The film festival will take place from the 8th to the 15th October.
The BFI has announced that producers Pippa Harris (The Beatles, Hamnet, 1917) andJames Wilson (The Zone of Interest, The Voice of Hind Rajab, Under the Skin) will have individual Spotlight Conversations at the 70th BFI London Film Festival’s Industry Forum to discuss their careers, current projects and navigating the international film and TV market in a rapidly changing landscape.
The LFF’s Industry Forum welcomes industry delegates from all over the world for a programme of thought-provoking conversations with some of the most exciting practitioners working in the screen industries and networking events with professionals from all over the world.
Pippa Harris, co-founder of Neal Street Productions, has had an extraordinary career working on films such as Oscar, Golden Globe and BAFTA winning filmsHamnet and 1917, Oscar and BAFTA nominated Revolutionary Road, Jarheadand The Magic Faraway Tree and some of our best loved TV productions including Call the Midwife, Penny Dreadful, Britannia, The Hollow Crown and Stuart, A Life Backwards. In her individual spotlight conversation, she will delve deep into her career, including the highly anticipated quartet The Beatles films, directed by Sam Mendes – also her Neal Street co-founder, and currently in production. Pippa will discuss the challenges of development and production and her relationship with filmmakers and talent across her career.
Meanwhile, James Wilson, one of the UK’s most exciting independent film producers, will draw on his 30+ years in the business, to discuss his incredible career and bold creative collaborations. James has worked with visionary independent filmmakers to great creative and commercial success on films that include the Oscar and BAFTA winningThe Zone of Interest and Under the Skin (Jonathan Glazer), You Were Never Really Here (Lynne Ramsay), The Voice of Hind Rajab(Kaouther Ben Hania),Hamlet (Aneil Karia), 20,000 Days on Earth (Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard) and The Pervert’s Guide to Ideology (Sophie Fiennes). His spotlight conversation will guide attendees through James’ key career moments, from his years at Fox Searchlight Pictures and Film4, where he was the production executive on, among others,Sexy Beast and Dancer in the Dark, through to the creation of his own company JW Films in the 2000s.
Talking about the news, Kristy Matheson, BFI London Film Festival Director, said: “This year our industry programme puts a spotlight on Producers and the vital role they play in shepherding artistic visions from their earliest stages through to the screen. I’m delighted that industry colleagues will have the opportunity to hear from Pippa Harris and James Wilson – two esteemed Producers whose unique creative careers have given us some of the most memorable and critically acclaimed films of recent years.”