Focus, the end-of-year assembly place for the worldwide manufacturing group, returns Dec. 10 to 11 in London. The tenth version stays free to attend for business professionals and gathers hundreds of attendees throughout movie, TV, promoting, animation, video games and XR.
“Final yr was our largest occasion by fairly a margin,” says Jean-Frederic Garcia, managing director of Focus. “What we managed to do was to extend not solely the numbers however, in response to a post-conference survey, additionally enhance the satisfaction. I’m happy to say the tenth version would be the largest we’ve ever carried out.”
This yr’s version sees some modifications in format, together with the distribution of talks and periods throughout focused levels to additional hone discussions and assist attendees discover the periods finest suited to their wants. The three levels are named Enterprise & Management, Craft & Creativity and Tech & Innovation. Focus can be introducing “In Temporary,” a brand new format consisting of 10-minute shows on matters like new applied sciences and conventional crafts.
“A precedence for us is the standard of attendance. We now have deployed sources to it,” Garcia says, including that accreditation will likely be carefully managed to keep up requirements. “We wish to be sure that individuals coming to the present really feel taken care of.”
Amongst highlights are the British Movie Fee’s places masterclass on “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Energy,” Jason Solomons’ dialog with “True Detective” producer Sam Breckman, and an in-depth lecture on AI by means of an examination of Robert Zemeckis’ “Right here,” titled “Technology AI Is ‘Right here’: The Science and Artwork Behind Robert Zemeckis’ Groundbreaking Function.”
If final yr’s convention centered on the overarching theme of AI, Garcia says this yr sees particular consideration paid to adaptability and suppleness. “In case you take a look at the best way our periods are structured, they’re both about adaptability to a brand new world — be it new funding avenues or viewers sustainability — and suppleness, as a result of there’s a nice want for malleability nowadays.”
Nonetheless, AI continues to be the subject of nice dialogue, with Garcia stating Focus needs to consider “harnessing AI to create a stability with conventional craft.” He provides: “It’s been a really tough yr and a half but it surely made us notice how resilient the business is. Our business is adaptable and might reinvent itself. We have to take a look at the longer term and consider the place issues would possibly go.”
Elsewhere, Garcia is proud to have made strides with the participation of U.Ok. studios, having considerably upped their presence on the convention, and the arrival of recent nations collaborating at Focus this yr. “Japan is coming and so are Hungary and Tunisia. The pool enlargement is nice.”
“I’m wanting ahead to the convention this yr due to all of the modifications we’ve made,” he concludes. “We now have honed our give attention to the three pillars of convention, exhibition and networking, and have really nurtured the chances of connection.”
