First Artists Sets 2nd UK Mentor Program & Final Cut In Venice Line-Up

‘Midwich Cuckoos’ Composer Hannah Peel To Curate Mentor Program

EXCLUSIVE: The European branch of First Artists Management (FAM)—the international talent agency representing composers, music supervisors, and music editors— has announced a second edition of its UK Composer Assistant and Mentor Programme (C.A.M.P.). Ivor Novello award-winning composer Hannah Peel (Midwich Cuckoos) will be the C.A.M.P. 2024-25 ambassador and is co-curating the program. Composer Mentors already signed up include Alex Baranowski (Mabel, True Things), Natalie Holt (Loki) and Ré Olunuga (Girl), with others to be announced. The initiative is designed for young music makers from underrepresented groups wanting to break into the industry, with the aim of launching new voices and creating new role models. “C.A.M.P. was created to both demystify the Music for Screen industry and to offer practical tips, mentoring and, most importantly, real-life working experience to help new voices to break into the industry,” said Hamish Duff, head of FAM’s European office in London. The program launch will be celebrated with a music and networking event on July 31, featuring an industry panel, a screening of a short film scored by C.A.M.P. alumna Taneka Miles, and a performance from FAM composer Jakwob with a set inspired by his work on the BAFTA-nominated feature How to Have Sex.

Final Cut In Venice Unveils Seven WIPs Set For 12th Edition

The Venice Film Festival’s Final Cut In Venice – the work-in-progress event showcasing upcoming  African and Middle East films – has unveiled the line-up for its 12th edition, running from September 1 to 3. The seven selected productions include four fiction features: Morad Mostafa’s Aisha Can’t Fly Away (Egypt), Nadim Tabet’s In This Darkness I See You (Lebanon), Mohamed Siam’s My Father’s Scent (Egypt) and Ique Langa’s The Prophet (Mozambique). The line-up also features docufictions Ancestral Visions of the Future by Mosotho director Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese, and Your Daughter by Egyptian director Sara Shazli, and documentary Those Who Watch Over (Ceux qui veillent) by Karima Saidi.  The three-day event features screenings of rough-cut material as well as meetings with producers, buyers, distributors, post-production companies and film festival programmers.

Channel 4 Signs First Streaming Biz Director

Channel 4 has hired its first Streaming Business Director. Based in Leeds and reporting to COO Jonathan Allan, Ruth Brougham will set and lead Channel 4’s streaming operations, product team and roadmap. The streamer was recently rebranded from All4 to Channel 4 and forms a major part of the Gogglebox network’s Fast Forward strategy. Brougham, who was previously Head of Banking at Virgin Money, is a splashy hire coming after around 250 employees were let go by Channel 4. She will work closely with Kiran Nataraja, who, in her recently expanded role as Director of Streaming & Content Strategy, has editorial leadership of Channel 4 streaming. Allan said Brougham will “drive our transformation into Britain’s first public service streamer.” “She will focus on a wide range of streaming initiatives, developing our platforms and working alongside our content, marketing, data, technology and commercial teams to super-charge our streaming efforts into the future,” he added.