Welcome to TEDxEaling
You are a storyteller. Story is a vital part of what makes us human. It’s how we connect to one another.
Through story we can experience things that may never occur in our day to day lives. Story stretches beyond culture, age and language. When a group of individuals gather and share the experience of a story, they become a tribe and in that moment become one.
TEDxEaling will conjure that connection for the audience and explore the power of story through the arts and sciences. We are bringing together a group of thought leaders from a wide array of disciplines; the common thread being their expertise and passion for storytelling and the powerful human communication that takes place when we share these tales.
Watch the TEDxEaling Talks
TEDxEaling 2012 Delegate Feedback
‘Really friendly staff, good coffee and cakes and of course, the most important thing, some fantastic speakers – all round inspired’
Robbie Derrick, Sound Recordist
‘Linda Potgeiter was incredibly inspiring and ended the day on a great high’
Michael Lebor, Filmmaker
‘A brilliant eclectic group of talented people come together to talk about story in all it’s different manifestations, from documentary to visuals and British urbanism to Asian philosophy’
Sophie Burgess, Student writer
‘an intense and inspiring event full of thought-provoking speeches‘
Kate, third sector worker and non-professional writer
‘I attended TEDxEaling hoping to be inspired in some unexpected tangential way. It delivered in a far greater way than I hoped it would, with most of the speakers introducing at least one thought provoking idea. These ideas have been living, growing and combining in my head ever since, and I’m sure they will continue to do so for a long time to come’
Ben Jacobson, Filmmaker
‘A wildly varied hoot of a day’
Tom Sears, Writer, illustrator, exhibition producer
‘Fantastic, inspiring and empowering’
Richard Leverton, Editor
‘inspiring, unpretentious and well organised’
Albert Pijuan, Development Cooperation Consultant
‘Seeing the videos again is bringing it all back. I can’t wait for the next TEDxEaling!‘
Sasha Wallace, Author
‘An eclectic day providing an excess of food for thought! I learned that fear is a state of mind, there’s a book in a scrap of paper, find strength in admitting weakness, characterisation into character is like Uniform to medals, Battle Rapping and Freestyling is percussive poetry…’
Matt Davis, Director/Editor
‘Discovering rap as a form of story telling was amazing and hugely unexpected’
Irene, Art Director
‘The stage looked great, really good buzz‘
Amy, Project director of a Christian charity
‘Fascinating and even intriguing’
Casandra, Writer, teacher, filmmaker
‘A freestlying, freerunning, magically seductive TEDx event with heroic speakers that have overcome their fears to tell their story. I thoroughly enjoyed myself.’
Giles Brown, Surveyor
‘TEDxEaling was a wonderfully engaging day. A varied line-up of speakers made me think, laugh reflect and made me leave at the end of the day with the determination to change the world in my own small way’
Rob Worth, Management Consultant
About TEDxEaling
Chris Jones and Hilary Pierce crossed paths at the London Screenwriters’ Festival – both were big fans of TED and both were looking somehow to get involved in the worldwide TEDx movement.
Chris commented ‘When we discovered we were both fans of TED, and that we had run events as large at the London Screenwriters’ Festival, it seemed logical to collaborate on a TEDx, to bring a collection of extraordinary thought leaders together for an inspirational and challenging day about storytelling’.
‘When I first discovered TED, I lost a whole weekend on the web’ added Hillary, ‘and to get a chance to organise our own TEDx is as exciting as it is challenging’.
TEDxEaling Speakers
Sebastien Foucan: Our relationship with fear
Sebastien Foucan is the founder and creator of freerunning. Sebastien is well known for his views on the philosophy behind freerunning and is an ambassador for the discipline in many countries across the globe.
Chris Atkins: Lies and Truth - How to get to the truth of a story by telling lies
Chris’ first doc, Taking Liberties, is about the loss of civil liberties in the UK and is a polemical and entertaining theatrical feature. In June 2007 the film was released theatrically and was one of the highest-grossing documentaries of 2007. Chris was nominated for a BAFTA – The Carl Foreman Award for best writer, director or producer in their first feature film. He has since produced a slew of controversial documentaries for both cinema and TV.
Dekay: Urban Poetry
Dekay will perform a rap from her latest album and teach us about storytelling in a different form. Dekay is an unsigned rapper/songwriter/producer from Camden, North West London. With a back catalouge of 3 mixtapes and an album, Dekay has been battling, rhyming and shotting cds in the endz for the last 8 years.
Daniel Sloss: It's just a story
Scotland’s Daniel Sloss is currently one of the fastest rising stars of UK comedy. He started doing stand-up aged 16, has appeared on numerous TV shows including ‘Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow’ plus his own BBC show ‘The Adventures of Daniel’ and tours extensively thoughout the UK as well as internationally.He will be talking about how comedy is a series of short and truthful stories.
Will Brooker: Tales of the Dark Knight
After 73 years in popular culture, Batman has become more than a corporate product and commercial property; he also belongs to generations of readers and fans who circulate their own stories around him, and keep his legend alive. Will Brooker is Director of Research in Film and Television at Kingston University, London. He is the author and editor of several books on popular culture and audience, including Batman Unmasked, Using the Force, the BFI Film Classics volume on Star Wars and, most recently, Hunting the Dark Knight: 20th Century Batman.
David Varela: Throw your Story from a Plane
David Varela is a London-based writer and producer. He has written for film, theatre, radio, magazines, ebooks and games, creating some of the world’s most exciting transmedia projects along the way. These include Lewis Hamilton: Secret Life (for Reebok), Xi (for Sony PlayStation) and most recently The Seed, a transmedia story combining four plays, a treasure hunt and online characters, as part of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad. He is currently developing an original drama series for Channel 4.
Emily James: Shooting Outlaws without Hurting Anyone
After her first broadcast commission, The Luckiest Nut in the World (C4, 2002), the Guardian asserted “Emily James is a genius”. Following the experimental Don’t Worry, (C4, 2004) and What Would Jesus Drive?, (C4, 2006) Emily’s attention has now shifted to feature documentaries, acting as Executive Producer on the acclaimed The Age of Stupid (2009). Her feature directing debut, Just Do It: A tale of modern day outlaws screened in over 45 independent cinemas across the UK in Summer 2011.
Julian Friedmann: The mystery of storytelling
How we tell stories seems to be a mysterious process that millions around the world want to be able to do, but 99.9% effectively fail. Why is it so hard for storyteller and audience to be one? What we communicate can change the lives of the writer and the audience. However, why stories matter and how to tell them better may not be as mysterious as it seems. Julian Friedmann has worked with writers for over 40 years; he believes understanding that storytelling is more about the audience than the writer will result in better storytelling.
Martin Lee: The Story Of My Shame
The redemptive power of ‘story’ for both businesses and people. Martin Lee is a director of 26, the business writers’ collective that exists to inspire a greater love of words in business and in life. In his day job, he is a co-founder of Acacia Avenue, a boutique qualitative research consultancy whose purpose is to make business recommendations to its clients as long as they are in the interests of their customers. Before taking to agency life, Martin worked in the book business, culminating in being the Marketing Director at Waterstone’s.
Linda Haysman: The Costume Designer
What story does the clothes you wear tell? Linda Haysman is an experienced Costume Designer and has worked in theatre, film and television. Linda will be exploring story telling through Costume Design and it’s effect on audience perceptions.
Chris Jones – Filmmaker, author and TEDxEaling founder
Having made feature films, an Oscar shortlisted short film, written seven books on filmmaking, run the London Screenwriters’ Festival and subsequently trained literally thousands of filmmakers and screenwriters around the world, TEDxEaling themes on ‘Story’ was both a logical AND challenging step for Chris. He will be introducing TEDxEaling and looks forward to sitting in the audience with you.
Walter Lewis: TEDxEaling Master Of Ceremonies
Walter is an established actor, voice artist and corporate trainer. He has worked in TV, film, and theatre on both sides of the Atlantic, and has been a long-standing member of the The Reduced Shakespeare Company. Other credits include: “Red Badge of Courage” (Naxos Books), “Never the Sinner” (Manchester Library), “East of Eden” and “Auntie Mame” (BBC Radio), “1408” & “The Dark Knight”. As an American living in the UK he loves the British sunshine…
Catherine Arton: Casting Director
Firing your creative synapses. Catherine Arton is a casting director, motivational speaker, director, and story teller of old. Having studied English Literature at University and Acting at LAMDA, Catherine has a true passion for story and story telling. Catherine will use some of her own specially devised techniques and ideas to help the conference attendees to get into the best possible mindset for the TEDx conference.