Beyond Project

Keep ‘Midsomer Murders’ a white only drama

by Shawn Sobers — University of the West of England / Firstborn Creatives
March 16, 2011 – 03:13

“Midsomer Murders producer suspended over race row

The producer of ITV1′s Midsomer Murders has been suspended after saying the drama “wouldn’t work” if there was racial diversity in the show. Brian True-May, who co-created the series, told the Radio Times the long-running drama was a “last bastion of Englishness” and should stay that way.”

Quote from BBC news story – see full story here. ... read more »

Photography, protest and politics (deliberate small’p's)

by Shawn Sobers — University of the West of England / Firstborn Creatives
March 13, 2011 – 17:30

Over the next year I’m going to go back to my roots and make more pictures, both still and moving, as well as writing words (which I may do less). As a political (small ‘p’) animal at heart, it is work that has something to say, or maybe more importantly work that asks questions, that inspires me most in terms of my own creative practice. (I don’t force this upon my students, although they do at least have to have a focused idea they are pursuing!) ... read more »

Islington people attacked by the police. Activist Suzanne Jeffery ...

by Shawn Sobers — University of the West of England / Firstborn Creatives
February 22, 2011 – 02:28

Message from my activist colleague Corine Dhondee about the heavy-handed tactics she witnessed by the police when secretly filming protests at the council building. We might look at what is happening in Libya today and say we are lucky and have nothing to complain about, but I feel we must protect the freedoms that we have today, as if we take them for granted and let our freedoms erode and don’t defend them, then tomorrow if they are all gone, it will be too late to complain.

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Message from Corine: ... read more »

YouTube – UNDER the spotlight, IS the spotlight, and source of ...

by Shawn Sobers — University of the West of England / Firstborn Creatives
February 10, 2011 – 18:45

Earlier this week MIT Press published a ‘video book’ called ‘Learning from YouTube’ by Media Studies Professor Alexandra Juhasz. The book is not of the physical kind, nor is it a downloadable file for your Kindle or iPad. It is a website-book which has been peer reviewed and given an ISBN number, which exists in, amongst and around YouTube, with the site being the subject matter, field of research and platform for dissemination. ... read more »

14 year old Serena Beakhurst missing – a sad silence in the national ...

by Shawn Sobers — University of the West of England / Firstborn Creatives
January 01, 2011 – 08:44

I’m posting information here about Serena Beakhurst, the missing 14 year old girl from London, because the national UK media have not covered this story at all. She went missing on December 15th, see the main story below.

The silence in the national media of Serena’s disappearance is in stark contrast with the coverage of Joanna Yeates, whose tragic disappearance got masses of global coverage even before her body was found and landlord arrested. ... read more »

Burning Responsibility: Young Lives and Media Projects

by Shawn Sobers — University of the West of England / Firstborn Creatives
December 24, 2010 – 21:20

Just over a month ago I attended the funeral of a 24 year old young man who tragically took his own life. His death and its circumstances shook the whole community, especially his peers. 12 years ago I was teaching him how to edit – me working as a facilitator on a community media project, working with colleagues I still work with today. About 5 years after that he worked as a music producer on another community media project we were running. We managed to bring him in to be involved after realizing he was ‘not around much’ lately. ... read more »

RSA Animate – Changing Education Paradigms

by Shawn Sobers — University of the West of England / Firstborn Creatives
December 20, 2010 – 05:00

Sharing this animated interpretation of a Ken Robinson lecture.

... read more »

Fresh Flix young people’s film festival, Watershed, Bristol

by Shawn Sobers — University of the West of England / Firstborn Creatives
December 12, 2010 – 18:32

This review was originally written for an AHRC/Radio 3 proposal. (I’ve added a few extra words to the 300 word limit I was given.)

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Last week I attended a showcase of films made by 12 young people from Bristol, all taking part in a UK Film Council scheme which aims to support Black and minority ethnic talent to enter the film & TV industries. Work screened was made over the past nine months, half way through their scheme. ... read more »

Lenny Henry: from being Black representation to researching Black ...

by Shawn Sobers — University of the West of England / Firstborn Creatives
November 02, 2010 – 21:16

I read with interest that Lenny Henry is to embark on a PhD researching into the representation of Black people in the media (see BBC article here). 25/30 years ago Lenny WAS the representation of Black people on UK television, so a big part of his thesis must surely be employing the methodology of vulnerable anthropology and autoethnography, which sees ... read more »

‘Crouching Man’ sculpture – Inspirational so have to share

by Shawn Sobers — University of the West of England / Firstborn Creatives
October 14, 2010 – 01:10

I went to Newcastle-Upon-Tyne for a conference at the Miner’s Institute, and saw this sculpture on top of a bookcase. I was immediately drawn to it before I knew what it was about and started taking photos using my phone. I then read the description. ... read more »