Arts Council England
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Arts Council England announces Random Acts Network Centres to support diverse young arts film makers

The Arts Council has yesterday (10 February) announced four Random Acts Network Centres across England which will create a ‘network’ to develop young people’s talent and provide them with entry points for the arts and creative industries.

Random Acts was established in 2011 as Channel 4’s platform for short arts films. The creation of the Network Centres and the boosted partnership with Arts Council England is part of a major expansion of the project - at the same time, the channel is also launching a new TV show to showcase the shorts, revamping the website and has appointed an editor to oversee the strand.

The networks will offer 16 to 24 year olds a package of activity including education, training and production support. Between the Network Centres, they will produce around 120 high-quality short films per year which will be played as part of the Random Acts strand on television and online.  Channel 4 will continue to commission films direct from more established talent, which form the rest of the strand’s output.

The successful Network Centres are:

• South West - Calling The Shots
Range of partners including Spike Island and Icon
• South East - Screen South
Range of partners including South East Dance, Turner Contemporary, and Oxford Contemporary Music  
• Midlands Rural Media Company
Range of partners including Maverick TV and mac birmingham
• London Institute of Contemporary Arts
Range of partners including Dazed Digital and the University of Kingston

The Random Acts Network Centre in the North will be appointed by the end of April. Applications for this network centre will open on 16 February.

A total of £3million Lottery funding across the Network Centres has been awarded for work to be undertaken between February 2015 and March 2018. The aim of this investment is to broaden access to a notoriously difficult-to-get-into sector and increase diversity, by targeting effort and support right across the country, including in those areas where access to film and TV has been very limited.

Sir Peter Bazalgette, Chair, Arts Council England, said:  ‘Projects such as Random Acts help young people to make the most of their passion and talent, wherever they live and whatever their circumstances. It's vital that we continue to support the next generation of artists and filmmakers by providing them with an outlet such as this, which is becoming increasingly important in this digital age.’

More information

Random Acts was established in 2011 as Channel 4’s platform for short arts films.  It was launched with the aim of escaping the conventions of arts broadcasting and showing television made by artists, rather than programmes about them. Since then it has broadcast over 500 short films covering art, dance, animation, music and opera, including work by Ai Weiwei, Tinie Tempah, Kate Tempest, Jake and Dinos Chapman and Marina Abramovic. As part of the new plans for the expanded Random Acts programme, the new Random Acts Network Centres which will provide entry points for the arts and creative industries. Each network will see arts organisations, artists, educational bodies and production companies collaborate on significant training and development for young artists and arts film-makers. The creation of the Network Centres and the boosted partnership with Arts Council England is part of a major expansion of the project. For more information visit the Random Acts website.

Over the coming months, we will be making more information about each network available, if you would like to be involved please get in touch via our Enquiries team. Email: enquiries@artscouncil.org.uk. Call: 0845 300 6200.

Follow us on Twitter and join the conversation: #randomacts

 

Channel website: http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/

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