SPAA has confirmed acclaimed indie UK producer Mark Herbert as a keynote speaker for the annual Conference being held 13 to 16 November at the Sheraton Mirage Resort on Queensland’s Gold Coast.
Herbert, with director Shane Meadows as his creative partner, has made two highly acclaimed feature films under the banner of their production company, Warp Films: Dead Man’s Shoes and the recent release, This is England, a skinhead drama set in 1983 which won the Grand Jury Prize and Young Audience Award at the 2006 Rome Film Festival and Best Film at the 2006 British Independent Film Awards.
Fiercely independent filmmakers, Herbert and Meadows’ Warp Films is based outside of London and is the sister company of Warp Records, the Sheffield based label behind Aphex Twin, Squarepusher and Maximo Park. Herbert recently produced a short film collaboration with the Arctic Monkeys entitled Scummy Man. Inspired by the song ‘When the Sun Goes Down’ it has been in the Top 10 music DVDs since its release and won a 2007 NME award for Best Music Video.
In 2003 Herbert won a BAFTA with director Chris Morris for their short film Mr Wrongs, in 2004 he was named by Variety as one of ’10 producers to watch’, and last year he won the Alfred Dunhill UK Film Talent Award, which is given to a producer, writer or director who has shown excellence in their field for that year.
Mark Herbert is also joint MD of Warp X, a pioneering new digital film studio allied to Warp Films focussed on low budget films. It aims to introduce the next wave of cutting edge British filmmakers and seven feature films are planned over the next three years. The £5 million studio scheme is run by Film Four, the UK Film Council, Screen Yorkshire and Em-Media, with Optimum Releasing as the theatrical distribution partner.
He will deliver his address on Friday 16 November at 9:00am.
SPAA Conference, 13 – 16 November 2007
Sheraton Mirage Resort, Gold Coast, Queensland
[release from Fran Lanigan]