Northampton Film Festival puts creativity centre stage with a new creative industries expo

Later this year Northampton Film Festival is a running a series of free presentations, workshops and exhibitions in the Learning Hub at the University of Northampton’s Waterside Campus for attendees to meet local and national creatives and creative businesses.

For young people, the Expo aims to demystify creative careers and, for more experienced creatives, to provide a valuable opportunity to network, learn and develop.

Festival director Becky Carrier said: "The Expo is about making new connections, sparking new ideas and building stronger connections locally, regionally and nationally. Northants is such an exciting county creatively but sometimes we lack connectivity and many young people lack knowledge around creative careers. So the Expo aims to be a valuable opportunity for those thinking about what to do after school right up to those already well established in the industry.”

The event covers a diverse range of industries from Publishing and Events to Games, Theatre and Music. Speakers and exhibitors range from international organisations like Final Pixel Academy, the training arm of the award-winning global creative studio Final Pixel, which runs courses on Virtual Film and TV Production, and locally-based organisations like Narrative Alchemy, who blend theatre, film, storytelling, audio drama and workshops.

Other organisations exhibiting and speaking at the Expo include The Core Corby, Royal & Derngate, Sage Communications, CARRIER-media, NLive radio, illustrator Alex Willmore, filmmakers including Northampton Film Festival finalists Producer Tyla Sharp and Writer/Director Jack James, artist Sally Sheinman, games development social enterprise Buildersbrew, many University of Northampton departments including Games, Fashion, Animation, Film, Hair and Make Up, Music and Events, and local digital, marketing and design studio So Very Creative.

The free Expo starts on Friday November 24 at 10.30am specifically for schools, then to the public at midday, ending at 4pm. The Friday exhibition is followed by networking in the Waterside bar, with another day of public admissions on Saturday November 25 11am – 3pm.

Film Pitching Opportunity

Alongside the Expo, Northampton Film Festival is running a pitching opportunity with award-winning IP creative industries marketplace My SMASH Media to help people develop their pitch and technique. Filmmakers, of any level of experience, with a short or feature length film idea that chimes with the Festival theme of Rebels and Revolutionaries, Misfits and Mavericks, Creatives and Changemakers, can submit a pitch via SMASH to be in with a chance of pitching their idea to a panel of industry experts, with training provided beforehand. Find out more and start a pitch here www.mysmash.media/ideas/northampton-film-festival

Book your free tickets

To book your free tickets, view the list of exhibitors and activities as they are updated over the coming weeks, and read about past festival events, visit https://northamptonfilmfestival.co.uk/expo

School groups can book their free group tickets via a Google form here https://forms.gle/nbGAiomjjNNyrcuu8

The event has been made possible with the support of the University of Northampton and Northamptonshire Community Foundation.

Any questions about the event, including how organisations can get involved, can be directed to [email protected] And you can follow the event on @NNFilmFestival on Instagram, Threads and X, or NorthamptonFilmFestivalUK on Facebook.