Breaking Boundaries: Diversity in Broadcasting will bring together industry leaders from across the UK’s broadcasting and creative sectors to discuss what the industry can do to reflect Britain’s diverse nature both on and off screen.
In addition to the keynote address from the Ofcom chief, Sky News’ Anna Botting will be chairing a panel discussion with speakers including Channel 4 Chief Executive David Abraham.
The first version of the app, available for anyone to download for free, showcases a range of 360 videos from Sky and their partners.
Some transport viewers inside popular films, such as Suicide Squad and The Martian, while others invite viewers behind the scenes of iconic sports events such as Formula One and the Tour De France. A Sky News documentary titled Calais: The Jungle, will take viewers to the centre of the refugee crisis.
Sky has also announced two new virtual reality experiences which will become available via the app in the future.
The two-minute piece, featuring original choreography by Khan, and music by Vincenzo Lamagna, features the ballet’s artistic director and Lead Principal Tamara Rojo.
In the piece, Rojo dances around the 360º space, leaving a trail of light and dust behind her, which maps out the course of her movements.
Ahead of the launch of the piece, Sky has released a behind-the-scenes 360º teaser trailer.
The full Giselle VR experience will then become one of the first pieces available on Sky’s new virtual reality app, which will launch in October 2016.
The 10-part take on the Western genre, written by Rowan Joffe (28 Weeks Later, The American), tells the story of Jim Worth (Roth), a British police officer who moves his family to the rural mountain town of Little Big Bear when he takes a job as the town’s police chief.
Not long after the family’s arrival, the opening of an oil refinery leads to an economic boom in Little Big Bear, which is accompanied by a wave of drugs, prostitution and organised crime.
The visit attracted more than 30 students, recent graduates and people working in an entry-level TV role who benefited from the advice of Sky trainers. Megan Cooper, senior leader at the Sky Academy Careers Lab, organised the event, which included two sessions with Sky talent and a tour of the company’s broadcast facilities and studios.
Sky Sports boxing pundit Spencer Fearon – a former professional fighter whose life went off the rails – drew on his own often difficult experiences in a lively motivational talk.
The 10-part series, a collaboration between Sky, HBO and French network Canal+, will be broadcast on Sky Atlantic in Italy, Germany, Austria, Great Britain and France from late October.
Jude Law plays the fictional Lenny Belardo, also known as Pius XIII, the first American Pope in history.
The series also follows the other leaders of the Catholic Church who have chosen to devote their lives to serving the great mystery of God. The character of Pius XIII will be ruthless and stubborn towards Vatican advisers, but emotionally sensitive deep down.
When Anne Mensah left the BBC five years ago to become Sky’s drama head, the broadcaster’s Chief Executive, Jeremy Darroch, made one stipulation: “Whatever you do, don’t do the same. People can get the same for free.”
