Capturing Black Lives Matter: the inside story from Bristol’s creatives
How has making content during the pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement changed the game for Bristol’s creative community?
An extraordinary set of events unfolded in Bristol during lockdown, focusing the world’s media on the city’s dark slave trading legacy.
Bristol’s creative community had been long engaged on this topic, but in this moment a rare combination of timing, collaboration and ingenuity enabled grass-roots filmmakers and digital artists to flourish as the statue of slave trader Edward Colston toppled.
This panel explores their imaginative, bold content and asks how the city and wider creative industries will continue to address issues of racism, inequality and black culture in the light of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Panel information
Dr Mena Fombo and Mike Jenkins, co-founders, Blak Wave Productions.
During lockdown, fledgling production company Blak Wave produced several short films which charted Bristol’s black community’s experience of the pandemic and the city’s response to the killing of George Floyd. Mena and Mike will discuss films made for Channel 4 and the BBC’s Culture In Quarantine series, and Mena will share insights from the groundbreaking Black Girl Convention, which has just gone digital.
Sacha Mirzoeff, commissioning editor, factual and head ofChannel 4 Bristol hub.
Sacha commissioned the Channel 4 series of shorts Take Your Knee Off My Neck and is leading the channel team in Bristol on their agenda to engage with less represented filmmakers and stories. He’ll share how commissioning and production processes are transforming to create a more inclusive working culture.
Euella Jackson, engagement manager, Rising Arts Agency - panel co-host
Euella is an award-winning writer, content creator, Youtuber and creative producer, advocating for radical social change and cultural innovation. At Rising Arts Agency, Euella helps underrepresented young creatives take up space, leadership and strategic decision-making positions. She’ll share the insights and lessons from their recent hybrid media campaign launched during lockdown #WhoseFuture.
Mel Rodrigues, founder and creative director, Gritty Pearl Productions - panel co-host
A former senior BBC producer, Mel has worked for the last two decades across a range of network titles. As creative director of the volunteer-led TEDxBristol, Mel pioneered the organisation’s Fresh Talent initiative, nurturing over 200 people from underrepresented backgrounds in digital production and live production. She founded Gritty Pearl Productions and Gritty Talent earlier this year to continue her passion for nurturing new talent and to tackle the diversity gap in media through mentoring, storytelling and representation.
