Great Northern Creative extravaganza Festival is due to take place at UCLan

A free 4 day media extravaganza is taking place at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) to showcase creative talent. The Great Northern Creative Festival, which runs over 22 April to 25 April 2015, will bring together some of the biggest creative talents in the north and from across the UK, as well as highlighting the outstanding creative talents of UCLan students in media, film, photography and journalism.

Over the four days students can attend a mixture of workshops, pitching sessions, industry talks and specialist lectures. Most of the events are also open to members of the general public.

Opening the festival is renowned author and screenwriter Frank Cottrell Boyce, who will do a Q&A with the audience in Darwin Lecture Theatre, before a screening of his classic 2002 film 24 Hour Party People. He is one of the most respected screenwriters working in the English film industry. His career has seen him work alongside the likes of Danny Boyle on the 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony. In addition to screenwriting films he has written for some of the most classic shows on our screens today, in the likes of Doctor Who and Coronation Street.

Frank said:- "I'm delighted to support this year's UCLan Student Creative Festival to offer support and advice to its creative students. Events like this are absolutely vital to help young creative people have a voice and motivate them to get out there and have a future in the creative industry."

Also passing on her invaluable experience is Red Production's Emily Feller. Emily has script edited and worked in development on dramas such as Bodies, Emmerdale, Scott and Bailey, and The Driver. She has recently been promoted to in-house Producer at Red Production Company having overseen Russell T Davies' new E4 drama, Banana. Emily will talk about her career from script development to producing and will offer career advice. Tying into Emily's event is 'Mediating the North' with Dr Peter Atkinson and Professor Ewa Mazierska. The academic symposium will analyse the huge BBC hits Happy Valley and Last Tango in Halifax.

A student only event, CJAM 2015, will see industry professionals from across the board visit, with undergraduates getting the chance to pitch their ideas and network.

Andrew Ireland, Executive Dean of Journalism and Media at UCLan, said:- "This is a really exciting time to be involved in the creative industries at UCLan. Events such as the Great Northern Creative Festival give our students amazing access to top industry professionals and engage in debates and career planning. It's a great opportunity to showcase our talented students and their work."

Click on here to book tickets and find out more information.

Kim finds its prime time to start Scattered Pictures

THE star of 1 of children's TV 's most loved shows has moved away from the spotlight and formed her own TV production company. Newcastle (High Heaton) based actress Kim Tserkezie who played Penny Pocket in the hit CBeebies series, Balamory has spent the last four years researching and developing her new production company, Scattered Pictures which will focus on North East talent both in front of and behind the camera lens. BAFTA member Kim's role in Balamory led to her being voted in a national poll as 'the best representation of a wheelchair user on screen' and 1 of the 'most influential disabled people in the UK.' She has worked alongside Robson Green and Imogen Stubbs in ITV's prime time drama Blind Ambition and played in various films and theatre productions as well as presenting programmes on BBC2. Now however, she is using her TV experiences to write and produce home grown screen projects in collaboration with some of the UK's most successful industry leaders. The change in career originally came about out of a desire to create more interesting roles for disabled actors.

Kim told us that:- "As a disabled actress it has been difficult to find exciting character roles removed from the stereotypical portrayals of disabled people. I decided that if the roles weren't there then it was up to me to create them. In recent years the North East has also been a difficult place to find TV work in despite a wealth of talent both behind the scenes and in front of the camera. My aim is to nurture that talent, promote the area and bring quality, prime time productions to the region. Every aspect of the production would be locally sourced wherever possible including premieres of our work at iconic places like the Tyneside Cinema in Newcastle. This will be great for the economy of the North East and will bring work not only for us, but also for others such as actors, make up artists, camera operators, directors, catering staff and location teams too."

Using the creative skills of fellow director Paul Green and other established local writers such as Bridget Deane, Kim has set ambitious targets and goals that are coming to fruition. Already leading broadcasters are showing interest in their comedy slate which has received investment from Northern Film and Media and a number of nationwide award winning production companies are in discussion with them to co-develop projects.

1 such project is with Liverpool's Lime Pictures who are working with Scattered Pictures on a prime time TV drama series based on Kim's original idea and one that she is set to star in. the connection to Merseyside is that Lime Pictures have offices in Liverpool, working predominantly on the hit TV show:- 'Hollyoaks', but also on other projects and films. So this opens up more opportunities for disabled people with in this area.

Rebecca Hodgson, Head of Drama at Lime Pictures is delighted to be working with Kim. "Lime Pictures are enjoying collaborating with Scattered Pictures on the development of a 6 part television drama called Yamas set in a Greek restaurant in Newcastle. Kim is a creative producer who brings a warmth and charm to the development process."