Festival+

Hill Dickinson Legal Surgery - Meet the legal media experts

Free legal surgeries hosted by Hill Dickinson, exclusive lawyers to The Media Festival

Are you making the most of the law to protect and enhance your media business? Do you know what your organisation’s legal rights and responsibilities are? Perhaps you have a particular question on a legal issue? For commercially-driven, jargon-free solutions to your legal queries, speak to Hill Dickinson. 

Fresh from providing legal advice at Cannes 2008 and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Hill Dickinson’s media law team is bringing its free legal surgeries to Manchester’s Media Festival. As official legal partner and exclusive lawyers to The Media Festival, they are hosting two days of free legal surgeries for delegates.

Hill Dickinson’s specialist media team has considerable experience in all areas of law affecting the media and creative industries: music, TV, radio, film, digital media, mobile and online platforms, brand and trademark issues, copyright, e-commerce and web issues, advertising (broadcast and non-broadcast) as well as corporate and ancillary matters beyond media law. No matter what your question, the team can work with you to provide creative solutions to meet your business objectives.

Each session will last up to 20 minutes, and must be booked in advance. Places are allocated on a first come, first served basis, so be sure to book early. When booking, you will be asked to provide your legal question; this is to best match the right expert to meet your specific needs. 

So for legal advice in an informal, relaxed, yet professional environment, book a free legal surgery with Hill Dickinson.

Free legal surgeries
9.30am – 4.30pm
Thursday, 27th November 2008
Friday, 28th November 2008

To register please email conferences @emap.com. Please note that you will need to be a registered delegate of the festival to qualify to participate.

Hill Dickinson LLP
Hill Dickinson is a leading UK law firm offering a comprehensive range of legal services. Our dedicated media law team provides advice on the whole spectrum of legal issues affecting the creative and digital media industries.  We provide specialist advice from general media and intellectual property law to wider areas such as TV, Film, Music, Radio, Digital, Mobile, online platforms, IT, E-Commerce, Brands and Trademark.

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Late Night Confidential, in association with North West Vision & Media, is where we get intimate with some well known media faces to discover how they really view the future of our industries and get to the bottom of their passions and pet hates.

Late Night Confidentialis an evening of candid interviews, conducted by Stuart Cosgrove in a private bar in Manchester’s Castlefield district, allowing delegates to get up close and personal with some of the industry’s most outspoken figures, and debate who will be the winners and losers in the digital space.

Stuart Cosgrove will be interviewing well known execs, including Peter Bazalgette, on their views regarding commerce, piracy, creativity and the inexorable rise of branded content.  Don’t miss the opportunity to hear what they really think and get your own views at Late Night Confidential.

To register please email conferences @emap.com with your details. Please note that you will need to be a registered delegate of the festival to qualify to participate.

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Ofcom & University of Salford PSB Event
25th November 2008 - University of Salford

This event is a partnership production between Ofcom, University of Salford and Television for the Nations and Regions Conference exploring the future of news and information content in the nations, regions and localities. 

The event will provide an opportunity for broadcasters, academics, producers and other stakeholders from across the UK to engage with each other and with Ofcom on this crucial issue.

The day will be chaired by writer and broadcaster Steve Hewlett. Confirmed speakers include:

Stewart Purvis, Partner, Content and Standards, Ofcom
Pat Loughrey, Director of Nations and Regions, BBC
Carolyn Fairbairn, Director of Strategy, ITV
Geraint Talfan Davies, Chairman, Institute Welsh Affairs
Blair Jenkins, former Chair, Scottish Broadcasting Commission
Michael Jermey, Director, ITV Regions
Bobby Hain, Managing Director - Broadcasting, stv
Michael Wilson, Managing Director, UTV Television
Mark Dodson, Regional Managing Director, Guardian Media Group

It takes place at the University of Salford on Tuesday 25 November 2008 between 10.30am and 4.00pm.

Professor Ron Cook
Director; International Media Centre.
Director; The Northern Edge.

University of Salford, Adelphi House, The Crescent, Salford M3 6EN

To register please call: 0161 295 6206

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VC Pitch Off

This is a platform for companies going for their first phase round of VC fundraising.  Typically they will have raised between £300K and £1m through friends and family already and will be looking to fund the next stage of growth through VC capital.  Entrants will pitch their business plans to a panel of VCs in front of conference delegates and hear feedback on the strengths and weaknesses of their ideas.  This will provide them with the opportunity not only to meet with the VCs who may hold the key to future growth, but also to headline their businesses to the many influential media delegates at the conference, who may become clients - or investors - in future.

Entry criteria: To enter your business as a potential pitcher, please submit a 300-500 word summary of what the business does, how it is funded, turnover and profit to date, and projected turnover for next 3 years. Please also provide details of how much funding the business will need in order to achieve each of the next 3 years of turnover.  Entries will be treated with the strictest of confidence but will be viewed by Peter Bazalgette, Louise Benson (Festival Director) and participating VCs.

Pitches will last 10 mins from 4pm on Friday, 28 November 2009 and the submission deadline is 7th November - please forward your entries to .

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Screening in The Cornerhouse - Thursday, 27th November 2008 at 18:00

Delegates of the Festival can register by emailing .

Northwest Vision and Media & Digital Departures presents in association with the Liverpool Culture Company and BBC Films:

A Starstruck Films Production, written by Leigh Campbell, produced by Andy Stebbing, directed by Lindy Heymann.

‘Kicks’

A compelling tale about two teenage girls obsessed by celebrity and fame, Kicks is written by Leigh Campbell (Big Stella, Little Stella), directed by Lindy Heymann (Showboy) and produced by Andy Stebbing (Brick Lane). The film features a fresh ensemble of new acting talent led by Kerrie Hayes, Nichola Burley and Jamie Doyle.

Nicole & Jasmine are two teenagers who bond over a mutual obsession for Premiership footballer, Lee Cassidy. Fuelled by their fantasy of meeting him, they track him down and before they know it their dream has become a nightmare.

For more information about this production please contact Beth Hewitt by email .
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WORKSHOP – 14.00 - 15.30, Thursday, 27th November 2008 at The Media Festival, The Radisson, Dickens Thackeray, 4th Floor

‘New media, new MediaCityUK … new money?’

The growth potential of the media industry – the fastest growing sector in the UK and Northwest economies over a sustained period - and the transformational impact of MediaCityUK risk being overlooked by both the financial markets and retail banks as they struggle to sort out their own problems.

This workshop brings together media business owners, the regional cluster organisation, investors and the public sector to look at the funding and investment products available to businesses.

The workshop will reflect upon whether historical models of regional public funding have in fact benefitted the sector as a whole or merely created distortions in the market by encouraging companies to play ‘hunt the thimble’ for public subsidy rather than focussing on growing their businesses.

It will also take a look forward at how new products being proposed from the public sector may transform that funding environment in order to bridge the acknowledged ‘funding gap’ for creative businesses.  Finally, it will highlight opportunities for partnership between the public and private sectors to attract more private sector investors into the market and increase the level, range and sophistication of loan, mezzanine and equity funding.

Chaired by Iain Bennett, Sector Leader, Digital & Creative Industries, NWDA
Alex Connock, Chief Executive Officer, Ten Alps
Peter Cowley, Managing Director - Digital, Endemol UK
Danny Meaney, Managing Director, NMP
Chris Moll, Director of Finance, Northwest Vision + Media
David Read, Head of Business Finance, NWDA
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WORKSHOP – 11:30-13:30, Friday, 28th November 2008 at The Media Festival, The Radisson, Dickens Thackeray, 4th Floor

‘The Death of Geography - Does It Matter Where You are in the Digital Age?’

The session involves a group of creative companies working for clients world wide - is distance, client contact and the spell of ‘being in London’ changing forever.
The workshop will be useful for any company wishing to explore the benefits and reap the rewards of a regional presence and will use the North West’s Digital and Media Sector as a case study to demonstrate the benefits and opportunities available to companies looking to develop their businesses in a different environment.

Panel

Chair – Stuart Cosgrove, Head of Nations & Regions, Channel 4

Dave Mousley, Managing Director, Red Vision
Red Vision is one of the UK’s foremost CGI and special effects producers. Originally involved with the music industry, David has worked in television production since the early 1970s and in 1995 joined Red Vision when they established their Manchester production facility.

Chris Sheffield, CEO and founder of Million-2-1, and following the acquisition by IGT-UK is now responsible for the remote gaming operations of the group.
Prior to Million-2-1, Chris was CEO and founder of Eunite Ltd, a large internet production company which developed websites for businesses such as Stanley Leisure, Liverpool FC, Toysrus, Everton FC, Littlewoods, BT and Hays PLC. Eunite was acquired by N Brown PLC in 2001. Chris was also one of the founders of Sportal.com a large sports internet business, prior to which he worked at Deloittes managing a team of consultants specialising in web, ecommerce and large IT projects working with clients such as William Hill, United Nations, Lloyds of London, Morgan Stanley, Bank of Japan, British Airways, Natwest, MoD, WH Smith, Jockey Club, and a number of premier league football clubs.

Alex Connock, Chief Executive Officer, Ten Alps
BA from Oxford, Master’s in Journalism from Columbia, MBA from INSEAD. TV and Radio background - Granada, BBC, Planet 24.  Co-founded Ten Alps 1999 with Bob Geldof. Since 2001 AiM-listing, Ten Alps grew revenue from £2m to over £81m, with 19 acquisitions. Several times shortlisted as Entrepreneur of the Year.  Governor of Manchester Metropolitan University.

Iain Bennett - Sector Leader for Digital & Creative Industries, NWDA
Responsible for development of strategy and policy region’s six priority industrial sectors. He leads for NWDA on sector and related regulatory issues at a national level and chairs the Sector Investment Group that brings together sub-regional partners and the regional cluster organisation to address investor development opportunities.

Introduction to panel

Iain Bennett - What are the ingredients of a world class media centre and how do regions maximise the opportunities available to them such as alterations to the BBC commissioning quotas and new routes to market that disruptions in technology and other factors have created?  What can a centre such as the North West contribute globally?  What will be the impact of developments such as MediacityUK?

Dave Mousley – Going global - the Red Vision journey.  Red Vision, headquartered in Manchester work with partners from across the globe and are increasing their footprint in many genres.  They are working with partners to develop a virtual super studio ensuring access to the rest of the world will be quicker and easier than ever before.

Chris Sheffield – The Global Gateway and attracting investment.  Million-2-1 were recently bought by IGT, the worlds largest manufacturer of gaming machines.  Keen to develop their e-gaming/gambling business IGT recognised Million-2-1 as leaders in their field and uniquely positioned to help them develop their business.

Alex Connock – seizing market opportunities through acquisition. Ten Alps have made 18 acquisitions since 2001 across all of their divisions, this is the story of how they have used these acquisitions to drive their business in new directions, keeping up with market changes and technology developments to become one of the UK’s leading factual media companies.

Q & A session followed by networking. If you’d like to submit a questions please email

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