Meet the mentors – Creative Wakefield Advance

The creative and cultural industries are an integral part of the UK economy, with each region boasting their unique mix of makers, artists, freelancers, creative/cultural businesses and heritage. We’re proud to invest in UK regional talent and the latest in our portfolio of support programmes is Advance. Delivered in partnership with Wakefield District Council, Advance provides bespoke support to creative SMEs, individuals and freelancers based in Wakefield and the wider region. The programme is funded by The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport’s Cultural Development Fund grant, which is administered by Arts Council England.

From September 2020 – March 2023, we’ll be working with artists, freelancers and creative/cultural businesses based in Wakefield and the wider region to help with accessing finance, creating new IP and growing their organisations.

We’ll be organising events, online learning and bespoke mentoring opportunities.

All of our mentors are successful industry leaders who have the sector specific knowledge to enable talent to grow and succeed. Our first three mentoring cohorts will focus on gaming, immersive technology and advertising/digital. Read on to meet the mentors behind the programme.

To find out more about Advance, visit Creative Wakefield.

To apply for mentoring or register for any of the Advance events, you must first sign up to the Creative Wakefield network. It’s free to join, open to all and in addition to information about Advance, you’ll be kept informed of other opportunities about funding, networking and commissions.

Find out more about each mentor below.

 

Amy Lord

Creative Director, Lord Whitney 

As one of the founders of Lord Whitney Amy has been instrumental in shaping the business into the artistic powerhouse that it is today. Over the last ten years, through Amy’s innovative creative vision and exceptional leadership skills, Lord Whitney has gone on to imagine and realise large scale immersive experiences taking on commissions from both the UK and internationally across the arts and commercial sector. Lord Whitney has also gone on to lecture and deliver courses in many universities as well as provide mentoring opportunities for emerging creatives and artists.

 

Harry May-Bedell

Creative Associate, Lord Whitney

As a Creative Associate Harry plays an integral role in creating and realising projects as well as influencing brand and business strategy for Lord Whitney. With over 12 years’ experience in digital and brand communication has delivered high-impact campaigns and innovative consumer experiences for some of the world best-known brands. As performer and theatre-maker in his own right Harry is actively writing and producing theatre, comedy and immersive experiences nationwide including sell-out shows for Leeds International Festival.

 

Nick Hussey

Senior creative services/operations director, The Conscious Agency

Nick Hussey is a senior creative services/operations director, with extensive experience in board director and senior management roles. Starting his career in advertising in 1992 as Creative services Director at Leagas Shafron Davis Chick Ayer, he has 28 years’ experience at top-level agencies under his belt, from Lowe Howard Spink, Mother, Leagas Delaney, JWT, Havas, McCann Manchester and most recently 3 years as Group Chief Operating Officer for Forever Beta.

 

Amrit Singh

Creative Director, Rebel Creatives

 Amrit Singh (@mrasingh) is a multi-award winning creative director, producer, artist and public speaker from Birmingham. With over a decade of experience working in the design and advertising industry, Amrit has worked with top companies around the world delivering first class digital initiatives and successful campaigns. He is the creative director at Rebel Creatives, a content creation agency and training provider specialising in creative short-form and live video content with a focus on social media and storytelling, as well as delivering training sessions and digital bootcamps around the UK. With a rapid increase in popularity of his is art via live streaming and short-from videos, Amrit launched his art brand, InkANIMA, producing vibrant ink art and sculptures for public art trails around the UK. His art is sold all over the world and has been featured in over 20 exhibitions. His videos have been viewed over 60 million times and he was the first of 10 people in the world to become a Twitter Live ambassador.

 

Stuart Clarke

Paceline Ltd

 Named as the most influential person in the Leeds tech sector by Tech Nation and a “super connector” by the Yorkshire Post”, Stuart Clarke supports firms in the creative and digital sectors in the north of England. He works with both startups and scaleups, helping them create long-term, sustainable marketing and communications strategies. Stuart is also the Festival Director of the Leeds Digital Festival, the largest open platform tech event in the UK.

 

Simon Barratt

CEO & Co-founder, Cooperative Innovations 

Simon has 21 years’ industry experience, including 14 years as a studio head His background is primarily as a programmer but his role various from business development, fundraising and leading the team through to design and R&D. Simon has a strong international network, is a long standing board member of industry association Ukie, ambassador for charity SpecialEffect and chair of the University of Leeds School of Computing Steering Group.

 

Emma Cooper

Business Development, Cooperative Innovations

Emma is a BAFTA winning producer and an accomplished leader in digital strategy. She has worked in interactive design for nearly 20 years. She is an advisory committee member of The Children’s Media Conference and a member of the BIMA Immersive Council.

 

To find out more about Advance, visit Creative Wakefield to apply for mentoring or register for any of the Advance events, you must first sign up to the Creative Wakefield network. It’s free to join, open to all and in addition to information about Advance, you’ll be kept informed of other opportunities about funding, networking and commissions.