The Luck of the Irish

Coming from a background in London-centered media, it was hard to miss the media frenzy that is whipping around this region of the UK when I arrived in Northern Ireland two months ago. From the key note speech delivered by Channel 4 Chief Executive David Abraham at the Belfast Media Festival to the recent claims made by business commentators that Ireland’s TV and film industry could save Ireland’s economy, it’s been hard to miss the celebration of Ireland and Northern Ireland’s emerging creative talent.

I, amongst many, have observed a geographic shift in the UK’s television from out of London into the regions in recent years. Of course, not least as a result of the BBC’s move up north to Salford Quays, but commissioners have been more and more inclined to look outward to companies with exceptional talent in the regions.

Earlier this summer Channel 4 announced its plans to commission more programmes from the regions, hailing companies like Double Band Films in Belfast as producers they had enjoyed working with in the past. Additionally, Northern Ireland’s Producer/Director Alison Millar was given a personal nod during Abraham’s speech at the Belfast Media Festival in October. Channel 4’s relationship with the Northern Irish TV industry may be a recently renewed affair, but the BBC has been paying more attention to this part of the UK for a while longer now with John Ferren’s 360 Production giving archaeology a reinvigoration the likes of which it hasn’t seen since the longest running history programme on TV, ‘Time Team’, dug their way into our homes.

It’s not just the UK networks that are sitting up and paying attention to what regional talent can offer. HBO’s ‘Game of Thrones’ has been called a “game-changer” for Northern Ireland’s media industry. Northern Ireland Screen’s acquisition to produce and shoot this hugely popular fantasy series on the shores of the emerald isle was a great triumph. It appears the organisation’s Irish affability has paid off as their relationship with the American giant looks set to be even more profitable in the future. Perhaps with a tinge of green, CEO of Screentime ShinAwiL production company, Larry Bass, from the Republic of Ireland, has claimed that if Ireland’s producers opened their nets wider to international networks the creative industry could boost the Republic’s economy significantly by creating 5,000 jobs and bringing Ireland to the attention of tourists globally. Indeed, the Irish Film Board recently released news of a pact it has made with the BBC ‘Storyville’ strand to co-produce five feature docs over the next year. The pact deliberately aims to support Irish talent and crews.

It’s not the only scheme looking to invest in talent in Northern Ireland. The training scheme that I am on is also a sign that Northern Ireland is looking to expand and nurture young and new talent in the region’s television industry. There is a yawning gap in the workforce between producers in the higher grades and those just entering the industry as in recent decades very few have been brought into Northern Irish television, and stayed. But that is changing now with several schemes on offer in the north and south of Ireland for those looking for a career in the creative industries.

To those London cynics who wished me “Good luck…”in my new job here in Northern Ireland with a facial expression that said “…cos you’re gonna need it!” I would say come over here and try it – there’s something in the rainwater…

The Day the Digital Immigrants Left

A few months ago I was introduced to a term I had not heard before – ‘digital natives’. It is perhaps because I, along with everyone else who was born in the 80s or after, am considered to be a ‘digital native’ and therefore would not be self-conscious of the characteristics that identify me as such.

Those who are digital natives will, by definition, have a better chance of grasping what this label means. Another way of looking at it is by putting it in juxtaposition with its opposite, the ‘digital immigrant’. Together they represent a generational divide in behavioural patterns. A native to digital mediums is the person in your family who adopts the latest gadgets and their apps like a duck to water. While the immigrant is someone else who takes a bit longer to grasp the newest platforms and tools.

Personally I find these terms incredibly patronising. ‘Digital native’ draws up the image of a mute, pale-faced child with absolutely no social skills, existing almost entirely through some form of screen. ‘Digital immigrant’ suggests a wrinkling grandparent, all fingers and thumbs who can barely work their portable home telephone to say nothing of an iPad. However, I can see how these labels are useful for designers and producers thinking about the audience they are trying to reach with their content or products – the kind of broad audience that encompasses both natives and immigrants. But lets forget the stereotypes and remember that Steve Jobs was not born in the 80s and had the capacity to imagine what we would all want in years to come, and that there are those in their twenties who deliberately avoid social networking.

Rather than claiming a preference over one side or the other, I feel both sides have much to learn from the other.

The seeming attachment of natives to their mobile devices as though they were limbs, is making a digital archive of the world today the likes of which historians and sociologists could only fantasise for former periods. By Twitter’s fifth birthday in March this year, users were sending 140 million tweets a day and the founders had donated its archive of tweets to the Library of Congress. That’s a huge amount of data about the values, beliefs, behaviours and issues that are important to us.

The digital footage and records produced by these natives is also starting to be fully exploited by media producers looking for the next statement about our worlds today. First there was Kevin MacDonald’s feature documentary ‘Life in a Day’ that invited anyone to send in their footage from a day in their life – 24^th July 2010. Directly inspired by MacDonald’s feature the BBC quickly followed suit with Morgan Matthews’ ‘Britain In A Day’, a film that will bring together life from all over Britain from the particular day of 12^th November 2011. Other TV projects are in development to use the material that is at their finger tips – terabytes of the stuff uploaded to countless public forums, its potential for power and influence not yet realised.

There is of course a risk in the investment in what the digital natives can bring to a programme. ‘Embarrassing Bodies: Live from the Clinic’ broadcast its first series earlier this year but it was not a good example of the use of so-called “cutting edge technology”. The use of the well-established tool, Skype, to provide consultations by doctors within a studio to contributors in the comfort of their own home via webcam, did not add another layer to the format but in fact made the show visually static and unenticing. It was also an unreactive method of addressing the issue of the reluctance of some to attend their GP due to any embarrassment they might feel – it kept the patients firmly within their homes.

The new digital environment in which we work and socialise in can bring us within the reach of more people than ever before, and yet it also takes us further away from what matters – real human interaction. In the work place, decisions can be made in a chat over by the water cooler, relationships built over time through physical presence and communication. In our personal lives too how often has miscommunication occurred over the language used in a text or an e-mail? The times are too often to count and what a revelation it is to discover someone’s true intentions from their manner and way of being when met in person.

I am someone who will anticipate the next step in technology and digital trends with great curiosity but I will be wary of a day when the digital immigrants have left and taken their personal ways of communication with them.

Welcome to Belfast

If someone had told me six months ago that at the end of the summer I would be packing my bags to start a whole new life in Belfast, Northern Ireland, I wouldn't have believed them. If they had also told me that I would be attending the MTV European Music Awards with the best seats in the house amongst all the celebs, I would have laughed at them!

Isn't it incredible what can happen in six months?

Choosing to move away from my researcher job at a London based indie, away from my close family in Surrey, and my wonderful friends in London to start a new job - and a new life - in Belfast was the bravest decision I have ever made. I had spent less than 48 hours in the city and didn't know a soul in Northern Ireland. The job however was an opportunity of a lifetime, and it has not disappointed me with the incredible possibilities it has thrown my way.

Attending the MTV EMAs last night symbolised so much of what I have experienced in just the short time I have been living in Belfast. In the three and a half weeks I have been here I have really fallen for this Irish city. Belfast is a young town that wants so much to show the rest of the UK and the world what it has to offer. The friends I have made and the colleagues I have met are all full of hope and promise for what they feel Belfast can achieve.

Being awarded the accolade of playing host to an international music event was a chance for Belfast to shine and it truly rose to the challenge. The people of Belfast embraced all the star studded visitors it received over the weekend in the same way I have been welcomed here – with warmth, sincerity and open arms. For Belfast, tourists are still a novelty. To hear anyone deliberately choose to move here is virtually unheard of. They are so interested to hear what newcomers think of the city and I have only ever been complimentary when I have described my impressions.

The MTV EMAs are celebrated by a younger generation and it is this generation that is driving forward a new era for Belfast. Young people don’t want their hometown to simply be known for the troubles. They’re not reluctant to talk about their history, but they want to move on from it. They want to leave it in the past.

There are so many groups, organisations and initiatives being set up in this multi-layered city. There are events, projects and exhibitions happening every week. The city is brimming with new ideas, fresh perspectives and enthusiasm. There is a subconscious determination to heal old wounds and a will to never repeat past mistakes. On the surface however is an energy and a momentum.

That energy has filled the city for the past few weeks in anticipation of the EMAs and it made Belfast overflowing with excitement last night. Belfast showed 600 million viewers around the world that it wants to be taken notice of and be known for its huge warmth as a host and the great spirit it has to pull off a spectacular and impressive event. I was proud to call Belfast my home last night. I can’t wait to see what else is in store for me here.