The Arts Council recently asked for regional submissions to win a significant pot of money under the title ‘Artists Taking the Lead’ - linking into themes of the Cultural Olympiad, and leading up to the 2012 Olympics.

The first selection process has happened, and details of the potential regional winners have been announced and can be found here.  Unsurprisingly, all of the West Midlands shortlisted are designed to happen in Birmingham (with perhaps the exception of Imagineer Productions – which doesn’t specify, but has obvious Coventry connections?) and so it seemed relevant to point it out to the CiB readers and point you to the site where comments are invited on which idea excites you the most.

I have rather strong feelings on the selected few and would be curious to find out what you all think.  If any particularly strike you (either positively or negatively!) then feel free to leave a quick comment below explaining why.

© Adrienne for Created in Birmingham, 2009. | 4 comments |

He is now working on another project based around dance, but can’t come up with a title. He would like CiB readers to come up with a snappy title and the winning chosen title gets a signed print and invite to the private view when the exhibition launches.

The work is around dance and was shot in Birmingham, you can view working progress here.

Please put your ideas in the comments and remember to leave your email address (which won’t be shown). Good Luck!

© Kate Spragg for Created in Birmingham, 2009. | 14 comments |

Some brilliant experimental musicians have provided tracks which animators can download for free. The animators need to use the tracks as a starting point to create music videos which can be submitted to the challenge Vimeo group. The best and brightest offerings will then be screened at a special event in Wolverhampton’s Light House Cinema on 21st July.

The bands supplying tunes are Pram (Domino Records), Epic 45 (Make Mine Music), Laurel Collective and Beat To Paris.

To enter:

1. Download one or more of the tracks.
2. Create an animated music video for the track(s) of your choice.
3. Upload the finished video(s) to The Great Animation Challenge Vimeo Group anytime before the 6th July deadline.
4. Contact david.luke.allen@bcu.ac.uk with your full name, email address, phone number and the title of your short.
5. The animators behind the best shorts will then be contacted in July for a screening copy of the piece.

The contest is open to animators across the UK at all levels (entries by studios are welcome) and the winner of the best short will receive a subscription to Imagine Magazine and a copy of  The Imagine Animation Directory at the Light House screenings on 21st July 2009.

© Kate Spragg for Created in Birmingham, 2009. | Add a comment |

Katie Parry aka @supercoolkp, a designer with supercool, did just that and managed to get her tweet read on air on the evening news.

Katie said:

I can’t begin to tell you how chuffed I was – I watch Channel 4 News every weeknight so to see my (Twitter) name on the screen was brilliant.

And it’s another small yet powerful example of the amazing connective potential of Twitter. How else would a graphic designer in Brum get their poem recited on the national news?

The segment is available to watch on YouTube and the best of the rest are on Channel 4 online.

© Kate Spragg for Created in Birmingham, 2009. | 2 comments |

I have two reasons for posting this:

1. It amused me that the site talks up ‘free entry to the splendid Birmingham Artsfest’ when entry is free anyway
2. It’s good to see Birmingham being talked about as a destination for an arty getaway

There’s a few other items bundled into the package that might make it worth throwing your name into the hat. Link to the competition.

Elsewhere on the site there’s a good profile of Studio 4 and mentions given to the Outcrowd Collective, Them Lot, Capsule, Beat13 and Fluid’s Lee Basford. ‘Log’ Roper from Studio4 ‘paints a rosy picture of a thriving, supportive scene, where musicians and artists intermingle’

© chrisunitt for Created in Birmingham, 2008. | 2 comments |

The winner won’t be paid for their hard work but they will get a bottle of champagne, a couple of tickets for the ball and their work will be seen by 320 of the city’s keenest young suits.

The criteria:

• The Invitation must include space for the venue, time and date as well as sponsorship logos
• The Menu should include space for details of the meal and sponsorship logos
• Designs must be no larger than A4
• It must avoid any special finishes, such as cut-outs
• It must not use bright colours, such as orange (PMS 021), fluorescent colours or metallic inks
• You must have authorization to use any logos/images in your design

Designs need to be in by 21 November, give the Birmingham Future office a shout on 0121 632 2200 if you want to get involved.

© chrisunitt for Created in Birmingham, 2008. | 14 comments |

The Flip Animation Festival (6-8 November at Light House, Wolverhampton) has been assembling a rather tasty line-up over the past little while, as documented on their nicely informative blog.

Highlights include:

A retrospective of work from Osbert Parker, best know for his cut out animation style mixed with live action; BAFTA & Screen WM Presents: Ninja Theory, the game developers behind the stunning Heavenly Sword and Kung Fu Chaos; Sita Sings the Blues, a screening of this modern classic and Indian epic; a day of Doctor Who animation treats and a real Dalek fleet will invade Light House!

The line-up is up on the Flip Festival website and tickets are available at very reasonable prices.

It’s competition time!

However, if you’d rather swipe a ticket for free then here’s your chance.  There are two available, to be given separately (ie not as a pair) so there’ll be two winners.

All you have to do is leave a comment claiming your ticket, first two claimants will win.  Rules are as before (except for the first one) and please use a proper email address so I can get in touch.

© chrisunitt for Created in Birmingham, 2008. | 3 comments |

Here’s the full line-up:

The Heritage Orchestra

Lizzy Parks (album launch)

DJ Cro hosting 2 and a half hours of local MC talent including Ko-Syne (Soulthump, Livebox), SPX (Kung Funk), Redbeard (Eat Good) and more

Visuals by Chromatouch

It’s competition time!

I’ve been given a couple of tickets to give away for this.  All you have to do is shout up for them in the comments.  Just some quick rules:

• The first person to claim them takes both the tickets (well, guestlist places)
• No-one CiB-related can play
• No previous competition winners can claim the tickets
• You’ll need to use a proper email address for me to confirm things with you
• I get the final say on any decisions (if it’s really necessary)

So go for it…

Meanwhile, here’s the flyer:

You can also have a nosey at the interview with Mary Wakelam, of Birmingham Jazz, who co-promotes these events.

© chrisunitt for Created in Birmingham, 2008. | 3 comments |

It’s competition time again!  Well, if a first-come-first-served grab can count as a competition.

Camille O’Sullivan is currently at the Edinburgh Festival and her show, La Fille Du Cirque, is collecting 5 star reviews like they’re going out of fashion.  She sings songs by Nick Cave, Tom Waits, Jacques Brel and Kirsty MacColl and generally looks to be a very interesting proposition.

You can hear what she sounds like on the Camille O’Sullivan MySpace page.

There’s no particular Birmingham link here, in case you’re looking, other than the fact she’s performing at the Town Hall on 5 September and I’ve got 2 tickets to give away.

So, the rules are the same as last time:

• Two tickets will go to the first (non-CiB-related) person to shout up in the comments
• Use a proper email address so I can confirm everything
• If the person claiming the tickets doesn’t’ respond to an email then I’ll go to the next commenter
• My decision on any/everything is final

Go for it…

Oh, and here she is doing Tom Waits’ ‘A Good Man (is Hard to Find)’:

**Update** Competition closed – congrats to Alex Hughes!

© chrisunitt for Created in Birmingham, 2008. | 3 comments |

I went to the full dress rehearsal of Birmingham Opera Company’s King Idomeneo on Sunday night and loved it. What’s not to like about an abandoned factory stuffed with shipping containers, opera singers, dirt and orange trees?

Anyway, I have two tickets for tonight’s proper opening show to give away to the first person who shouts up for them in the comments.

Here are some guidelines:

• No-one associated with CiB (that includes Creative Republic types) can claim the tickets
• First to claim the tickets in the comments wins
• But feel free to stake a claim after the first post, just in case (see below)
• I need to give your real name to the ticket-giving people.  If you post under a pseudonym then remember to use a real email address.  If I you don’t reply to a confirmatory email quick enough and/or I think you’re messing about I’ll work my way down the list of commenters
• Tickets are to be collected on the door no later than 6.30pm today, 12 August 2008 – don’t claim them if you can’t make it (it sounds obvious but…)
• My decision on anything and everything is final

If whoever goes would be good enough to blog about the show or send me a review to post on CiB that’d be great.  Not essential or anything but it’d be nice.

If you don’t win the tickets then maybe consider buying one and going along anyway.  You’re not likely to get the chance to see anything like this for a while.

Finally, the Birmingham Post’s photographer was there on Sunday so you can see some pics to get an idea of what it was all about.  There’s more info in my last post about it and on the Birmingham Opera Company website.

© chrisunitt for Created in Birmingham, 2008. | 7 comments |

Here’s their Animation Forum profile which is where I heard about it (though I think I saw a preview on another blog a while back).

© pete for Created in Birmingham, 2008. | One comment |

Punch Records are running a competition for desginers to create an advert for this year’s BASS Festival “highlighting this year’s theme of The Four Elements of Hip Hop – BBoying, DJing, graffiti, and MCing.”

There will be a cash prize of £500 and the winning design will receive huge exposure by appearing for six weeks on billboards in a central Birmingham location. The artist will also get one month’s exhibition space in a key Birmingham venue, as well as a launch event and PR support. Finally the lucky winner will get two full pages dedicated to their work, the project and their profile in the BASS festival brochure – of which there are 50,000 distributed nationally and internationally.

Full details are in The Punch Records newsletter and the deadline is Feb 28th.

© pete for Created in Birmingham, 2008. | Add a comment |