Leading the Way in the Creative and Cultural Industries

It was an honour and privilege to be part of the Creative and Cultural Industries Leaders Network event run last week by the University for the Creative Arts (UCA) in Farnham.

While one panel discussed Leading for the Future, AI, Ethics and Cultural Power, the other recognised the disconnect between creative and business skills and the need for a more integrated approach if better leadership is to be achieved.

UCA is the third largest provider of design and creative and performing arts higher education in the UK with almost 6000 students.  Courses are offered at pre degree further education, undergraduate, taught postgraduate and doctor levels.  They range from Acting, Animation, Architecture, Writing and Automotive or Transport Design through to Business Management and Business Innovation and Management.

Chairing the panels were UCA’s Professor Jane Roscoe, President and Vice-Chancellor and Professor Lyndsay Duthie, Pro Vice Chancellor Partnerships.

My fellow panel members were Samantha Perahia MBE – British Film Commerce, Sara Whybrew – BFI, Stephen Hancock – Apple, Media Arts Lab, Andy Coley – Award Winning TEDx speaker.  The  second panel comprised Kim Rowell – ITN & Royal Television Centre, Emma Thwaites – THE Open Data Institute, Chris Wheeler – Warners and Niels Stevens – Adobe.

A wide range of topics were discussed; on my panel Samantha Perahia highlighted the enormous growth of film and TV in the UK; last year a total of £5.6 billion was spent on productions of which £4.7bn came from inward investments. The UK is a highly attractive place to film for a variety of reasons a key one being the quality of crew. Sara Whybrew noted the necessity to train people in an inclusive environment and for employers to communicate clearly with all members of the team.  Andy Coley discussed the necessity to train leaders. Amazingly 82% of leaders never undertake any form of leadership training. He talked about small teams of gamers, who, having developed a successful game have gone on to run business with 30 plus employees – sometimes as many as a hundred. While they represent huge achievements, they had absolutely no idea of managing people. I spoke about the attractive UK Film and High End Television Tax rebates which have been a large factor in the sector’s growth.  The rebates are transparent in their application and include all pre and post-production costs and filming. Moreover, the rebates are delivered to the producers within four to eight weeks in most cases.

Stephen Hancock eloquently explained the interaction between the creatives and design teams and left us with this inspiring note: ‘Have fun, apply a little mischief and behave irresponsibly responsible’.

It was an insightful and inspiring afternoon and one to benefit future students.