Future Screens NI were delighted to be joined by Professor Andrew Chitty, Director of the UKRI Audience of the Future and Creative Economy Programmes for the launch of the Future Screens NI Open Call. The Call is officially open for applications of up to £20,000 for Proof of Concept Grants and up to £50,000 for Commercialisation Grants. Andrew Chitty is Challenge Director for the two Creative Industries programmes at the heart of the Creative Industries Sector Deal.
This unprecedented £120m investment in R&D across the creative sector is supported by the UK Government’s Industrial Strategy and delivered by UK Research and Innovation. The £50m Audience of the Future Challenge will deliver a step change in the ability of UK creative sector to adopt and exploit immersive technologies (VR, AR and XR) through business led innovation whilst the £85m Creative Industries Clusters Programme supports nine University/Business R&D partnerships across the UK’s across the UK nations and regions.
Information on the Open Calls can be found here: https://www.futurescreens.org/funding
With three decades of experience across the creative industries, Prof. Chitty’s career began in television, where he focussed on the cultural impact of science and technology before founding his first company, Illumina Digital, a multi award-winning digital production company that developed transformational services for clients across the creative economy - from the National Theatre to the devolved administrations, museums and galleries to the NHS.
With Illumina he won 4 BAFTAs, including two for technical innovation and lead the company from start-up to exit to an international media group. He subsequently founded a digital health provider, taking the company to initial investment, and continues to act as a consultant and board advisor to growing businesses in the creative and healthcare sector.
Andrew is Professor of Creative Industries at Loughborough University, the Creative Economy Champion of the Arts and Humanities Research Council and a Trustee of TRC Media. He is a former Vice Chair of the IP producers’ trade body PACT, a board member of Creative Skillset, and a founding director of Creative England. Andrew has also worked across policy and regulation as a ministerial advisor within DCMS and BERR (as was) and as a non-executive at OFCOM, the media and telecoms regulator. Andrew trained originally as a neuroscientist working in visual processing before being seduced into the media.
https://creativeindustriesclusters.com
https://audienceofthefuture.live
Professor Chitty will be joined by Professor Paul Moore, Director of Future Screens NI and Future Screens NI partner Kris Kelly from Enter Yes.
https://www.futurescreens.org/team
Professor Paul Moore joined the University of Ulster in 1999 and has since been active in the development of the creative arts/industries policy in the University. He was head of the School of Creative Arts and Technologies from 2008 to 2017 before serving a short period as head of the School of Communication and Media. He is now Director of Future Screens NI, the AHRC funded creative industries cluster for NI, and is a Co-Director of Ulster’s Creative Industries Institute (CII). He was awarded a personal chair in 2009 becoming Professor of Creative Technologies, and was awarded a Higher Education Academy National Teaching Fellowship in 2014.
Kris Kelly is the Managing Director and Founder of Enter Yes™ (SERVICE) - (Specialising in Animation for Documentary - Visual Effects) and Rewind Play Games™ (PRODUCT) - (video games). Kris was nominated for a film BAFTA as Writer/Director - Here to Fall (2013), and Director of feature documentary - Kings of Sumava (2019).
Kris established Enter Yes™ as a visual effects service for independent film and bespoke award winning animation for documentary.
Onar is a real time ray-tracing rendering solution developed in partnership with Future Screens NI, NVIDIA and Unity.
