Louise Purnell

Startup Weekend Education London

It was great to be organising the first event of it’s kind in London, SWEL brought together Educators and technical developers for an intense weekend of creativity.

Teams worked to develop their start up business ideas to present to a team of expert judges.

It is just the beginning for more information about this event take a look here or join the meet up group for future events.

I am featured in Piers Warren’s new book

- check it out

What does the future of wildlife film-making hold for us all?

WILDEYE have just announced the publication of the new book:  Wildlife Film-making: Looking to the Future 

As technology advances rapidly and viewers’ options increase, this book presents a fascinating exploration of the future of wildlife film-making. Its unique collection of views and advice make this book an invaluable resource for everyone who wishes to succeed as a wildlife film-maker in years to come. It contains articles from many leading figures in the industry and case studies of numerous skilled practitioners. It is edited by Piers Warren (Wildeye Principal), with a foreword by Neil Nightingale (BBC NHU).

•  Case studies include: Steve Backshall, Nick Baker, Gavin Thurston, Casey Anderson, Patrick Rouxel, Phil Streather, Carl Hall, Joe Yaggi, Rita Banerji, Steve Greenwood, Mike Linley, Caroline Brett, Alan Miller, Adrian Cale, Sandesh Kadur and many more. Each case study includes unique tips and  invaluable advice; for example read Phil Streather’s Top Ten Tips for Natural History 3D.

•  Essays on Views from the Industry from leading figures are provided by Alastair Fothergill (BBC/GreatApe Productions), Chris Palmer (Center for Environmental Filmmaking), Janet Rose (IWFF), Sophie Vartan (NHU Africa), Neil Harraway (NHNZ), Emma Rigny (National Geographic Television), Richard Brock (Living Planet Productions), Xi Zhinong (Wild Film China), Shin-ichi Murata (NHK) and many more

Extract from the foreword by Neil Nightingale, Creative Director, BBC Earth:

“If you’re considering working in any kind of wildlife media this book is a brilliant guide to help navigate and understand the confusion of choice and opportunity. But it’s much more than that. It provides an engaging account of the whole industry in its many forms. Even those who’ve spent a lifetime working in this business will discover aspects of it they were barely aware of. I certainly did.”

Wildlife Film-making: Looking to the Future

ISBN 978-1-905843-02-2 (paperback)

also available as an eBook and Kindle edition

(Further information and ordering from: http://www.wildeye.co.uk/wildlifefilm-making/)

GAFI is a fantastic charity I’ve just started working with. I will have information about the work we are doing shortly, but in the meantime have a look at their pedal powered cinema video. For more information take a look at the website

http://www.gafi4apes.org

Fantastic news Once Upon Our Time is selected for Sheffield Documentary Festival and IDFA (Amsterdam)

Directed by Hichem Ben Ammar (5/5 Productions)

I was camera operator during the run up to his interview at the Yehudi Menuhin School.

Synopsis:

Annas is an 11 year old violin prodigy. He has the talent to be a world class musician, but opportunities are limited in his homeland of Tunisia. This documentary follows him over two years, in which Annas travels to Paris, Brussels and New York for private lessons before finally being accepted to the prestigious Yehudi Menuhin School in London.

Sheffield Documentary Festival

IDFA - International Documentary Festival Amsterdam

Wildscreen festival was fantastic, a really inspiring week. I enjoyed meeting loads of interesting people form the world of wildlife filmmaking. For more information about the festival follow this link:

http://www.wildscreen.org.uk/initiatives-wildscreenfestival.html

I am now working as Education Producer for Wordia Schools.

Wordia is a video dictionary. Like a traditional dictionary, Wordia allows users to search for the spelling, meaning and etymology of a word but what makes Wordia unique is the ability for users to explore the personal connotation of word through video. Check it out for yourself by following this link:

http://www.wordia.com

I think you will agree the potential for using this resource in schools is very exciting. I have been asked to help develop the new Wordia schools site which is a secure platform for teachers and pupils.  We will be running schools workshops across the country and working with a number of children’s authors to create games and teachers resources for primary and secondary pupils.

Northern Soul is a music and dance movement that emerged from the British mod scene, initially in northern England in the late 1960s.

I have been working with artist Victoria Melody to document her exploration of Northern Soul music and Dance. For more information please follow this link:

http://www.victoriamelody.co.uk/projects/northernoul/index.php