Great to be invited to speak at Creative England’s Future Studios Programme. A two-day intensive bootcamp for creative businesses in the popular space of Pinewood Studios.

‘Over the duration of the two days, we’ll connect creative people and provide crucial support for businesses working in moving image for storytelling.The programme will provide business support to screen companies (film, TV, games, immersive and digital) with a narrative/storytelling focus. Companies must be based in the south east (outside of London). Both SMEs and freelancers can apply, however, priority will be given to SMEs.’

Interested in learning to develop immersive content? Ideate is a new programme for Greater Manchester-based creative businesses looking to expand into immersive storytelling. Bringing together leaders from across the ever-growing world of immersive – from AR/VR, to audio and sound design, theatre and experiential events – to provide expert advice on creating innovative cross-platform content.

This is the ideal programme for creative businesses working in screen industries such as film, TV and games through to theatre, live events and cultural organisations who are looking to take the first step into immersive content production.

More information can be found here

MA Virtual Reality (VR) at London College of Communication provides the opportunity to explore and develop the application of VR technologies across filmmaking, visual effects (VFX), animation, games and immersive augmented reality (AR) experiences.

In October 2019, Avril gave an immersive workshop to the MA students, revealing the creative process behind writing scripts for fictional drama and documentary in immersive environments.

The D&AD Digital Campus combines world-class industry insights with a self-serve digital platform, making it available globally and in your own time, at your own pace.

Whether you're in the creative industry or are looking to embed the power of creativity into your business, our programmes are carefully developed to meet these needs and increase profitability. We constantly review and update the courses that are available on the D&AD Digital Campus to reflect the ever-changing nature of culture, technology and the industry we work with.

Every year, our annual awards identify the most inspiring and innovative examples of creative communication from around the world. And the people behind this work? They're the creatives, writers, designers, entrepreneurs and business leaders we get to share their knowledge with you in these online courses.

In May 2019, I worked with Chris Lee Ball of Constellation AI, and created a documentary - 7 Days with AI. I spent a week with the tech start up’s AI app, the idea was to live through the app and make decisions in my normal everyday life based on what the app instructed me and directed me to do. I presented my discoveries and the documentary with Chris at the D&AD Festival at the Old Truman Brewery, summer 2019.

What can a room of 26 MA students create in 3 hours of rapid pro-typing using Unity and Tilt brush that will change the world for the better?

One day in the summer term of 2019 I gave a workshop presenting my creative process to the MA Digital students at The Royal College of Art, London and tasked them with the brief to create a concept for VR and create a prototype for their idea – and then present back to the group, and then the winners were announced!

It was brilliant to be invited to speak about my VR filmmaking at WHEXT Festival, Sao Paulo Brazil with The London Film Academy.

A bit about the festival –

WHEXT epitomises an open debate about the future of advertising production and in-depth examination of the future of the industry, while engaging, educating and apprising professionals about the best market practices and guidelines through panels, exhibits, partnerships, networking and substantial hands-on content.

It is a festival of transformation where “utility” is the word of the day, and collaboration is a prerequisite; where having the courage and voracity to learn is essential in order to experiment with new ideas, benchmarks and formats, ultimately echoing the importance of creativity in the search for excellence in advertising production.

I took part in presenting my work at this one-day conference and exhibition at Goldsmith’s University 2018.

The event brought together inspirational speakers and a range of funding organisations supporting business in developing the capacity for growth.

‘Hear from Technology, Design Thinking and Business Modelling experts and find out about funded schemes to help you drive your business forward.’

Goldsmiths, University of London, Thursday 13th September 2018

I was honoured to be invited to present my work at WIRED's 2017 annual innovation festival, amongst other creators, innovators, scientists, entrepreneurs, activists and leaders at London’s Tobacco Doc.

More information can be found here.

New York’s The Met Museum invited me to present ‘The Last Moments’ at ‘The best spatial projects of 2017 and beyond’ Symposium 2017

The presentation was streamed live on Dezeen and presented to an audience at The Met, New York.

Click here for the link to the live video.

Click here for the event page.

Great to be part of the film school’s graduation ceremony at The BFI, to share a few words and screen The Empathy Machine film, 2018

Just after the launch of The Last Moments, I invited people from Dignity in Dying Organisation to view the film and give their candid feedback. The film stirred much debate and reflection from the team.

I flew to Amsterdam to a global conference on Euthanasia in 2016 after the launch of my debut film - The Last Moments film to share this with hundreds of palliative care nurses, psychiatrists, end of life care specialists and Euthanasia campaigners. it was a great opportunity to get direct insights into this specific audience’s reactions and thoughts as they watched the film, and get their heart felt feedback and ideas. The resounding discovery was that these people who often worked on the front lines in this world with people on their death beds were able to see from their client’s point of view and were for the first time, transported into their patient’s shoes, experiencing an empathy never experienced as directly before.

I presented The Last Moments film and my immersive filmmaking creative process alongside Dave Ranyard and other VR Developers and producers at the event.

The description of the event - ‘If you’re interested in the future of VR, don’t miss out on this fascinating lecture with Dave Ranyard, virtual reality developer and former studio head of Sony London. Over the course of the evening, you’ll learn about the past, present and future of VR, and gain a deeper understanding of its social potential.

The evening will particularly appeal to those with an interest in computer game development and computer interaction, as well as anyone interested in new cultural directions, cutting-edge technology, TV and entertainment.’