Underpinned by monthly meetups in a secret Soho location, the club brings together passionate people with stories to share. “You never know where your next inspiring moment will come from and that’s the beauty of Soho Media Club” says co-founder, Tom Witkowski.
Since its launch in July 2019, members network Soho Media Club has attracted a membership of over 300 media professionals from production, post-production and distribution and has successfully ran two dynamic meetups in Soho. Set up by friends Jaisica Lapsiwala and Tomasz Witokowski, Soho Media Club is turning networking in the media industry on its head. My Soho Times explores what the network is about and how it is different…
Collaboration and diversity are part of the Club’s DNA
Jaisica and Tom share 3 key beliefs: collaboration, inclusion and everyone having a voice. They saw an opportunity to create a club for those in the media community who share these beliefs, and want to make the whole industry better. Anyone can join the network, regardless of their seniority, position or status. The only criteria is that you have to be an active media professional; whether that is in film, tv, digital or music. The network is designed to advocate collaboration, inclusion and diversity across the media production, post-production and distribution community. Once qualified as a member, EVERYONE receives an invite to the Club’s monthly Soho meetups.
Passionate speakers with stories to share
Guest speakers take to the mic at each meetup to share personal stories of their careers. This summer’s events took place at the Warner Bros. facility on Dean Street and the Dropbox bar in Broadwick Street in July and August respectively. The meetups attracted a hugely diverse mix of guests including large corporates such as Netflix, BBC and Disney to mid-sized production companies and independent producers, editors and cinematographers who came together for a dynamic evening of exchanging ideas and making new connections in a very democratic environment.
July’s meetup speakers included Olivier award-winning theatre director and playwright Jessica Swale; Senior Colourist at Goldcrest, Jet Omoshebi and Nick Roberts, ADR Mixer who gave honest and candid opinion on challenges they have faced, including the topic of gender diversity.
The August event welcomed guest speakers: Josh Wilson, Managing Director, Wilson Worldwide Productions; Zeb Achonu, TV & Film Editor; Tania Freimuth, Award winning Cinematographer and Andy Wilson, Principal Media, Dropbox to share their stories and experiences of working in TV & film. The collective shared powerful stories on a range of topics from the struggles of financing, to rebuilding your network and flexible working patterns. However, it was the exchange of opinion around the virtues of mentoring which dominated the conversation and captured the audience’s attention.
The next Soho Media Club event
The next meetup is Wednesday 25th September at 6.30pm
September guest speakers include:
- Tom Griffiths, Director of Technology – Operations & Distribution Platforms, ITV
- Siobhán Daly, Entertainment Producer & Artistic Director
- John Rogerson, Founder & CEO, Halo Post Production
- James RM Hunt, CEO & Founder, Dog & Duck Films Ltd & Archive Producer
Location: Secret Soho venue (registered guests will be sent address info via email) CLICK HERE to book. CLICK HERE to apply to become a member of the Soho Media Club.
The Soho Media Club wants to make a difference!
Co-founder, Jaisica Lapsiwala explains “The ability to be agile and think laterally gives you a massive edge over everyone else… We exist to create diversity of thought, drive that horizontal thinking and encourage people to take a creative approach to tackling problems in our industry.“
To find out more and to join the Club visit: www.sohomediaclub.com Twitter @sohomediaclub1
My Soho Times magazine pilot is OUT NOW! CLICK HERE to view online.
