Coveney Communications has hit the headlines in its own right for the Oscars campaign that Director Petra Coveney ran to promote one of her clients’ films selected for the Academy Awards in February 2013.

You can read the full story here.

Petra has been working for The National Film and Television School since July 2012 and was recently praised by the NFTS Director Nik Powell for achieving more media coverage and website hits than the school has ever experienced in the past. She has been managing the school’s PR and web and social media communications, promoting both the school, its courses and the students’ work.

In January 2013,  the school was informed that one of its student graduation films – an animated short called Head Over Heels - had been nominated for an Academy Award. they were thrilled but as the only school in competition up against big studios such as FOX and Disney, they were very much the underdog. They also had a minimal budget to promote the film in the USA where they knew the vast majority of the Academy voters were based.

Petra got to work in promoting the film in the UK, Ireland and through international film trade media such as The Hollywood Reporter and Screen International. Significant hits were gained when Will Gompertz – the BBC’s Arts Editor – featured the film and the NFTS on the BBC news at 10pm and SKY TV NEWS broadcast a feature that included interviews at the School with the student Producer Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly and Wallace & Gromit creator Nick Park who attended the NFTS.

This was followed by exclusive news features in The Observer newspaper and Guardian online, The Times newspaper and online, PA news, The Mirror, BangShowbiz, The Huffington Post, Film News website and over 100 other news articles in press, radio and online both in the UK and Ireland. This resulted in a massive spoke in visits to the www.nfts.co.uk website.

To gain traction in the USA, the School hired Heather Burgett of The Burgett Group to run a campaign linked to adverts in variety magazine to gain attention among Academy Award voters. TBG helped to run an online campaign, releasing the short film to view online and building up a significant Facebook following as well as securing articles in US press.

The strategy paid off in terms of raising the profile of the film significantly from being rank outsider to being neck and neck with the big studios. A record number of 8 NFTS students were able to secure passes to walk down the Oscars red carpet and attend the big event. And the student film-makers benefitted from the publicity, meeting studio heads, talking to agents and making the contacts they need to build their careers in the film industry.

Speaking after the campaign, Nik Powell praised Petra’s work saying:

“Since Petra joined the NFTS as our PR and Communications manager, we’ve received more publicity than ever before. Working with a a tiny PR budget, she’s not only promoted the film school in trade media (such as Screen International, The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, the Stage, Broadcast magazine, Little White Lies, Empire magazine, Televisual, Total Film magazine, BANGShowbiz) but she has also taken us to a broader national platform through TV, Radio, Press and online coverage on the BBC News at 10 and News at 6pm, BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Online, Sky TV News, The Guardian, The Observer, The Times newspaper, P.A news Agency, the London Evening Standard and many more.

“All of the media coverage has been positive, on message and promoted the NFTS as one of the best film schools in the world.

“She led our recent 2013 Academy Awards UK  campaign for an Oscar nominated film Head Over Heels that was a stunning success, leading to over 100 pieces of media coverage, higher profile awareness for the school and the students involved and an unprecedented spike in our website hits throughout the campaign.

“Petra is both a team player and a proactive professional.  She has shown her ability to work pro-actively, building relations with key media, sponsors, partner organisations and other NFTS staff and departments to ensure that the media coverage was delivered effectively and that all parties involved felt valued and part of the end result. She has established a 3 year media partnership with Empire magazine and is developing ones with Broadcast and The Guardian newspaper.

“Other work has included the launch of our new Entrepreneurial Producing course with Ingenious media – endorsed by Lord Puttnam and Richard Branson  – that was covered by The Observer, Broadcast and Screen International); the launch of a Games Design partnership with Goldsmiths College (Game, Develop, Gamersutra, The Guardian); the launch of a new Broadcast Production course with Sky Studios (Broadcast magazine, C21, Televisual); the launch of the BFI Film Academy run by the NFTS, as well as many breaking news stories about 5 of our Television department students’ formats being optioned by big studios (Broadcast, LES, C21), a documentary screened at Parliament for MPs (The Guardian), the impact on Greek politics of another documentary broadcast on Channel 4 News.

Petra also manages the content for our website and contributes to our social media feeds on Facebook and Twitter.”

Bring on the oscars campaign 2014!

Duis eu risus sapien. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Curabitur malesuada ornare bibendum. Aliquam et tempus orci. Sed est erat, dictum sed aliquam id, convallis venenatis ligula. Nulla quis luctus odio. Sed pulvinar ultricies laoreet. Donec dictum velit ac nulla lobortis laoreet. Integer egestas erat enim. Curabitur condimentum quam sit amet magna hendrerit egestas. Fusce sit amet euismod metus. Quisque ac tortor vel enim placerat vestibulum. In hac habitasse platea dictumst. Vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Curae; Sed suscipit dolor accumsan est blandit dapibus.

 Military children’s choir ask armed forces families to back bid to play Christmas song on the radio

The children’s choir from the Duke of York’s Royal Military School, Dover, is asking armed forces families to support their bid to get a Christmas song played on BBC Radio 2.

The children, whose parents serve in the Armed Forces, have recorded their version of ‘Wherever You Are‘ – the song performed by the Military Wives Choir – and have posted it on You Tube.

But their version, includes a special message from one of the pupils, Jordan Oliver, 15, whose father Sgt Alan Oliver will be on the frontline in 2nd Battalion, the Mercian Regiment in Afghanistan this Christmas.

Jordan reads out a letter to her dad, in which she says: “Dear Daddy, I was hoping that you would get home before Christmas…but no worries. I know how important it is, your work in Afghanistan. I can’t wait until I get to see you. I’m taller than Mum now! Come home. We all miss you very much. Love you and miss you millions Dad. Jords.”

Headmaster Charles Johnson said: “Many of our children will be separated from parents deployed this Christmas, but Jordan has been particularly courageous; both of her parents have served in Afghanistan this year and no sooner had her mother returned than her father left for the frontline. Her message to him is heartfelt and speaks for all of us. There wasn’t a dry eye in the audience when the children sang this at our Winter Concert.”

The recording was quickly made by the school’s Director of Music James Robinson after hearing a request from BBC Radio 2 DJ Chris Evans for choirs across the country to send in recordings, some of which may be played in the run up to Christmas.

The ‘Dukies’ version has been posted on You Tube and they hope that if enough people ‘Like’ the page, it will get played on the Show. The song has gained over 1,500 views in 24 hours and the support of the Military Wives themselves, who’ve posted it on their Facebook page.

Military Wives Choir member, Kerry Riva, emailed the school to lend her support: “I’m one of the military wives and have just seen your performance of our song on YouTube. I cried. It’s amazing to think that you wanted to do the song, and thought it was a fabulous performance – well done – you make us very proud thank you x.”

Duke of York’s Director of Music James Robinson said: “The song is really close to our hearts and the ethos of our school. We had to work hard to arrange the song, learn it and record it so quickly. We hope that it will get played on the radio so that it can be heard by military families across the country and the troops deployed across the world this Christmas. Please view the link http://youtu.be/YtPfHJBgBQc and join us in being very proud of all our pupils here at the Duke of York’s Royal Military School.”

Back to top

By Kev GeogheganEntertainment reporter, BBC News, in Cannes

Actor Ewan McGregor and director Andrea Arnold are on the Palme d’Or jury

The jury for the Cannes Film Festival’s Palme d’Or has spoken out over claims of sexism prompted by the lack of female film-makers in the running.

Critics have complained that all 22 films in the contest have been directed by men, many past winners of the award.

But jury member British director Andrea Arnold said: “I would absolutely hate it if my film was selected because I was a woman.

“I would only want my film to be selected for the right reasons.”

The jury press conference on Wednesday preceded a gala screening of the opening night film, Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom.

Starring Bruce Willis and Edward Norton, the film is among those in contention for the Palme d’Or award.

Others who have made the cut include Britain’s Ken Loach, Austria’s Michael Haneke and the French director Jacques Audiard – all previous winners of the prize.

In an open letter released earlier this week, a group of French film-makers accused the organisers of failing to recognise the achievements of female directors.

Last year four women – including Scotland’s Lynne Ramsay, director of We Need to Talk About Kevin – had films in contention.

Yet Arnold – director of the recent screen adaptation of Wuthering Heights – said the lack of women in competition this year reflected the industry as a whole.

“Last year was obviously a good year,” she said. “I was asked this earlier and it’s true the world over – in the world of film there are just not many woman film directors.

“I guess Cannes is a small pocket that represents how it is out there in the world and that’s a great pity, a great disappointment.”

Led by Italian director Nanni Moretti and including fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier, US director Alexander Payne and Scottish actor Ewan McGregor, the jury will watch all the nominated films and announce a winner on 27 May.

German actress Diane Kruger, known for such films as Inglourious Basterds and Troy, is one of four women on the jury.

Kruger’s film Lily Sometimes closed the Director’s Fortnight – a special section of the festival that shows features, documentaries and short films – in 2010.

It was directed by a woman, Fabienne Berthaud, prompting Kruger to insist: “My impression is that women are made welcome in Cannes.”

Other female film-makers at Cannes this year include Haiffa al Mansour, the first female Saudi director.

France’s Catherine Corsini and Sylvie Verheyde, meanwhile, are competing in the Un Certain R

NFTS 2012 graduation fiction film Skyborn has reached the finals of the Student Academy Awards. The film was written and directed by Jamie Stone and produced by Len Rowles who both graduated from the NFTS in March 2012.

Skyborn is one of five films in the running for Best Foreign Film. 51 films were received from 29 countries and the Gold, Silver and Bronze winners will be announced in May.

Set in a smoggy post apocalyptic wasteland, the 27 minute film follows a stranded father …

BFI announces “pillars” of its Five Year Plan For Film

18 April, 2012 | By Andreas Wiseman

Amanda Nevill today promised a “fresh approach” from the BFI in its Five Year Forward Plan For Film; government and BFI to officially respond to Chris Smith’s Film Policy Review on May 14.

BFI CEO Amanda Nevill today disclosed the “three pillars” of the BFI’s Five Year Forward Plan For Film, which it will formally announce later this year.

Nevill said the Plan would be “broadly structured around three pillars” consisting of “a major commitment to education and a better deal for audiences across the UK; an emphasis on creating a supportive home for filmmakers across the value chain; and new initiatives to unlock our film heritage.”

Nevill told a gathering of UK industry at a Westminster Forum Projects seminar that the BFI will launch its industry consultation on the Plan on May 14th, and that the BFI and the government will officially respond to Chris Smith’s Film Policy Review on the same day.

She told the audience that the BFI will be consulting the industry on how it should spend the estimated £57m it is likely to receive from the Lottery in each of the next five years.

Nevill said the main thrust of the Five Year Forward Plan would be “bold” and that the BFI would “try things it hadn’t done before.”

“The Future Plan is going to be heavily influenced by the Film Policy Review,” said Nevill. “Our emphasis is going to be on the innovative and the entrepeneurial. It is up to us to take risks that private money can not and to grow future generations of audiences. We’ll be investing in new voices as well as established voices”.

Nevill added: “There will be a fresh approach to film education; a fresh approach to building audiences; a fresh approach within the BFI itself to bring new thinking to its creative, industrial and cultural role; and a fresh approach to how we invest in development, production and distribution. We are determined to be bold and brave and we will try things we haven’t done before.”

During the seminar, Nevill broke down the level of public money invested in film last year and estimated that the BFI would have around £57m in Lottery funding to invest in the UK industry in each of the next five years, above and beyond its government grant in aid:

“Last year close on £350m worth of public money was invested in UK film. This was made up primarily of the £200m from our highly effective tax relief, government grant in aid, Lottery money and broadcaster investment.

“Of that £350m, the money available for the BFI to invest is circa £79m… £22m is the grant in aid from government… £14m of this goes to the BFI for our directly funded activities such as the national archive. We are able to generate another £26m from that £14m… The rest of the grant in aid mostly goes mostly to Creative England, Film London and Film Agency Wales…

“Then there is the approximately £57m per annum of Lottery funding. That is the estimate of what we think we’ll be able to spend over the next five years. It’s this Lottery money that we will be consulting on later this spring.

“We will also be entrepeneurial in raising money from other sources to complement our public funding. The question is how we can make the most difference with this investment,” she said.

Kent man attempts record-breaking charity Flight4Heroes from John O’Groats to Dover.

Ex-paratrooper Colin Rees from Whitstable, Kent, will this Friday (May 18) attempt a record-breaking flight from John O’Groats in Scotland to Dover – by paramotor!

The 48-year-old Falklands war veteran and his colleague Sarn Terry (son of Air Marshall Sir Colin Terry) aim to take 14-15 days to cover a distance of over 850 miles reaching heights in excess of 5000ft, flying down the East Coast and landing in the grounds of The Duke of York’s Royal Military School, Dover, on approx May 30th. It is a feat never attempted before and would be daunting for even the most experienced of pilots.

“A paramotor is basically a parachute with a motor strapped to your back. Due to the very poor weather we have had very limited opportunity to train and fly so we will be learning en route! I’m not sure if we’re being adventurous or a bit stupid!” says Colin.

Colin, who now runs a computer software company, says regarding the idea for the expedition; “I was chatting to an ex Para friend who flew a Parahawk in a James Bond movie and he said it would be fun. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Now we’re praying for good weather!”

The aim is to raise money for Help for Heroes and also to raise awareness of the 30th anniversary of the Falklands war, especially among school children.

“I think it’s important for people to remember those who serve in the Armed Forces and I wanted to do something to commemorate the Falklands war. I chose to land at the Duke of York’s Royal Military School because it’s a fantastic school that has supported Armed Forces families for over 200 years, providing the quality of education and pastoral care these children need.”

Charles Johnson, Headmaster at the Duke of York’s Royal Military School says: “We’re looking forward to welcoming Colin and Sarn back to Dover and will get the whole school out to cheer them on. We have 150 acres of school grounds so hopefully they’ll be space to land. Help for Heroes is an incredibly good cause and one which is close to the hearts of our students whose families serve in the Armed Forces.”

The whole expedition from first training, to take off in John O’Groats and landing in Dover, is being filmed by a professional film crew for a documentary/DVD which will raise more money for Help4heroes.

Colin and Sarn hope the public will get behind to support them by ‘Liking’ their Facebook page Flight for Heroes or donating to this good cause via their website www.flight4heroes.com

Notes to Editor

Media enquiries: Petra Coveney 07590831966 or email petracoveney@googlemail.com

·

·       Colin’s mobile number is 07860139890 and the ground crew mobile number is: 07860294894

·       Updates will be posted on the flight for heroes Facebook Page and also on their @flight4heroes twitter account.

·       YouTube link to Colin’s 1^st nil wind take off http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kbEiDQfi2k

·       The Duke of York’s Royal Military School became an Academy in 2010.  It currently has 440 pupils with the potential to grow to 722 pupils in 2015, following its £25m investment from the Department of Education. A full, non-selective state boarding school, we take any child aged 11 to 18, subject to suitability for boarding interview with the Headmaster. www.doyrms.com

Peter Culshaw‏‪@PeterCulshaw

Close

totally divine Susheela Raman gig @southbankcentre

@QEHall powerful, romantic, tantric collaboration with rajasthani and qawaali musicians

@qeh for amazing sufi qawaali fusion night with Susheela Raman – Backstage singalong with Susheela, w @AshantiOmkar

You can listen again for 7 days on this link.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01fp3f9

After the show, the production team said they had been dancing in the studio.

Nihal, BBC Asian Network DJ, said: “It was AMAZING!”

 Bill Mostyn, BBC producer for Asian Network: “We thought it was great. The live music was incredible.”