A sold-out session on the work of the art department of HBO fantasy drama Game of Thrones was the highlight of RTS Futures Northern Ireland’s careers day at Queens University Belfast in mid-November.
Supervising art director Paul Ghirardani – who brought one of his Emmy Awards with him – was joined by artist Daniel Blackmore and draughtsman Owen Black at the session, which was jointly hosted by Belfast Design Week.
The trio gave presentations about their roles in the art department, before the session host, Film Hub NI project manager Hugh Odling-Smee, led a panel discussion and Q&A with the 80-strong audience.
Belfast’s Titanic Studios has been the main studio and post-production facility for all eight series of Game of Thrones.
The careers day began with a CV masterclass featuring former BBC lead talent manager Helen Thompson who outlined how to structure a CV to land a job in the film and television industry. The 40 attendees brought copies of their CVs with them for Thompson to tweak.
The “Ultimate careers panel discussion” ended the day’s sessions. The 60 attendees heard from top talent that included: director John Strickland (BBC One thriller Line of Duty); BBC NI head of content Eddie Doyle, Stellify Media development producer Maeve McLoughlin, Creative Skillset’s Margaret Burgin and NI Screen’s Christine Morrow. The panel were quizzed on their careers by final-year University of Ulster film student and Vice Chair of RTS Futures NI, Conor Finn.
The RTS Futures NI careers day was part of BBC Digital Cities Week Belfast 2018.
