2018 started amazingly for us; there was a huge amount of excitement in the office as Sundae Communications was invited to look after the publicity campaign for Pilot Light TV Festival Season 3 at HOME, Mcr.
Anyone who knows the Sundae team well knows that telly is one of our favourite subjects and we even watch the same things at the same times so that we can discuss them in detail over lunch…. so PLTVF3 is was well and truly up our straße.
With talks and panels featuring Julie Hesmondhalgh, Christopher Eccleston, Walter Iuzzolino, Sue Johnston, Kevin Eldon, Michael Cumming alongside leading industry specialists and content from Walter Presents, Sky Atlantic/HBO, Blue Peter, CBeebies, Arrow TV and shortFLIX it really was a hugely diverse and relevant festival. Julie Hesmondhalgh also received the inaugural Pilot Light Excellence in Television Award.
As part of our strategy we created a bespoke publicity campaign based around the festival’s individual strands including Talks, Panels, Web Series, International, Culture, LGBTQ, Pilot Light Awards, Industry and, the inspired, In-Memorium and Anniversary Celebrations strands. We pitched screenings and events to titles within the media sector appropriate to each strand, as well as targeting traditional film, events and Manchester based press.
Sundae delivered a huge spread of quality, targeted coverage with key highlights including i-D Magazine, i Newspaper, BBC Radio Manchester, Manchester Evening News, Northern Soul, Emerald Street, Custard TV, Dr Who Magazine, The Skinny, Aesthetica, Prolific North, I Love Manchester and Manchester’s Finest.
The spread of coverage was phenomenal with previews, listings, reviews featuring heavily alongside interviews with Festival Producer Greg Walker and talent such as Sue Johnston and Julie Hesmondhalgh.
We were proud to achieve an op ed in i-D Magazine from Grace Barber-Plentie, the brains behind the innovative Sex and the City: The World according to Woke Charlotte, an event in collaboration with London’s Reel Good Film Club that examined the impact the show had on women of colour, and the progress in on screen representation made during the last twenty years, through a live script writing of the pilot recast entirely with people of colour.
We even hosted our own panel, New Voices in TV & Film, hosted by our MD Fiona McGarva, looking at the steps being taken to improve on screen representation, in particular shortFLIX, a short film initiative led by Creative England in partnership with National Youth Theatre and Sky Arts, featuring young filmmakers and champions of new voices in television and film.
One of our favourite projects ever here at Sundae and we can’t wait to get on board with Greg and his team next year for Season 4.
Anyone who knows the Sundae team well knows that telly is one of our favourite subjects.
