The Insider Interviews LIVE
Major TV and film professionals, in conversation. Regularly in London.
Featured guests include…
1
Tim BevanProducer
Working Title Films’ Tim Bevan – one of the great British film producers of all time – appeared at The Insider Interviews LIVE in 2017.
2
Tom HiddlestonActor
THE NIGHT MANAGER, and THOR actor
3
Hoss AminiWriter
DRIVE
4
BEN wheatleydirector
KILL LIST
5
OLLIE MADDENEXECUTIVE
Film4’s Ollie Madden discussed his career in film development and producing with our members.
6
FAYE WARDPRODUCER
THE CROWN and SUFFRAGETTE producer joined us for a fascinating career Q & A and networking drinks afterwards.
7
STUART HAZELDINEDIRECTOR
THE SHACK and EXAM writer-director Stuart Hazeldine joined us for a fascinating Q & A about his career in Hollywood.
8
ROBERT JONESPRODUCER
THE USUAL SUSPECTS producer delivered great insight into his stellar career, and stayed late in to the night mingling with members.
9
RHODRI THOMASEXECUTIVE
THE NIGHT FACTORY and former Weinstein Co. exec joined us for drinks and a chat.
10
MATT ORTONSCREENWRITER
The on-the-rise scribe told our members how he went from eating baked beans for lunch to writing scripts for Ridley Scott!
The Insider Interviews is our monthly series networking events, live from the BFI.
We secure amazing industry guests, and OVERDRIVE members attend for FREE.
Our guests share their career stories, experiences and advice, and answer the questions that matter.
With networking drinks and a chance to mingle with our guests and fellow members, the series represents a rare opportunity to meet leading industry figures.
That great network isn’t going to build itself…
Come along to The Insider Interviews LIVE, meet, greet and be merry!
The guest alumni is stellar…
Tim Bevan (producer)
Gareth Unwin (producer)
Nick Marston (agent)
Aaron Anderson (exec)
Michael Kuhn (producer)
Nisha Parti (producer)
Emily Leo (producer)
Ed Clarke (exec)
Rob Kraitt (agent)Beth Pattinson (exec)
Tom Hiddleston (actor)
Ben Roberts (exec)
Ben Wheatley (director)
Jack Thorne (writer)
Sarah Radclyffe (prod)
Celine Haddad (exec)
Humphrey Elles-Hill
Robert Jones (producer)
Ollie Madden (exec)
Bradley Quirk (exec)Andrew Orr (financing)Simon Heath (CEO)
Hoss Amini (writer)
Rebecca O’Brien (prod)
Colin Vaines (prod)
Camille Gatin (prod)
Matt Orton (writer)
Jeremy Baxter (exec)
Alexandra Rossi (exec)
Kevin Lehane (writer)
Alexei Boltho (exec)
Duncan Heath (agent)Oliver Parker (writer-director)
Paul Webster (producer)
Faye Ward (producer)
Tanya Tillett (agent)
Stuart Hazeldine (writer)
Andy Brunskill (producer)
David Scinto (writer)
Caroline Harvey (exec)
Richard Holmes (prod)
Nev Pierce (critic)
Sophie Meyer (exec)Dominic Minghella (showrunner)
Having just signed up for these interviews, I’m now spending many a happy hour going through the transcripts and recordings of previous interviews. As soon as I saw ‘Ealing Studios’ I had to check out the interview with Sophie Meyer. I was brought up on Ealing Comedies and my script will be a comedy one. As co-producer of St. Trinian’s 2: The Legend Of Fritton’s Gold it’s wonderful to see the tradition of these films carried on and brought up to date. I found her story fascinating and the secrets about the film world were surprising too. My only regret is that I don’t live locally. Being retired I have the time to get to London but it adds to the expense of the evening. That said, I’ll get there as often as I can!
I’ve just re listened to the interview with Gareth Unwin and its still one of my favourites. I’m a huge Colin Firth fan so needless to say The Kings Speech is one of my favourite films. This interview gave us a lot of information about Gareth and how he got his job. The Q&A, which i always enjoy, was as interesting now as it was the first time. My only bugbear with the series is that there are a lot of film and TV companies. While this isn’t a bad thing, there are those who may be looking for interviews with more literary agents.
April had to be my favourite interview. Alexandra Rossi and his experience with Paramount Pictures was pure gold. The company behind 13 Hours and Star Trek Beyond – I just knew I was in for a good evening. I haven’t made it to the May event because of a late meeting but the next one is firmly marked on my calendar.
I attended the Ed Clarke event and had a really good time, and having heard that Shoebox films are making The Ruins, I’m booked in to the Paul Webster event in June, too.
The Celine Haddad event was awesome. Such a candid speaker. The networking afterwards was great too. Being hypercritical I’d say £14 is a little steep for an event like this but overall I’d say they’re well worth it.
Attended the Alexandra Rossi event and really enjoyed it. Was great to meet her afterwards too.
I attended the Alexandra Rossi interview recently, and thoroughly enjoyed the evening. Having worked at Paramount for a long time I found her insights into the studio system fascinating, and the fact that I was able to chat to her informally for 10 minutes afterwards made the £14 investment totally worthwhile. Looking forward to attending more Insider Interviews in the future.
I have booked for all the interviews, having just seen the one with Andy Brunskill. As an up and coming production company it’s great to know what the current trends are and how to use your experience to progress in the industry. My only bugbear is that they are all in London. Even one a year outside the capital would be a plus.
Caroline Harvey has been involved with some of my favourite films, including the COLD MOUNTAIN and THE INTERPRETER. It was wonderful to hear the advice she had and to hear about her work and experiences. The best bit for me was the Q & A at the end when she got to relax and answer our questions. Great event.
I attended the Q & A with Celine Haddad and thought she, and the event in general, was absolutely fantastic. I had a good chance to speak to her after the interview, and she was super-friendly, insightful and encouraging. I’m away for a while from June but already booked my place at the Jeremy Baxter event later in the year.
It’s hard to criticise these interviews. Excellent value for money and always the guarantee of an entertaining evening with the opportunity to learn more about the writing world. While I have enjoyed all the interviews so far, I found Humphrey Elles-Hill to be the most informative.
A good variety of speakers. It’s good to have information from all different areas of the writing process. David Scinto was a particularly interesting interview for me. He has a very similar style to mine so I felt what he had to say particularly applied to me.
Each of these interviews is a little gem. I’ve booked for the whole set. Even if I miss a few, it’s still excellent value for money. My first interview was the one with Bradley Quirk. I was very impressed by that one so I know I’ve got a lot to look forward to.
Very much looking forward to the interview with Jeremy Baxter in September and eagerly waiting to see who else will be being interviewed as well. So far every one I’ve attended has given me something new and offered a point of difference.
I attended the interview with Caroline Harvey a little while ago and it was fantastic. Mirage were such a great company, so the interview was full of wonderful stories and some real insights into the industry. It was great to chat to Caroline afterwards, too.
Listening to Aaron Anderson telling us about his interesting and varied career was my introduction to these interviews. Always informative I am always left amazed by the varied experiences that all the speakers have had. As a writer they are often filled with inspirational material. As someone interested in other people, they are simply a very pleasant experience. I hope to attend many more.
How lovely to see an interview with the wonderful Tom Hiddleston just before he became a household name. Listening to him then and seeing his subsequent rise to fame really does show what you can achieve if you put your mind to it. There’s a really good selection of interviewees and I’m very much looking forward to attending the forthcoming ones.
I’ve attended a few interviews now and I’m very impressed with the standard. Always a quality speaker with plenty of useful, and very interesting, career experience to share. The one that stands out for me so far is the interview with Ben Wheatley. Such an interesting director and it left me wanting more.
My first interview was with Humphrey Elles-Hill. I’d been trying to find an agent with little success, hardly surprising for my first novel. I listened with great interest to what Humphrey had to say and kept on trying. Hearing what he looks for in a script and more importantly, what he doesn’t, was a real help.
First interview I checked out was the one with Nick Marston. First hand knowledge from an agent in the right field was exactly what I needed. I’ve looked ahead and booked other interviews too. A few author interviews would be nice as well.
So glad I found these interviews. It’s very motivating to hear from people who have succeeded in the world of film, television and writing. The interviews I’ve watched so far have all done just this. I’m also very much looking forward to the interview with Nisha Parti. Stumbling across a phenomenon like Harry Potter will be a story worth hearing I’m sure. If I have one grumble, and it’s my own preference, it’s that you watch the older interviews on You tube. I do understand that this is the commercially acceptable channel, but I have something of an aversion to it thanks to all the ads the like to throw at me.
Nice to be able to see interviews we may have missed. Even nicer to see one with such a successful writer as Hossein Amini. ‘Snow White and the Hunstman’ is a brilliant film, and that’s the sort of thing all us budding writers aspire to. Hearing how he started and his story was interesting and certainly made it clear that you can succeed if you want to. One minor criticism – subtitles would be good for those of us who struggle to hear clearly.
I missed the interview with Gareth Unwin, so the first thing I did was watch it on the catch up option. Listening to the producer of an Oscar winning film was simply inspiring. It does make you realise that with a little hard work anyone can succeed in the writing business. The right contact, the right break, and of course, the right script all help and I certainly got a lot out of listening to Gareth.
Just returned from my first interview with Alexandra Rossi. I always find interviews interesting and those that are involved in film or television are of particular interest. This was no exception with lots of wonderful anecdotes and plenty of advice designed to help the budding writer. My one problem was the time. It’s a little tricky getting to the venue when i don’t finish work until 6. Slightly later might be better.
I would have like to go to the Tom Hiddleston interview in person but at least I can still listen to it. I was insightful and I wonder how different it would be were he to be interviewed now. These have a good variety of speakers which provide good all round information about all aspects of writing.
While i did find Ed Clarke very interesting and very informative, it is hard for me to get to London. It would be nice for the odd interview to be somewhere else in the country. It is worth the trip as each interview provides a deeper insight in to the world of writing, but it can be costly too. Nice idea and helpful to any writer.
As someone looking to attract an agent, the interview with Tanya Tillett was one of the most interesting I’ve seen. Advice is all very helpful, but until you hear it from the horse’s mouth you don’t actually know what a literary agent will be looking for. I thought the evening was very well presented by Industrial Scripts, and many of the people there were more credible than a lot of the networking events I’ve been to.
I handle all of Industrial Scripts’ live events, and would love to see you at one of our Insider Interviews evenings soon. They’re relaxed, informal meet ‘n’ greets, with fascinating speakers and a friendly, ambitious crowd. Space is strictly limited so if you’d like to come on down, advance booking is strongly recommended. We look forward to seeing you soon! Victoria
Our Insider Interviews series goes live! We enjoyed a great night at our opening event with Scott Free executive Aaron Anderson, with many more to follow. So reserve your seat, and come on down for a few drinks once a month and network with your fellow script developers.