Over the last few months Future Screens NI has been in negotiation with Alex McDowell (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_McDowell) of the World Building Institute (http://worldbuilding.institute/) with a view to developing a project aimed at creating a future vision for the creative industries in NI which could bring together the industry and local people, particularly those who have felt most disenfranchised from the economic growth Belfast (and the region in general) has been enjoying.
We have great pleasure in announcing that Alex McDowell has accepted the invitation to work with us and will be making an initial project scoping visit to Belfast at the end of May as part of the leadership work Future Screens NI is committed to supporting. While there is much to be planned and developed the general thrust of the work will involve the design and construction of a Story Machine. The exact nature of this machine, both in terms of technology and content will be dependent on input from as many voices as possible, industry, community groups, community activists, government bodies and interested individual artists and creatives.
We are in the process of developing a detailed schedule for Alex’s three day visit and will be liaising with key stakeholders over the next couple of weeks to ensure as many voices as possible can contribute to the work. We look forward to having your input and as they say in all the best cliched articles - watch this space.
Alex McDowell Professor of Practice at the World Building Institute