/

Future Screens NI are delighted to present "Storytelling in XR" with Alex Ruhl fromTuesday 23rd of Feb. Alex Rühl is an award-winning virtual reality filmmak...