The Past, Present and Future of Children’s Production in the North East

Featuring a keynote introduction from Peter Salmon, Director, BBC North, this Royal Television Society and Northern Film & Media event on Wed 22 May at BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, will celebrate the North East’s rich heritage of children’s programme making and content creation. Looking forwards as well as back, a panel of leading practitioners will share their expert insights into how the region can secure its status as a centre of excellence for the future.

The recent successes of BBC’s ratings winners Wolfblood and Dumping Ground are just the latest high points in a long and rich heritage of children’s production in the North East. Future success might almost seem assured. Yet competing successfully for the attention of today’s children – “digital natives” born into a world where multiplatform engagement is automatic – makes the challenge of coming up with creatively engaging and financially coherent content propositions more complex and challenging than ever. What do we need to do to meet those challenges, and what lessons do the successes of the past 25 years have to teach us for the future?

Whether you’re a children’s content creator wanting fresh insights to help you engage today’s and tomorrow’s audiences, an industry insider who helped build the region’s reputation for excellence in the field wanting to indulge a nostalgic eye, or just a fan of some of the best programmes produced in the region, this is an event not to miss.

Illustrated with clips from a variety of much loved gems such as Byker Grove and Gimme 5 as well as today’s broadcast and online successes, the event will feature the following panellists:

• Helen Bullough, Head of CBBC Production
• Alan Fairholm, line producer, The Dumping Ground
• Lesley Oakden, former Head of the Children's Department, ITV Tyne Tees
• Graeme Thompson (Chair), Chair of the RTS North East and Borders Centre
• Rachelle Thompson, Community Strategist, Th_nk, strategic and creative partner of Pottermore

Booking Instructions

To book your place please Register, and complete the short form. There is no charge for tickets, but places are offered first-come-first-served. Please note that in order to ensure places are not wasted with speculative block bookings, tickets must be registered for individually.