Targeted TV advertising, Early bird Eastbourne DigiFest packages, and more...

Written By Sarah Cronk

By Sarah Cronk, March 2025

Spring is quickly approaching... and we can hear those early birds chirping away...! Yes, we're talking Eastbourne DigiFest:

If you're keen to exhibit or sponsor at Eastbourne Digifest, the Tech Conference for Business, please simply reply to this email to get the ball rolling.

A Chat With: Smokescreen Visuals

We headed over to Pacific House to meet Matt, Kai, and Louise to learn more about Eastbourne-based filmmakers and storytellers, Smokescreen Visuals.

Smokescreen Visuals are a creative studio that uses moving image to tell stories. They’re particularly passionate about helping small businesses create TV adverts, which are now far more affordable than many people realise, thanks to highly targeted advertising.

We chatted with them on everything from how they got started, changes in technology and the day-to-day over the past twenty years, what advice they’d give people wanting to break into the film industry, and - of course - why they love being based in Eastbourne.

Cannon

Spring Networking Evening with Racquet Studios & Canon UK

Racquet Studios are pleased to invite professionals from the Sussex film, television, and creative industries to an exclusive evening event at their HQ, in partnership with Canon UK. 

This industry-only event will take place from 7pm on Wednesday 19th March 2025 at Racquet Studios' leading virtual production facility in Lewes, East Sussex, providing a unique opportunity for local and regional production companies, freelance practitioners, and creative agencies to connect, exchange ideas, and explore the latest advancements in virtual film production.

Meet the teams from Racquet Sudios and Canon UK with complimentary refreshments, rolling hands-on virtual production demonstrations, and a great opportunity to forge partnerships and associations within the regional, Sussex film and TV industry. 

With Canon UK and Racquet Studios standing at the forefront of creative innovation, this event promises an evening of insightful conversation, hands-on technology showcases, and valuable professional connections. Places are limited, so sign up now to attend this exclusive gathering.

Inspire and elevate your business ambition with Create South East

Looking ahead next month? Create South East are offering two free events in April - one in Eastbourne, one in Newhaven - with seasoned and emerging creative entrepreneurs. You'll learn about the Create South East support programme, and more besides...

Both events include sessions:

  • A creative entrepreneur's journey, by internet entrepreneur and investor Arjo Ghosh

  • My business gains from the Create South East programme, by founder of Modish Muslimah, Nadia Ahmed

  • Raising production finance for kids' TV, by Brighton Zoo MD Juliet Tzabar

  • Insights into growing Immersiv.es with Create South East, by Immersiv.es founder Ben Dawson

  • Panel discussion with Sam Harland

  • Networking and refreshments

The Eastbourne event takes place on Tuesday 29th April, 12.30 - 3pm at Towner Eastbourne, and the Newhaven event is on Wednesday 30th April, 12.30 - 3pm at Marine Workshops.

Missed our recent Chalk Connect sessions? Catch up now!

Chalk Connect has stepped up this year and, along with the chance to meet up with the local digital and tech community on a monthly basis, we have a series of excellent speakers lined up to help you learn, develop your skills, and pique your interest. 

Chalk Connect sessions take place on the first Tuesday of the month at FOUNDRY in the Beacon Centre in Eastbourne from 5pm - 7pm. We usually kick off presentations at around 5.15pm, then there is the opportunity for Q&A before a spot of very informal networking.

Past sessions:

  • Ethan Brierley, Rust Backend Engineer at TrueLayer, spoke on "Contributing to open source software - The dos, don'ts and hows" - catch up here.

  • Russ Miles, Technical Product Owner at Clear.Bank, discussed "Don't Feed the Pigeons: Notes on What Matters in Software Product Development" - catch up here.

  • Kurtis Toy, vCISO and CEO at Onca Technologies & UK Head of the Cyber Centre of Excellence, presented his session "Building Your Digital Defences Brick By Brick" - catch up coming soon.

Upcoming speakers:

  • Tuesday 1st April - Mark Austin, CEO at AutoMutatio

  • Tuesday 6th May - Kiera Monoghan, Freelance Digital Analytics Consultant, talks "Matomo Analytics: The New Kid on the Block", followed by Dave Bottrill, Freelance Web Developer, on "Writing Python Packages in Rust".

  • Tuesday 3rd June - Louise Bloom, Senior UX Consultant

  • Tuesday 1st July - Catrina Baker-Bassett, MD at Dabapps

 We hope to see you at a future session - no need to book, just pop along!

p.s. remember all the sessions from Eastbourne DigiFest 2024 are available to catch up on for your CPD here. Lots of great resources from local experts!

One last thing...

Looking for a job? Have one to share with our digital and tech community?

We aim to keep our Chalk Eastbourne jobs board up to date with relevant, local vacancies. Check it out if you're job hunting! If you're looking to hire, share your jobs for free - just drop us a line and we'll be happy to add them.

Sarah Cronk
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A Chat With: Smokescreen Visuals