Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/416739
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 16 NOVEMBER 2014 37 THIS WEEK Cultural Sector invests in capacity building A total of 16 individuals including theatre practitioners and manag- ers, festival producers, artists, and Carnival enthusiasts this week participated in the second Theatre Technical Skills course organised by the Valletta 2018 Foundation, the Arts Council Malta (ACM) and the Culture Directorate, in collaboration with the British Council, London. Valletta 2018, the ACM and the Culture Directorate are invest- ing strategically in cultural infra- structure and capacity building which are essential to develop and promote the cultural programme. Consequently exercises are being carried out to take stock of the available infrastructure and hu- man resources, identif ying the gap and addressing it with a view to have strong ground work in place by 2018. According to available data, there are 10,378 people economi- cally active in the Cultural and Creative Sector in Malta and Gozo. The performing arts sector on its own comprises 290 enter- prises employing 580 employees, 80% of which are self-employed. In addition, a considerable amount of voluntary work goes into perform- ance related activity in the 72 ac- tive spaces used for theatrical pro- ductions on the island. Some 15% of the Valletta 2018 Cultural Programme Budget, amounting to €75,000 annually, is dedicated to capacity building and professionalisation of artists and practitioners in the fields of visual arts, performing arts, literature and physical infrastructure. The first Theatre Technical Skills workshop, led by UK lighting de- signer Michael Mannion, was held over three days last month and focused primarily on the creative aspect of light design in theatre. The second workshop, held be- tween November 11 and 13, was conducted by London-based thea- tre director Jan-Willem van der Bosch and set designer Garance Marneur. It focused on the role of design in production and design ownership by the creative team. It looked into the interaction be- tween the director and the design- er, and unearths methods of how good design contributes to good production. Dialogue between di- rectors and collaborators and how such interaction inf luences the creative team in their communica- tion with audiences, is analysed. These short courses are taking place with support from St James Cavalier Centre for Creativity and Teatru Manoel. Besides the Technical Skills courses, Valletta 2018 runs the Curatorial School and the Cura- tors in Residence Programme, intended for the professional de- velopment of artists, and Story- works – workshops in script writ- ing for the screen. Valletta 2018 has introduced Sofar Sounds to Malta by which non-traditional live music experiences showcasing the music of upcoming artists are organised. Another initiative in line with the realm of performing arts is Malta Showcase; a platform of Maltese repertoire intended to maximise the potential and increase the rep- utation of contemporary Maltese performers abroad. Writing work- shops, literary events and the de- velopment of film based on Mal- tese text, are also taking place. In parallel with this, Valletta 2018 is running the Cultural Map- ping Project. This is based on re- search analysis designed to gen- erate information on culture use and practice in public and public- ly-accessible spaces in Malta and Gozo. St James Cavalier calls for public participation FOLLOWING the appointment of Toni Sant as the artistic director of St James Cavalier Centre for Creativ- ity, as an essential part of his first few weeks in his new role, the Centre is launching IDE@, a series of activities which will be open to the public. IDE@ is being created specifically as a conversation opportunity with the public about Malta's Centre for Creativity. Guest participants for the inaugural activity will include Isa- belle Gatt, Senior Lecturer in Crea- tivity and Arts Education, multime- dia artist Jimmy Grima, and Charles Xuereb, broadcaster and historicist. "Through IDE@, we aim to give an opportunity to everybody to make their voice heard in this crucial peri- od where we are envisioning a strate- gic plan for the Centre's future," Sant said. Sant started in his new role at St James Cavalier Centre for Creativity as of the 15 October. "The choice of an Artistic Direc- tor marks the end of the first phase of a journey of self-examination for St James Cavalier Centre for Crea- tivity, which marks its 15th anniver- sary next year. The result of this is the appointment of Dr Sant, a choice we have made with confidence as an excellent first line on a new page for Malta's Centre for Creativity. We are particularly pleased that the public has an opportunity to discuss his proposed Strategic Vision for the Creativity Centre during this series of IDE@," remarked Rupert Cefai, Chairman for Fondazzjoni Ċentru għall- Kreattività. "The road ahead is an exciting one and I am now already working with the rest of the excellent staff at St James Cavalier to ensure we have a Centre for Creativity which is truly inclusive, open and accessible to peo- ple from all spheres of society, while serving as a true catalyst for Creativ- ity on the Maltese Islands. This must necessarily be done while recognising and building upon the huge legacy of a remarkable fifteen years of opera- tion," Sant said. "IDE@ has been created as a series of meetings to give an opportunity to the public to air their views and give us their input on developing Malta's Centre for Creativity. The very title of this series of events in itself already sets the scene for the way forward – it is derived from the words Identità – Diversità – Eredità (Identity – Diver- sity – Legacy). These three words lie at the core of the strategic plan for St James Cavalier Centre for Creativity which we will be discussing with at- tendees during the meetings. We are very much looking forward to getting as much input as possible - and to the interesting conversations which will be initiated by our three guest partici- pants, Dr Isabelle Gatt, Jimmy Grima and Dr Charles Xuereb," he added. Toni Sant is a Reader in Digital Curation at the University of Hull. He is the author of Franklin Furnace and the Spirit of the Avant-Garde: A History of the Future (published by the University of Chicago Press in 2011) and Remembering Rediffusion in Malta: A History Without Future (forthcoming in 2015). As a proponent of open knowledge he is also active as Education Organ- iser for Wikimedia UK and as Found- ing President of the M3P Founda- tion. These activities build on his pioneering role in Maltese-language webcasting and podcasting, follow- ing an early career as a professional broadcaster. Most recently he is par- ticularly known through his work on Mużika Mod Ieħor, a weekly podcast featuring performers in and from Malta, since 2005. The first session of IDE@ will be held on November 26 at 19:00. This is a free event but reservations are re- quired. Those interested in attending are requested to visit www.sjcav.org to receive further information and an invitation to attend Toni Sant has been operating at the artistic director of St James Cavalier since 15 October Popeye film still raking in millions for Malta HYPE behind produc- tions like Popeye, Gladia- tor and Game of Thrones equates to millions in free advertising for Malta, new research released by Euro- Screen lead partner Film London shows. New insight from Euro- Screen into the links be- tween film and television productions and tourism was revealed at an interna- tional screen tourism con- ference held on November 13 in London. Malta was one of four European loca- tions analysed as part of the research. The study demonstrates how the social media buzz generated by films and television shows can ef- fectively generate millions of euros worth of free on- line advertising for the lo- cations and destinations they feature on screen. For example, the research shows that annually Notting Hill generated the equivalent of €24.9m in online ad spend for London while Popeye, the 1980 musical, still yields an es- timated €12.2m of free online ad- vertising for Malta. In the case of Malta, the three pro- ductions which were scrutinised were: • Game of Thrones – Season 1 (2011): €1.3 m • Gladiator (2000) – €1.1 m • Popeye (1980) – €12.2 m Adrian Wootton, Chief Execu- tive of Film London and British Film Commission, said: "This research shows that productions don't just sell cinema tickets and box sets, they also sell the places where they're made. Looking at a range of projects – from indies through to global blockbusters and television series' – the results show productions get people talk- ing about the destinations and lo- cations they feature. In many cases this directly translates into visits. Quite simply, this is free advertis- ing, and emphasises the power of screen productions as a tourism driver. I thank INTERREG for their vision in funding this project which has resulted in this valuable research, which we hope to build on, and also thank all of our Euro- Screen partners." The research was commissioned by EuroScreen, an INTERREG IVC-funded initiative which seeks to capitalise on the major econom- ic and cultural opportunities af- forded by 'screen tourism'; this be- ing people visiting a country, city or location which they have seen in feature films or on television. The research was conducted by social media intelligence agency Human Digital, who analysed al- most 35 million comments and interactions across sites including Twitter, Facebook, Reddit and Pin- terest. Their research examined activity relating to four European locations – London (UK), Ystad (Sweden), Apulia (Italy) and Malta – along with a range of films and television shows linked to these places. Their analysis found a clear cor- relation between place and screen, with the resulting 'chatter' (likes, mentions, retweets etc.) equiva- lent to paid-for advertising rang- ing from tens of thousands to mil- lions of pounds. It is believed to be the first time such methodology has been applied to the tourist in- dustry. The research was announced at Seen on Screen: Capitalising on Screen Tourism on November 13, a conference marking the end of the three year pan-European part- nership through EuroScreen. On the heels of this announce- ment, Fondazzjoni Temi Zammit will be organising a final dissemi- nation event on November 28 at 09:30 am at Europa House, Val- letta. During this event, the im- plications from this study will be presented along with proposals for capitalising further from our bol- stering film industry. Individuals wishing to at- tend should register their in- terest by sending an e-mail to euroscreen@live.com The first season of Game of Thrones was filmed in Malta, and yields €1.3 million to our coffers by proxy