Bafta Guru

A roundtable with three finalists of Wellcome and Epic Games’ Developing Beyond competition. Responding to a brief for games inspired by the theme of transformations, entrants were challenged to submit compelling, immersive and entertaining concepts. Their work draws inspiration from transformations within the human condition. This BAFTA Crew Games panel explores the craft and collaborative research behind their games development. This event is held in partnership with Wellcome.

Lynwen Brennan, General Manager for Lucasfilm and President of Industrial Light and Magic, chats to Celyn Jones about her career path and experiences working across some of the biggest film franchises of all time. Lynwen is proof that a woman, from a small seaside village in west Wales can reach the top in any sector, anywhere in the world.

Director Kevin Macdonald joins Phil de Semlyen to discuss his new documentary, Whitney. The film chronicles the unforgettable life + career of beloved singer Whitney Houston, revealing a couple of previously-unknown secrets along the way.

Apple & Onion creator George Gendi joins Nigel Clarke to talk about the new children's comedy series, due out August 2018 in the UK. Hear him discuss the process of putting his own personality into the character of Apple + letting Richard Ayoade explore a whole range of emotions as Onion.

Join Romesh Ranganathan and Tom Davis, the stars of the new reality television show Judge Romesh, as they chat about preparing to play a fake judge (hint: you don't) + being creative for a living.

Vanity Fair writer Gwyneth Hughes + director James Strong joined us along with three of the programme's main actors + its producer to talk about reimagining William Makepeace Thackeray's timeless novel into a fresh new adaptation for Amazon and ITV.

As part of BAFTA Selects, celebrating classic film with contemporary artists, BAFTA-nominated actress Meera Syal joined us at BAFTA to discuss Nora Ephron’s iconic comedy When Harry Met Sally, which she calls “a step up” in the romantic comedy genre.

As part of BAFTA Selects, celebrating classic film with contemporary artists, Game of Thrones star Gwendoline Christie joined us at BAFTA to discuss The Piano, Jane Campion’s iconic masterpiece that this year celebrates its 25th anniversary.

Rupert Everett discusses The Happy Prince’s ten-year journey to the screen, the shift from acting to writing and directing + adapting Oscar Wilde’s story for film.

Incredibles 2 director Brad Bird is joined by producers Nicole Paradis Grindle and John Walker to discuss how the sequel isn’t your typical superhero movie, advances in animation technology and the ground-breaking nature of the first film.

Two-time BAFTA-nominated production designer Maria Djurkovic joins us to discuss her career, how more interesting projects tend to have smaller budgets + collaborating with design teams and directors on projects like Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.

With Owen Sheers (writer), Pip Broughton (director), Eve Myles (actress) and Suzanne Packer (actress). Hosted by Jennifer Jones

Make-up designer Donald Mowat talks through the creative and craft processes behind his impressive catalogue of work which includes Blade Runner 2049, Spectre, Sicario, Skyfall, Nocturnal Animals, Nightcrawler and 8 Mile. He has also worked as personal makeup artist for Daniel Craig.

Executive Producer Daniel Fromm and Senior Producer Amy Willetts give an insight into the production of award winning documentary series The Secret Life of 5 Year Olds, lifting the lid on the drama of life in the playground.

BAFTA Scotland was joined by Bryan Elsley (Executive Producer), Melanie Stokes (Executive Producer), Richard Scott (CEO Axis Studios) and Paula Bird (Head of Content Production, Axis Studios) for a Q&A following a special preview screening of new C4/Netflix drama Kiss Me First. Kiss Me First combines live action with computer-generated virtual world sequences to create parallel worlds. It features state of the art animation sequences evoking the gaming world and the stories of the young people who meet clandestinely there. This virtual world alongside live action narrative provides a platform for exploring the loneliness and isolation experienced by young people and the disparity between appearance and reality in the social media age.

Creator-director Jean-Xavier de Lestrade and producer Matthieu Belghiti explain the process of reviving The Staircase for three new episodes 14 years on + how the documentary’s story has changed with time. The Staircase follows the case and trial of Michael Peterson, who was accused of murdering his wife.

Gregor Sharp (BBC Commissioning Editor London & Scotland), Katie Lander, Joint MD of Finestripe Productions (Inside Dior, Bank of Dave, Teenage Millionaire), Ben Tagoe, Writer (Coronation Street, Casualty, Doctors) & Kirsty Drain, Digital Producer at BBC The Social dish out advice on how to get to that next rung on the professional TV ladder. Hosted by Shereen Nanjiani.

Nina Ayers (Costume Designer), Stuart Bryce (Set Decorator), Nick Heckstall-Smith (1st Assistant Director), Annie McEwan (Hair & Make Up Designer), Gary Steele (Production Designer), Ali Walker (Director of Photography) & Michael Wilson (Co Producer) discuss the making of Scottish television drama Outlander. Hosted by producer David Brown.

Liam Wong, Artistic Director at Ubisoft Montreal, offers an insight into his career journey, from starting out at The University of Abertay, Dundee, to becoming the youngest ever director at Ubisoft. Listen to Liam discuss the aesthetics of game design and his photography project ‘Tokyo Nights (TO:KY:OO)’ which has gained over a million views worldwide. Hosted by Game Design Lecturer Romana Ramzan.

Writer/director Peter Mackie Burns (Daphne, Happy Birthday To Me), 1st Assistant Director Tommy Gormley (Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Wonder Women), Caroline Cooper Charles (Talent Development Executive SFTN) discuss how they kicked-off their careers in film and give advice on how to break into the industry. Hosted by Shian Holt.