Looking at the Big Picture for the AV industry
A CONFERENCE on the audio visual industry being held in the Garden County will celebrate the success of the South Eastern Creative Corridor (SECC) initiative.
The SECC involves six Local Enterprise Offices (LEO), headed by LEO Wicklow, and is funded under the Regional Action Plan for Jobs targeting entrepreneurs and businesses in the audio-visual (AV) industry.
The initiative’s success will be celebrated at a closing conference called ‘ The Big Picture’ taking place in the Druid’s Glen Hotel, on November 17.
The SECC Initiative involved the participation of 78 businesses based in six counties, all of whom are expected to attend the conference. The majority of the programme participants are in the broad film, video and production sectors and have benefited significantly from a year of business support as well as investment.
Sheelagh Daly, Head of Enterprise at the lead partner, LEO Wicklow, said: ‘We are delighted to host this exciting conference. It offers an exciting platform for participants, stakeholders, AV professionals, suppliers, industry leaders, and media to meet, share ideas and learn about how this innovative initiative has helped and will continue to help independent businesses in the region to not only survive but thrive in the fast-paced, changing world of content creation.
‘Over €120,000 was awarded by the Local Enterprise Offices to participants of the South Eastern Creative Corridor (SECC) Initiative and this conference is a great opportunity for them to share their success stories.’
Keynote speakers at the conference will include John P Gleeson, Partner, Global Head of Media at Grant Thornton; Cathal Gaffney, CEO of Brown Bag Films; Russell Boland, OPG Global Lead for Emerging Markets and EMEA Lead of New Business Acquisitions at Google; and Peter Baxter, MD of Createschool.
‘ This is a region that has significant advantages for businesses within the Screen Industry and has already developed a global reputation, being for many years one of the centres of Ireland’s film and television industry,’ said Michael Brougham, Regional Director at Enterprise Ireland.
‘Major national players are already located within the region such as Panavision-Ardmore and Ashford Studios in Wicklow and Cartoon Saloon in Kilkenny, with some historically significant international projects having been produced and shot such as The Blue Max, The Lion in Winter, Excalibur, Saving Private Ryan and Braveheart. This initiative will greatly assist with the generation of jobs and will further help promote Ireland as being at the leading edge of the audio visual industry.’
The conference will focus on The Big Picture, discussing the many opportunities and challenges that exist within the sector for start-ups, small enterprises and the industry as a whole.
The focus for keynote speakers will be centred on how to successfully create and deliver content in the technological, sophisticated world we live in.
The changing landscape for content creation, how it is valued, consumed, distributed and monetized, as well as the commercial and investment aspects of the industry and the international media marketplace will also be discussed.
Peter Baxter, founder of Createschool and a participant of the initiative said: ‘participating in this programme was one of the best decisions that I have made in my business career.
‘ The fact that ongoing support, training and advice tailored to the creative industry has been on hand, has been of real benefit.
‘My business is in better shape to take advantage of opportunities and review best practices and so am I as a direct result of being part of The Creative Corridor.’
The importance of the AV sector in employment terms is reflected in the fact that the sector employs over 6,000 individuals full-time and generates over €0.5 billion for the Irish economy. The AV production sector encompasses a huge variety of production industries including film, television, radio, music, gaming, live entertainment, and performance arts.