MORNING

11.30 - 13.00

INSIDE THE NON-DEPENDENT MOVEMENT

TIME: 11.00am

Host: Charlotte Knowles

Speakers: Poppy O'Hagen (Giant Films),  Glen Gathard (Molinare), Beth Gallagher (Shadowbox)

What is non-dependent filmmaking and how can studios, post-facilities and producers work collaboratively to bring excellent independent film to audiences in innovative new ways.

MARKETING IS NOT A DIRTY WORD

TIME: 11.45

Lidia Huerta makes the case that the most radical thing an independent filmmaker can do right now is treat their project like a product. 

Lidia walks through the practical toolkit she's built: using social platforms to grow a real audience during production (so you're not starting from zero when the film drops), running £50 of paid media with the precision of a sniper, mining the dead accounts of old projects for data that actually tells you something, and using micro-influencers, zines, and analogue guerrilla tactics to cut through digital noise in a year when everyone is exhausted by content.

EP IS THE NEW IP

TIME: 11.55

Anastasia Marshall has spent years pulling apart the architecture of brands  that create obsessive loyalty, cultural moments, and genuine connection. What she found at the centre of all of them was what she calls Emotional Property.

EP is what IP is trying to be.

Ana introduces the concept and makes the case for why it's the missing piece in how independent filmmakers develop, finance, and market their work. Every producer now needs to think like a brand and ask what emotional territory is yours?

In the non-dependent world, that question can shape a film's entire future.

THE C WORD: MARRYING ART WITH THE COMMERCIAL

TIME: 12.05

THE C WORD: Marrying art with the commercial.

Host: Charlotte Knowles 

Speakers: Jasmin Morrison (Sky Cinema), Laura Grange (Executive Producer, Riotous Studios)

LUNCH:

13.00 - 15.30

FINANCE MEETINGS 

TIME: 13.30 - 15.00

Creative HQ producers meet with executives from BBC Films, Film4, Creativity Capital, Doc Society, Whickers, Climate Spring, Riotous, Guardian, Film London, Film Shed

NETWORKING 

TIME: 13.30 - 15.00

Networking in the bar for creatives and speakers to meet and chat. 

AFTERNOON:

15.30 - 17.00

ADAPTION: DOCS INTO DRAMA

TIME: 15.30

Kerri Davenport Burton, director Havana Marking, and Vikki Parrott, co-founder of Tigerlilly Productions, sit down to unpick one of the most interesting tensions in the industry right now: what happens when a documentary becomes the source material for a drama?

From the recent success of I Swear to the forthcoming Sinead O'Connor biopic, arriving in the wake of Nothing Compares, this conversation gets into the mechanics and the mess of adaptation. When does dramatisation sharpen a story, and when does it sand off the very edges that made it worth telling? Documentary has always traded on the fact that reality is stranger than fiction. So how does a scripted version hold up against the real thing?

FILM ON FILM: HOW AND WHY TO SHOOT ON CELLULOID

TIME: 16.00

In digital-first world of fragmented audiences and cultural silos, Tom Gordon (Filmmaker and Co-Founder, Good Shout) asks multi award-winning producer of Aftersun and co-founder of Unified Productions, Amy Jackson whether there is still a place for celluloid for independent film. 

HOW MANY TIMES DO YOU SELL THE SAME FILM?

TIME: 16.30

The sales role for producers is growing every day: from pitching to financiers and talent to selling direct-to-audience, there are so many ways producers need to be able to share their work to the point that it become contegous. Creative HQ founder Charlotte Knowles talks to co-founder of the My SMASH pitching platform, Christine Hartland, founder of the Hiway TVOD platform, Zach Rothwell and writer of indie hit Life Hack, Hope Elliot Kemp about the increasingly important sales focus for producers in 2026.