BFI Film Academy Northern Ireland at Foyle Film FestivalBFI Film Academy Northern Ireland at Foyle Film Festival
Nerve Centre, 7-8 Magazine Street, Derry~Londonderry
Admission
Free, booking required
Run Times & Intervals
10.30am–3pm
Age Guidance
16–25
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Welcome to BFI Film Academy Northern Ireland at Foyle Film Festival
Join us for an informative day of insights designed to empower emerging filmmakers and bold storytellers.
This Foyle Film Festival event is delivered by Nerve Centre as part of BFI Film Academy Northern Ireland supported by the UK Government, National Lottery and Northern Ireland Screen.
BFI Film Academy Northern Ireland Launch
10.30am–11am
In this introduction, we will welcome you to the BFI Film Academy Northern Ireland.
Nerve Centre is running the BFI Film Academy Hub for Northern Ireland, working with delivery partners Cinemagic and Amma Creative Learning Centre. The Hub will connect young people aged 16–25 with training opportunities, industry connections and career support closer to home.
Press Play: Storytelling Where Games, Animation and Film Meet
11am–12pm
The lines between film, animation and games are blurring. Games are now one of the most powerful ways to tell stories, and the tools, skills and talent behind them increasingly move across all three forms.
This panel brings together the agencies building talent pipelines north and south of the border and the artists who have come through them. They'll talk about where the opportunities are, which skills matter now, and what new technology means for the next generation of storytellers.
Speakers include Jess Campbell (Saltstone Studios), filmmaker Niall MacGiollaChomhgaill, Ronan O'Toole, Programme Development Coordinator National Talent Academy for Animation and Gavin Kelly, Facilities and Sustainability Manager from Northern Ireland Screen.
Meet Jess, Gavin, Ronan & Niall
Jess Campbell
Jess Campbell is an award winning artist, animator and character designer with 10 years in the video games industry. She's Art and Marketing Director with the Belfast-based narrative games team Saltstone Studios, where she worked on The Pale Beyond, and the upcoming The Hearth and Harbour. Her past credits include Game Grumps Animated, Bellular Gaming and Amber Isle. A part-time witch, she loves dogs, nature and mythology.
Gavin Kelly
Gavin Kelly is Facilities & Sustainability Manager at Northern Ireland Screen, where he leads the development and implementation of sustainability across the Northern Ireland screen industry.
With a background in film and television locations, Gavin has worked across productions at all levels, including Game of Thrones and Dungeons & Dragons. His experience on the ground in production has shaped a practical approach to sustainability, focused on finding solutions that work within the realities of film and television production.
Ronan O’Toole
Ronan O’ Toole is Programme Development Coordinator at the National Talent Academy for Animation, overseeing the Short Film, Education, and Industry programmes, regional development, and ED&I. He is also co-founder and festival director of the Granard Booktown Festival.
Niall MacGiollaChomhgail - Connallach ard
Tá sé ag iarraidh scéalta bríomhara a insint trí mheán na Gaeilge. Director and Design Team Lead. Has seen Stop Making Sense a half dozen times in cinema.
Lights, Camera, Climate Action
12.15pm–1pm
Carbon calculators, recycling bins and good intentions are a start, but they don't make an industry sustainable. So what does?
Gavin Kelly, Facilities & Sustainability Manager at Northern Ireland Screen, works with productions across Northern Ireland on exactly that. He'll get into what's actually changing on set: hybrid power replacing diesel generators, alternative fuels, and sets, props and materials being reused rather than skipped after wrap. He'll also unpack how sustainability is now built into funding and production requirements, and what that means for anyone working on those productions.
Gavin will be candid about what has to shift for sustainability to become part of how the industry works, not just another box to tick.
This is a practical session for anyone starting out or already working in film and TV, where reducing climate impact is now an essential part of the work.
Meet Gavin
Gavin Kelly
Gavin Kelly is Facilities & Sustainability Manager at Northern Ireland Screen, where he leads the development and implementation of sustainability across the Northern Ireland screen industry.
With a background in film and television locations, Gavin has worked across productions at all levels, including Game of Thrones and Dungeons & Dragons. His experience on the ground in production has shaped a practical approach to sustainability, focused on finding solutions that work within the realities of film and television production.
BFI Film Academy Northern Ireland Official Launch Reception
1pm–2pm
Celebrate the official launch of the BFI Film Academy Northern Ireland.
Call the Shots: A Career in Action Film with Chee Keong Cheung
2pm–3pm
Want to direct, write or shoot films for a living?
Chee Keong Cheung is a director, writer and producer and the co-founder of Action Xtreme, the UK's first major action studio. Inspired by John Woo and Hong Kong action cinema, he found a mentor in former 20th Century Fox VP Tim Hampton and built a 20-plus-year career on his own terms.
His work runs from the Netflix hit Son of the Soil to Bad Day at the Office, a feature shot entirely from a first-person perspective, with performers wearing helmet cameras.
In this relaxed, practical session, Chee will talk about turning an idea into a script, designing shots and stunts, working with performers, and getting your first projects made with whatever kit you have.
Whether you see yourself behind the camera, at the keyboard or calling "action", bring your questions.
Meet Chee Keong
Chee Keong Cheung
Chee Keong Cheung is a British-Chinese writer, director and producer and founder of Action Xtreme, the UK's first action-focused film studio. Inspired by John Woo and Hong Kong's "Heroic Bloodshed" era, he began out of his family's Chinese restaurant. He was then mentored by former 20th Century Fox VP Tim Hampton and has built a 20-plus-year career in genre-driven action filmmaking.
His credits include Redcon-1 (2018), Bodyguard: A New Beginning (Grindstone/Lionsgate), the Nigerian Netflix hit Son of the Soil, and Every Last One of Them starring Richard Dreyfuss (Saban/Paramount+). Bad Day at the Office, shot entirely from a first-person perspective, is his most technically ambitious project to date.
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