Showroom Workstation 20th Anniversary

15th June 2015

Dear Member Members may not be aware but the Chamber is a Board member of the Sheffield Media and Exhibition Centre (SMEC) which operates the Showroom and Workstation and is the "owner" of DocFest.

Creative arts and creative digital are extremely important sectors for our city region and we are working hard to transform them into nationally and internationally significant sectors delivering real commercial value. This year is the 20th anniversary of the Showroom and it has developed an exciting program for the year which is also designed to raise funds to refurbish many areas of the building to ensure the city presents the right image to visitors like those who have been to Doc Fest this month. The links below give information about the SHOWdown fundraising treasure hunt. It will be an opportunity for businesses to publicly show their support alongside other businesses for one of Sheffield's major cultural venues. http://www.showroomworkstation.org.uk/showtime/ http://www.showroomworkstation.org.uk/showtime/showdown Here is some info which may help in any online discussion around the value of the Showroom Workstation. SMEC Sheffield Media and Exhibition Centre (SMEC) is a registered charity which delivers a range of educational and cultural programming for Sheffield mainly through its venue Showroom Cinema. It also owns and operates The Workstation which is a well-established cultural industries managed workspace complex housing over 60 creative businesses including graphic artists, designers and architects. Showroom Workstation (SW) contributes a vibrant creative and cultural centre to Sheffield and the region and it has been instrumental in helping the city's development particularly in creating the Cultural Industries Quarter. SMEC also owns Sheffield Doc/Fest the UK's biggest and most important festival of documentary and digital media. The organisation is very experienced in developing and managing major events and in delivering publicly funded projects and has a focus on developing talent for the film and media industries and in education and cultural engagement for young people. Creative media talent development SW has experience of successfully delivering creative media talent development programmes in multiple formats across a number of age ranges. For three years it successfully delivered Sheffield's British Film Institute (BFI) Youth Film Academy for 16-19 year olds which teaches young people about the wide range of roles within the film industry, from script to screen. It has also secured the contract to deliver the BFI's Residential Film Programming and Audience Development Academy in Sheffield this August, for 30 16-19 year olds. It worked collaboratively with Nottingham Broadway Cinema and Watershed Cinema in Bristol to design and deliver Film Works http://www.filmworks.org.uk/, 'networked professional development for filmmakers', a project funded by Creative England and also designed and delivered The Northern Talent Incubator with Sheffield based producer Colin Pons funded by Creative Skillset which included an intense Summer School across five days as well as ongoing mentorship and business support in order to encourage film businesses to set up or develop in the English regions. It is currently running Watch it Make it Show it for 5-15 year olds workshops and training in animation, film criticism and literacy and an introduction to marketing and event production. It is also running alumni activity for previous Academy participants by bringing them back to Doc/Fest. Through Film Hub North it focuses on a strong development agenda this recognises that individual talent must be supported and encouraged if we are to develop the sector for positive outcomes. SW as an organisation provides a truly comprehensive offer for the creative economy in Sheffield and the wider region.