In the early 1970’s Nik Powell set up Virgin Records with Richard Branson and in the space of ten years the pair turned a small mail-order record operation into a multi-million pound conglomerate.

In 1982 Powell went into partnership with Stephen Woolley, having sold out from Virgin in the previous year. Together they formed Palace Video, followed by Palace Pictures, and then Palace Productions, soon establishing each as highly regarded entities within the film distribution and production industry. Powell has acted as Executive Producer on all of Palace’s productions including Neil Jordan’s COMPANY OF WOLVES, OSCAR NOMINATED MONA LISA, Michael Caton-Jones’ SCANDAL, and Neil Jordan’s multi Oscar nominated THE CRYING GAME.

Nik and Stephen Woolley’s new company Scala produced Iain Softley’s BACKBEAT, Terence Davies’ THE NEON BIBLE, Shane Meadows’ TWENTYFOUR: SEVEN, Mark Herman’s Oscar and Golden Globe nominated LITTLE VOICE, Fred Schepisis’ LAST ORDERS starring Michael Caine, Bob Hoskins, Tom Courtenay, Helen Mirren, David Hemmings and Ray Winstone, Charles Dance’s LADIES IN LAVENDER, starring Dame Judi Dench, Dame Maggie Smith, Miriam Margolis and Daniel Bruer and Nik also executive produced CALENDAR GIRLS.

Nik was appointed Director of the National Film and Television School in 2005, although he remains as non-executive chairman of Scala Productions.

He is also:

• Vice Chairman of the board of the European Film Academy and previously for 9 years the Chairman of EFA and host of the European Film Awards
• Vice Chairman of the Bafta Film committee and member of the Bafta Board of Trustees
• Vice Chairman of the GEECT Board
• Member of the US academy: AMPAS (Association of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
• Director of the board of the Northern Ireland Film and TV Commission and Chairman of its Film Investment Fund Committee 2003 to 2007
• Member of the council of PACT (Producers Alliance for Cinema and Television)
• Member of British Screen Advisory Council (overall umbrella body for UK media, set up by prime minister Harold Wilson, president is Lord Attenborough)
• Member of European Producers Club
• Member of the Academy of the Asia Pacific Screen Awards
• Vice President of the National Society for Epilepsy
• Chevalier dans l’ordre des arts et lettres

Nik Powell Producer and Director of National Film and Television School

Talking Shop runs at BFI Southbank on Wednesday 23d and Thursday 24th of June 2010 in the NFT 3 Auditorium between 10.00 and 13.00 on the mornings of both days. Admission is by delegate registration only.

Please e-mail: yossi.bal@nahemi.org and jim.hornsby@beds.ac.uk if you would like to attend.

Talking Shop 2010 includes four strands:

• Teaching Creativity
• Teaching Documentary
• Assessing creative practice
• Questions of Employability

Attendance is free to the general public if seats are available, (festival delegates have priority), but you have to register with the student filmmaker volunteers at the door.

EOS 2010 has been dubbed EOS 8.5 as homage to the memory of director Federico Fellini’s breakthrough film ‘8.5’

This year’s festival selection features a terrific array of student films from undergraduate and postgraduate filmmaking courses including innovative use of digital cinema, experimental video and television as well as breathtaking animation.

This year, NAHEMI member schools have been asked to preselect shorter programmes than has been customary at the previous seven festivals, placing an emphasis on quality rather than quantity and focusing on student film content and creativity.