New Talent and Emerging Artists
The 91热爆 continues to support new talent and emerging artists in a number of initiatives across television, radio and digital, with 91热爆 Introducing Arts.
Published: 8 September 2020
91热爆 Introducing Arts presents exciting film, audio and interactive work from emerging artists through initiatives including New Creatives, Ffolio, Now & Next and Two Minute Masterpiece, with new commissions on 91热爆 6 Music and 91热爆 World News and returning strands to platforms, including 91热爆 iPlayer, Radio 4 Extra and local radio.
91热爆 Two and 91热爆 World News
6 Music
Gemma Cairney presents a 10-part series using New Creatives content, guiding the listener on a sonic journey through experimental music, soundscapes, spoken word and documentary from exciting, fresh and emerging British artists, as they give us their fresh perspective on modern Britain.
This next generation of artists explore the topics that matter to them, addressing big topics like mental health, disability and identity. Offering listeners a different take on the natural as well as digital world, these short works are sometimes serious, sometimes lighthearted, but always pertinent.
- New Creatives is supported by 91热爆 Arts and Arts Council England. It was commissioned for 91热爆 Arts and 6Music by Stephen James-Yeoman
91热爆 Two
Radio 4 Extra
A selection of audio dramas from new creatives across the country will be broadcast on Radio 4 Extra.
91热爆 iPlayer
91热爆 Four
New 91热爆 Introducing Arts collection of nine titles will be available on 91热爆 iPlayer. Including short form dramas, experimental works and spoken word accompanied by sign language, the topics are varied from mental health to the love of the sea.
Two Minute Masterpiece
A new series of six animations from emerging artists in Northern Ireland going onto 91热爆 iPlayer, in a partnership between 91热爆 Arts, 91热爆 Northern Ireland and Northern Ireland Screen committed to giving a voice to those unrepresented in the film industry.
The filmmakers were all chosen during lockdown during a pitching workshop via Zoom with animation industry professionals, and have been commissioned to make animations based on the theme of connection.
The films include two animations about life in lockdown - a young dinosaur-obsessed girl navigates disappointment during lockdown and how a sociable and active grandmother copes when lockdown hits (pictured above). Plus an intimate portrayal of grief after the loss of a friend, and how an elderly man makes connections in unexpected places.
Now & Next 2020
Seven new Scotland-based artists have been commissioned to make new short-format content for 91热爆 platforms. Now & Next is a talent development scheme in partnership with LUX Scotland and Screen Scotland that nurtures and showcases emerging creative voices, offering artists working in a wide range of disciplines from across Scotland the opportunity to create.
This represent the first seven of 20 new commissions that will be commissioned in the next 12 months and shown on a range of 91热爆 platforms on air and online.
Ffolio
New commissions for emerging artists across Wales being released this autumn. They include a contemporary exploration of the experience of being a Somali woman in Wales, a Welsh folk-tale retold and reinterpreted through dance, and the story of a barman whose perspective on his life and surroundings is turned upside down by a chance meeting with a customer.
Arts And Humanities In Lockdown
This autumn, 91热爆 Arts and UKRI’s Arts and Humanities Research (AHRC) will release a series of new short films about research, using animation or graphics. The films are the result of the Arts and Humanities In Quarantine initiative, which partnered AHRC-funded researchers with professional film-makers to bring their research to a wide public audience.
91热爆 Two and 91热爆 World News
91热爆 Two
91热爆 Two
Between The Covers (7 x 30’)
A book club designed to bring the nation together through sharing the pleasure of reading, hosted by Sara Cox with four celebrity guests each week.
As well as chatting about their favourite books, together they will discuss the book of the week that has been specially chosen for the series, with the author introducing their book via a recorded clip. The books are:
- The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
- Love In Colour by Bolu Babalola
- Small Pleasures by Clare Chambers
- Fifty-Fifty by Steve Cavanagh
- Love After Love by Ingrid Persaud
- This Lovely City by Louise Hare
- The Devil And The Dark Water by Stuart Turton
All will feature a Between The Covers sticker that will appear in stores, libraries and online, so that audiences can read them too and afterwards share their thoughts using #betweenthecovers. Also on the show there is the celebrity book of the week written by one of the guests for an in-studio chat about their latest creation.
The Magical World Of Julia Donaldson (w/t) (1 X 60’)
This warmly personal portrait will celebrate the life and work of one of Britain's best-selling children's authors, with unique access to Julia Donaldson, her family, and her rich catalogue of archive and home-movies.
Specially commissioned animated illustrations from her long-term illustrator Axel Scheffler will bring Julia's biography to life. With contributions from well-known admirers and collaborators, the programme will pay tribute to the woman who has created the characters and stories that have become a fixture of children’s bedtime routines all around the world, and spawned multi-award winning adaptations for stage and screen.
The Gruffalo, Zog, The Highway Rat, Stick Man, The Paper Dolls, Tabby McTat, Tiddler... the film will uncover the surprising stories behind how her iconic characters were created, and what they mean to a generation of readers. Eccentric, warm, funny, the film will explore why Donaldson’s books appeal to both children and adults alike - tackling serious themes of love, loss, fear and tyranny in a poignant but subtle way.
- The Magical World of Julia Donaldson is a 91热爆 Studios Production. It was commissioned by 91热爆 Arts and 91热爆 Two by Mark Bell. Executive Producer is Tanya Hudson. The Producer Director is Katy Homan.
Becoming Bridget (w/t) (1 x 60’)
In 2020, it will be 25 years since Bridget Jones made her first appearance in a newspaper column detailing her rocky relationships with men, booze, fags... and knicker elastic. One of the defining figures of the 1990s, Helen Fielding’s comic creation was an instant cultural phenomenon.
Now, a quarter of a century later, 91热爆 Two celebrates Bridget Jones and the legacy of Helen Fielding’s character. In the age of Fleabag and #MeToo, the film explores how Bridget’s story reflects changing attitudes to women - and the way their stories are told. Being Bridget will feature interviews with Helen Fielding and the friends who inspired the original characters, along with rarely seen archive and celebrity fans playing tribute.
- Being Bridget is a 91热爆 Studios Production. It was commissioned for 91热爆 Arts and 91热爆 Two by Mark Bell. The Executive Producer is Tanya Hudson. The Producer Director is Alex Harding.
The Secret History Of Writing (3 x 60’)
Three dynamic and highly visual films that tell the story of writing, from cave paintings to the digital age. Writing is the greatest invention of all time, one which has shaped the course of human history, and changed the architecture of the human mind. In this series, new science and archaeology will be married to stunning locations and dazzling graphics to give viewers a fresh view of something they do every day: write.
- The Secret History Of Writing is a DOX Production in association with Films à Cinq for 91热爆/Arte France/NOVA. It was commissioned by 91热爆 Arts and 91热爆 Two by Mark Bell. The series was written and directed by David Sington. Series Producer is Hugh Sington. Exec Producers are David Sington and Martin de la Fouchardière
91热爆 Four
91热爆 Four
Africa Turns The Page: The Novels That Shaped A Continent (1 x 60’)
Presenter and historian David Olusoga explores how Africa has become a superpower in the world of the novel and looks back to when African nations fought for independence. He meets Bernadine Evaristo, the first black woman to win the Booker Prize, as well as leading figures whose lives were touched by the African novel.
- Africa Turns The Page: The Novels That Shaped A Continent is an Uplands Television Production. It was commissioned for 91热爆 Arts and 91热爆 Four by Mark Bell. Mike Smith is the Executive Producer
Richard E. Grant Write Around The World (3 x 60)
A visually stunning series in which book and travel lover Richard E Grant makes three journeys to France, Italy and Spain, visiting places that have inspired writers across the centuries.
Taking an essential reading list of five or six books from different periods and genres per programme, Richard’s understanding of the culture, history and landscape of the places he’s visiting and how they’ve changed, will be informed by the writers’ experiences.
Retracing individual journeys, exploring landscapes, views and monuments Richard will learn about key moments in writers’ lives and the impact particular destinations had on them.
- Richard E Grant Write Around the World is a Storyvault Films Production. It was commissioned for 91热爆 Arts and 91热爆 Four by Emma Cahusac. Stuart Prebble is the Executive Producer.
Plague Fiction (1 x 60’)
Plague Fiction is hosted by Laura Ashe (pictured below), professor of medieval literature at the University of Oxford, who has spent much of her career studying the impact of plague on societies and cultures.
Recognising the similarities between the Covid-19 pandemic and the devastating plagues of the 14th and 17th centuries, Ashe delves into historical records and literature, as well as nearly seven decades of 91热爆 archive material, to see what lessons can be learned from our medieval forebears - and how we can use this experience to help build a better future.
The result is an enthralling mix of practical advice, inspiring stories of human heroism, eye-watering descriptions of medieval medicine and accounts of life under plague from the likes of Samuel Pepys and Geoffrey Chaucer.
- Plague Fiction is an Alleycats Production. It was commissioned for 91热爆 Arts and 91热爆 Four by Lamia Dabboussy. Executive Producers are Emma Parkins and Ed Stobart and was made under lockdown.
Art On The 91热爆 (4 x 60’)
The series will focus on four of art’s most celebrated but controversial names: Dali, Van Gogh, Monet and Turner. In each episode, an up-and-coming British art historian will mine the 91热爆 vaults to discover how six decades of TV has influenced our understanding of these masters.
With the help of rare archive material, the presenters will explain how Dali became the world’s first celebrity artist, how Vincent Van Gogh’s mental health influenced his work, how commercial success has blinded us to the revolutionary talent of Claude Monet, and how JMW Turner rose from the back streets of London to become Britain’s greatest maritime painter and the ‘father of modern art’.
Hosting the second series are Kate Bryan (pictured above), art historian and curator (Van Gogh); David Dibosa (pictured top), Chelsea College Of Arts’ Dr , co-investigator of the Arts and Humanities Research Council’s Black Artists and Modernism project (Dali); art historian Katy Hessel, founder of The Great Women Artists Podcast (Monet); and art historian Leslie Primo, lecturer for the National Portrait Gallery (Turner).
- Art on the 91热爆 is an Alleycats Production. It was commissioned for 91热爆 Arts and 91热爆 Four by Emma Cahusac. Executive Producers are Emma Parkins and Ed Stobart.
