Future Screens NI’s Future Foundation offers Access to Inspire Wellbeing to mentors & mentees

Future Screens NI’s creative industries mentoring programme Future Foundation has launched Access to Inspire Wellbeing, an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) for all Future Foundations mentors and mentors across Northern Ireland.
Partnering with Inspire Wellbeing, EAP offers 24hr telephone support, confidential counselling up to 6 x 1-hour sessions and access to an online hub.
Access to Inspire Wellbeing - Employee Assistance Programme

We are delighted to share the news that we have partnered with Inspire Wellbeing to offer the Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) for all Future Foundations mentors and mentees across Northern Ireland.
 
EAP will provide each of you with the following:

• Confidential counselling service - independent counselling and support complementary to Future Foundations participants.

  • Each person will have access to a 24 hour telephone support line and up to 6 x 1 hour confidential counselling sessions applying the brief solution focused model.

  • Everyone can self-refer and the counselling can be delivered, in your own time, either over the telephone, or via online video throughout Northern Ireland (in person sessions currently on hold due to Covid safety recommendations).

• Access to the online Hub.

• Receive monthly e-zines from Inspire (which we will include a link to in future bulletins).

Future Tuesdays presents Turf with Ara Devine on 14 Dec 2021

On the 14th of December 2021 Future Screens NI’s creative industries project showcase hosted Ara Devine with his award-winning short Turf. For the talk, Ara and the film’s producer Isabella Djalili-Devine were in conversation with VR feature writer/director Dee Harvey discussing the film, working through the pandemic and future plans.  

Ara Devine is an artist, filmmaker and PhD researcher at Belfast School of Art, Ulster University. He is a graduate of Fine Art Media and Visual Culture from the National College of Art and Design. In 2017 his film The Irish Question was shortlisted for the RDS Visual Art Awards. In October 21, Turf was awarded Louth International Film Festival Winner of Best Short Fiction. In November, Turf has been selected for Belfast Film Festival, Richard Harris International Film Festival and Foyle Film Festival. Find out more about Ara Devine here.

Dee Harvey is a writer-director specialising in immersive storytelling and cinematic VR. Dee is the creator of films If and Heartbeat. She is currently completing her Future Screens Future Fellowship, between University of Ulster's Screen Academy and Queen's School of Arts.

Isabella Djalili-Devine is a Belfast-based freelance editor for film and TV. Isabella has worked for a variety of production companies and broadcast channels including: the BBC, Virgin Media, Erica Starling Productions and Waddell Media. Isabella holds a BA in Practical Filmmaking from Met Film School, London, and an MA in Documentary Film from the University of the Arts.

Turf was funded by Future Screens NI’s Future Creatives scheme.

For a link to the talk see below. The short film is currently in consideration for film festivals. The film has been removed from the link at their request.

Nice One Productions develop a promo for Pixel Perfect a games production answer to Factual Entertainment.

Belfast-based television production company Nice One Productions has completed Future Screens NI funded R&D on television programming to enhance the public’s perception of video games and game production. Through a series of UK-wide surveys of general public’s perceptions of video games and video game development and conceptual research, Nice One Productions developed Format Bible, Sizzle Reel and pilot footage to pitch a TV competition show featuring teams of video game developers create original games in just 48 hours. The aim is to produce a show which will show the games industry in the most positive light to an audience, who have minimal industry knowledge. Looking at current tastes in programme consumption the team concluded that formatted entertainment is watched with more frequency than documentaries, and that a Factual Entertainment show about indie game development would be an appropriate solution.

 For more information on Nice One Productions visit here.

Jordan Whitefield completes R&D on video workshop needs of businesses with social progress interests.

What Elephant CE Jordan Whitefield recently completed her Future Screens NI project developing workshops to assist companies in raising awareness of social injustice and using storytelling to encourage social progress. Whitefield worked with Causeway Enterprise and Ormeau Baths to develop future courses and programmes through two focus group meetings for NI creative practitioners to facilitate services as a creative video producer. The workshops facilitated two focus groups, piloting a version of a lunchtime video marketing workshop. The workshops resulted in the development of two service offerings for low on resource organisations and individuals/micro businesses.

This project was funded by Future Screens NI’s Future Creatives award. The Future Creatives award offered an opportunity to awardees to advance their research and development programmes, advance their career ambitions and develop cutting edge technical solutions in their work. Open to PhD researchers, early career researchers, early career industry applicants, start ups, individuals and free-lancers, the successful applicants were awarded £5,000 which could be set against enhancing existing research plans as part of a PhD, independent research, product development, innovation or professional development.

The Future Creatives scheme was designed to enable participants to make a step change in their research and innovation by enhanced leadership and collaboration skills and developing new practices in the field of creativity and technology.

For more information on What Elephant and Jordan Whitefield visit here.

Northern Ireland Data Infrastructure development company JadeBlok explore methods to assist infotainment services.

Belfast-based data infrastructure development company JadeBlok completed a Future Screens NI R&D project to assist information and entertainment services. For the project, JadeBlok investigated the construction of a digital content regulatory framework for an immersive (VR) environment. JadeBlok partnered with Ulster University and Sentireal, the project sought to develop a flexible data gateway to facilitate the tracking, mapping and regulation of access to creative content across multiple platforms and jurisdictions. By co-creating a digital ecosystem which integrates diverse data centres, JadeBlok aimed to facilitate access to integrated and curated infotainment services, while designing out access to inappropriate content.