Mike Leigh Q&A

Final year BA (Hons) Film Production students were treated to an exclusive Q&A with the British film directing legend Mike Leigh OBE during their Industry Day at the BFI Southbank.

60 final year BA (Hons) Film Productions attended the Industry Day at the BFI which began with a 6 person Industry panel chaired by course leader Jonathan Carr. The panel was followed by a networking session for students to meet the panellists, which included representatives from ScreenSkills and BBC Films.
 
A Q&A with BAFTA Fellowship winner Mike Leigh OBE followed and ran for 90 minutes, with the British directing legend going into detail ofhis lengthy development process and commitment to realism through performance and the lens. Mike Leigh has directed many iconic films since his feature debut almost five decades ago, including the 1993 Naked, 2004’s Vera Drake, 2014’s Timothy Spall lead Mr Turner and his most recent Peterloo (2018). 
 
“Mike Leigh’s work speaks for itself and always has, but to have Mike go into detail of his extensive development process was undeniably useful and intriguing for everyone in the room I think. His appreciation for film craft and all specialisms that collaborate in creating Film was important for everyone to hear. Mike is a unique, unapologetic filmmaker with a strong belief in never compromising the story or its purpose. A great guest speaker to follow up last year’s brilliant Edgar Wright”.
-Lewis Bayley, BFS Industry Liaison
 
The Industry Day ended with an Alumni networking event where final year students got the opportunity to meet and build connections with past graduates of the film course. The well attended event, with over 150 present, was created to further build our alumni network, which has been a springboard for many new graduates in landing their first roles.