A Brighton-based Hollywood actress hopes to inspire budding creatives at quarterly events starting this weekend.
Sophie Reid, who has previously appeared in HBO’s Game of Thrones and makes an appearance in the upcoming live-action Beauty and the Beast film (starring Emma Watson), is to offer support to creatives – from musicians and designers to producers and technicians – in trimonthly meetups in the city.
From Sat 14 Jan at Twin Pines Coffee in Kemp Town, Artist Networking Events (or A.N.E.) will run as an “emergency” room for creatives, setting out to encourage entrepreneurship in the industry by offering support, inspiration via guest talks and a place for budding artists to share their ideas.
At each event, guests will hear from people at all stages of their journey of “making things happen”. Musician Francesca Fulmini will be making an appearance at the inaugural networking event, giving a talk about how she got her own project up and running.
The plan, said Reid, is for creatives to pitch their own projects and ambitions, and then for the actress to support him or her in achieving it. Then, at the next meeting three months later, it is they who give the talk showing how far they have progressed.
Reid added: “I’m a facilitator; I’m confident in approaching people and have great contacts across continents and organisational skills. As a professional actor of five years, I know the ins and outs of the psychological trials of trying to sustain a creative lifestyle.
“I would support my creatives, developing one or two artists at a time to start off with, with moral support and as an accountability partner – setting realistic but ambitious goals and helping them stick to them.”
ANE launches at Twin Pines Coffee at 12pm at 11 St James’s St, Brighton on Sat 14 Jan.
Read more about A.N.E. here.
