Alex Brooker, Ryan Lanji and Munya confirmed for Soho Media Club’s BE YOU Festival
June 21, 2024
Soho Media Club is thrilled to announce the lineup for the 3rd edition of its annual media culture festival, BE YOU, set to take place on July 11th, 2024, at the Ministry of Sound in Elephant and Castle. This year’s event will feature a stellar array of speakers, including journalist and presenter Alex Brooker, satirist, presenter, and producer Munya, and renowned drag performer Kitty Scott Claus. Join us for a day of inspiring talks and vibrant discussions, challenging and celebrating today’s media culture.
Alex Brooker, co-presenter of the award winning show The Last Leg on Channel 4, will be interviewed on stage by Cimran Shah, Commissioner at Channel 4 for a dynamic discussion to on how the Last Leg has contributed to normalising disability in mainstream media and what still needs to be done to accelerate positive change.
Praising the festival Alex says, “I want the next wave of talent to feel inspired and empowered to build careers in film and TV, confident that their voices will be heard. There’s still much work needed to achieve proper disability representation, both behind and in front of the camera. I’m eager to share my knowledge and stories, and I also look forward to hearing from younger talent and having an honest conversation about creating a safe and equal industry.”
Satirist, presenter, and producer Munya Chawawa will participate in a panel discussion entitled, “The Futuremakers: Giving a voice to a new generation”, moderated by film director, actor, singer and screenwriter, Islah Abdur-Rahman, to share his experiences of how he made the transition into TV and overcame cultural barriers.
This year’s programme also addresses the development of LGBTQ+ representation on screen and in production crews and discusses not just who is represented, but how. Moderated by Founder of TV Mindset & Chair of Coalition for Change, Adeel Amini – the panel features Curator, Host and Personality, Producer, Ryan Lanji and I Kissed a Girl, Cara Bruce.
This year’s BE YOU Festival tackles a whole slate of topics which address media craft and culture. Discussions will include the impact of broadcaster schemes and strategies, tips for young filmmakers on breaking into the industry, and how creatives can push the boundaries with artificial intelligence tools.
This year’s inspiring speaker lineup also includes:
Marcia Williams, Executive Director, Equity & Inclusion, Channel 4
David Carrigan, Group Director of Diversity, Inclusion & Wellbeing, Sky
Sonny Hanley, Director, ITV Academy, ITV
Marcus Ryder, CEO, Film & TV Charity
Jason Arday, Professor of Sociology of Education, University of Cambridge
Franky Murray Brown, Filmmaker, Dalton’s Dreams
Eddie Hamilton, Film Editor
Cimran Shah, Commissioner, Channel 4
Claire Tavernier, Senior Media Advisor and Chair, UK Film & TV Charity
Maureen Kerr, Partner, Arthur D. Little
Dhruti Shah, Multi-Award-Winning Journalist and Author
Ebele Tate, Writer-Director Producer
Danielle Goff, Film Producer
Co-founder of Soho Media Club, Tomasz Witkowski says, “Today’s speaker announcement features three incredible personalities who are doing important advocacy work in their respective fields. All the outstanding featured speakers announced today further solidify what promises to be a momentous and eventful festival program.”
New to the programme this year are 2 workshops:
How to Write, Prep and Pitch Your Unscripted Show
Led by: Murray James, Creative Director, Unscripted, Fulwell 73
Overcoming mindset blockers for leadership success
Led by: Dr. Shawn Chrisman and Kim Spikes, ACC
Co-founder of Soho Media Club, Jaisica Lapsiwala says, “This is Soho Media Club’s third edition of the BE YOU Festival and it’s back with a bang! Along with covering topical themes and bringing inspiring speakers to the stage for panels, interviews, workshops and a Festival Party, we are building an active community of talented changemakers to move the dial and change the narrative of the media industry.”
BE YOU is designed to spark honest conversations about the whole slate of film, TV and multimedia cultures, including the visible and hidden challenges of diversity, inclusion, belonging wellbeing, having your voice heard and inspiring and nurturing this and future generations of talent.
A dynamic mix of over 200 industry heavyweights and fresh newcomers come together in Soho to passionately discuss the challenges of media culture and celebrate successes. Everyone attending is encouraged to participate in frank discussion, get stuck into candid conversations, share ideas and express themselves, so that attendees leave feeling empowered and armed with ideas, inspiration and contacts.
This year’s festival is sponsored by: Simons Muirhead Burton, NFTS, Framesync, Deluxe and IBC.
BE YOU takes place on 11th July 2024 at the Ministry of Sound, London. More information and tickets are available at www.sohomediaclub.com/beyou