Written by Tom Deehan on Nov 22, 2016. Posted in Awards and Festivals / General Interest

FOCUS partners with David Reviews, APA and The Beak Street Bugle for exclusive advertising sessions

Courtesy of David Reviews, the Advertising Producers Association, The Beak Street Bugle, Bartle Bogle Hegarty and Barclay’s Spectrum, this year’s FOCUS event in London will feature five new presentations addressing contemporary topics concerning the advertising industry today.

The Phenomenon of the Christmas Commercial
With this year’s competition for the best Christmas commercial in full swing, Alex Reeves, Editor of The Beak Street Bugle, will place this seasonal phenomenon under the microscope and decipher what it takes to make a winning spot. Speakers include James Rouse (Outsider) and James Studholme (Blink).

Craftworks – a Positive Curation of Creativity
David Reviews Editor, Jason Stone will oversee an extended session on the very best examples of advertising from the last few years, to discover what makes them such a success and the talent that goes into their production. Participants include Giffgaff’s Tom Rainsford, and Abi Pearl, Matt Fone (Riff Raff) Ehsan B, Kate Taylor (Skunk), Lee Pavey (Electric Theatre Collective) and a reunion of the team behind the Cadbury’s Gorilla commercial!

Diversity in Advertising – Where are all the LGBT Role Models?
James Allan (Co-Chair, Barclays Spectrum), Sue Baines (Deputy Chair, Barclays Spectrum) and Dan Wallace (Account Director, Bartle Bogle Hegarty) will tackle the issue of under-representation of the LGBT community in advertising.

Creative Equals – A Presentation
Ali Hanan Creative Director and the founder of Creative Equals, drills down to why gender diversity is important for creativity and how to create real, lasting change.

Focus on Skills and Training
Do we now need a rethink of our training strategies across the screen industries? A panel will include Helen Hadfield (Bare Films), Dan Simmons (Creative Skillset), agent Sara Putt and Stephen Follows (Catsnake).

FOCUS is the essential end of year event for everyone working in the production industry. The programme features 70+ industry experts from film, TV and advertising, participating in over 30 sessions. Meet with over 160 exhibitors from 55 countries include locations providers, film commissions and production service companies. Register your attendance today for free.