We are delighted to announce our three amazing guest speakers for next Wednesday night. This is going to be one special Q&A for anyone who is attending the Cannes Film Festival, or for those of you who really want to meet some fantastic directors, producers and networking legends… and who wouldn’t want to!

Want to book? Simply RSVP here: I am attending

How much?: £10 per person, or 2 for £16 if you RSVP and arrive together.

When: Wed 2nd May at 6.30 – 7.30pm

Who is speaking?

Introducing…

Christine Hartland, Alberto Lopez, and Paul Hills. Their CV’s speak for themselves, but we’ve included some information below so you know all about them:

Christine Hartland: Christine produced her first feature film, the political thriller ‘WMD’ by David Holroyd (nominated BEST DEBUT UK FEATURE at the East End Film Festival in 2009) which had a simultaneous independent UK theatrical and iTunes release in Oct 2009. She has produced many award winning shorts including ‘SICK’ (BFI and Film 4), as well as being the Executive Producer of debut feature films ‘LIFE JUST IS’ by Alex Barrett (selected at major UK International Film Festivals) and award winner (‘Best Actress’ at the London Independent Film Festival 2012) ‘VERITY’S SUMMER’ by Palme d’Or Nominee Ben Crowe.

She founded Patchwork Productions in 2004, which has a slate of feature projects at various stages of development; and was part of the 2009-10 Guiding Light Mentoring scheme with producer mentor Damian Jones (Oscar winning ‘THE IRON LADY’). www.patchwork-productions.co.uk

Paul Hills: Paul is a London born director whose passion for film making got him attracted him to shooting Super 8 films at the very young age of 15… this passion has seen him move through the years successfully directing award winning commercials and television shows, as well as making a host of feature films like his 1996 cinema release ‘BOSTON KICKOUT’. Although a totally independent film, ‘BOSTON KICKOUT’ went on to be released in the cinema, on Video and DVD in nearly every country in the world.

“Boston Kickout is an electrifying British debut”
Empire Magazine

Since 1998 Paul has been successfully directing award winning commercials, promo’s and TV including the award winning “Great Escape” commercial for Umbro and a mammoth 3 minute, £1m advert for market leading Japanese beauty company Shiseido which played in entire advert breaks. In 1996 he was elected to the Executive Committee of the New Producers Alliance (NPA) becoming Vice-Chair in 1997, then Co-Chair for three terms in 1998, 2000 and 2007. He is currently working on his fifth feature film, ‘THE POWER’.

Alberto Lopez:Alberto has been running Variety’s press at the Cannes Film Festival for 11 years. As the International Director of Sales and Development, Alberto oversees all of Variety’s business operations outside of the US. Since joining Variety in 2001, Alberto has worked to develop the Variety brand internationally, creating partnerships and new business initiatives, expanding the magazine’s reputation and readership. Variety is widely recognised as the world’s most influential entertainment business magazine.

Alberto has also been writing scripts for over a decade and had a short film produced for network television. Currently he has a script in development with a British film company.