Connecting to the Film World

22nd March 2024   

Pixel Mill, Ormeau Baths

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This event will showcase some amazing women who are making big waves in this male dominated industry. 

Join us on the day for talks and panel discussions outlining the breadth of employment options within this exciting industry.   

The creative industry has a job for everyone, from colourists to accountants, visual effects to runners.

• Hear from professionals, newcomers, and leaders of successful companies.

• Discover the wide range of roles available and how your skills are transferable.

• Diverse job opportunities: from accountants to set designers, production, sound, visual effects, and more.

• Learn from panelists who entered the industry at 50 and those born into it.

• Find out about the valuable contributions of women and employment opportunities in Northern Ireland.

Booking essential as places are limited

Speakers Profile

Paula Crickard, HaZimation

Paula has worked in the film industry for almost 30 years, debuting as award winning documentary director in 1994 with Northern Visions in Belfast. Her career has spanned a variety of roles for multi-award winning companies such as Killer Films in NYC, Elle Driver & Wild Bunch in Paris and Millennium Media in LA. Paula spent several years as head of production at Finite Films and TV developing and producing live-action and animation, earning a BIFA nomination as breakthrough producer along the way. She has also worked across multiple genres as a producer and post-production supervisor on over 45 feature drama and documentaries, ranging in budget from indie smash hit The Beyond with HaZ Dulull to globally renowned films such as Terry Gilliam's The Man who Killed Don Quixote and action franchise The Expendables. Paula is co founder of HaZimation, a live action, animation and gaming company formed withdirector HaZ Dulull. HaZimation are currently in pre production with their second feature animation based on the game Mutant Year Zero.

Nicki Waddell, Waddell Media

As a ShowRunner and Exec/Series Producer Nicki has produced and directed feature length specials, documentaries, studio talk shows and factual entertainment series for Channel Four UK, BBC, ITV,SKY,Discovery (US), CNBC (US & EMEA), Nat Geo (US),MTV Italia, S4C Sweden,Canal Plus, Channel 9 Australia. Over the years she has spearheaded international productions in USA,India, North Africa, Spain, Italy and Australia. More recently she has concentrated on scripted projects for both small & big screen as well as producing short-form content for the Brand-led world. Over the years her experience has included raising finance for international co-productions, budgeting and producing teams in UK and worldwide. She has been a committee member for Edinburgh International TV Festival, trained by the SAS in the field and graduated from the Robert McKee Script writing course. She is a board member of Boxty Films and Waddell Media, the London Irish Film Festival as well as actively involved in two charities: Ashford Place.org,promoting Mental Health Care in UK and Panama Wildlife Conservation, protecting biodiversity in Panama. Waddell is currently developing a 6-part drama series for the international market and a brand funded,factual entertainment series set in the Maasai Mara,East Africa.

Louise Gallagher, Hat Trick Productions

Louise started her career at the BBC in Belfast working in production across Radio, TV and Online services. She flew the BBC nest and started working on independent shorts and features, producing her first feature film, A Bump Along The Way, in 2018. She joined Hattrick at the start of 2020 to run their most westerly outpost in Belfast, seeking out new and exciting projects from across Ireland. She is Co-Creator and Executive Producer on BBC’s BLUE LIGHT.

Ellen O’Reilly, HaZimation

Ellen began her career in Manchester in 2015. Whilst studying for a Film & Media Degree, she worked multiple entry level production jobs for both BBC Three and Thames TV. Soon after, she moved back to Belfast and began a position with Ardmore Advertising ,working across Radio, TV and online. Using her experience in advertising, she honed her skills as an agency producer, which then saw her career move to London to work in post-production. Since 2023, Ellen has come full circle and made the move back to Belfast, settlinginto a position with HaZimation as a production coordinator, working across gaming, documentary, TV and film.

Kerry O’Brien, Pixel Mill - NI Screen

With over 30 years production experience in VR, short form and long form films, commercialsand games shows there isn't much Kerry Michelle hasn’t consulted on and is very happy to share any knowledge she has. Often seen as a maverick/disrupter in production methodologies, her unique perspective on process coupled with her creativity has really pushed what was capable on both the desktop and in studio scenarios.As an openly transgender filmmaker and content creator, Kerry Michelle encourages diversity at all levels in her productions as well as supporting projects that have a diverse bias to either the content, subjects and crews. When time allows she enjoys binge watching TV shows and sleeping, both of which can happen concurrently so she feels she’s getting value form the various subscriptions paid for. Contrary to popular belief she is not a vampire or undead, Kerry Michelle just can't be seen in direct sunlight hence perused a career initially in editing, VFX and software management.

Briege Radcliffe, Production Accountant

Having had a wonderful career in AIB for over 33 years, Briege took up volunteering with Marie Curie. While working at Marie Curie she was given the opportunity to work on a feature film(The Dig) as a cashier. It was a steep learning curve and totally different from banking yet a lot of her skills did transfer and were essential to carrying out the role effectively. Since then she has worked on a number of feature films, a BBC police drama series and 2 Kids TV series as Assistant Production Accountant . She loves working in the industry as it is so interesting. She has met great people and made new friends for life.

Dr Jolene Mairs Dyer, Lecturer in Media Production at Ulster University

Dr Jolene Mairs Dyer is a Lecturer in Media Production at Ulster University.  She is also the Director of Belfast Feminist Film School.  As a practice-based researcher, Jolene has produced documentaries, multi-screen gallery installations, photographic projects and more recently 360° short films. 

As well as writing about documentary theory and practice, her notion of the Matrixial Screen Encounter theorises the intersubjective gaze in documentary filmmaking and also provides a novel model of collective filmic authorship. 

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Organiser: Women Breaking Barriers is a partnership with Women's Resource & Development Agency,  Women's Support Network & Northern Ireland Rural Women's Network, to provide education, training and support for women, to increase their opportunities into employment.           

Sponsor: HaZimation

Venue:  Pixel Mill, Ormeau Baths, 18 Ormeau Avenue, BT2 8HS