Make Shift Meetups are a space for early career creatives to come together in the Pervasive Media Studio on the first Tuesday evening of each month. 

This is an opportunity to meet other creatives in the city, learn from established practitioners, exchange ideas and think about next steps in your creative career in a welcoming environment.

Each month we have a guest who works professionally in the creative industries who will speak about their work and can give advice. Guest speakers will be experts in their field, from VR filmmakers to finance managers, through to researchers and designers.

In July we are joined by Jim Wheale, Creative Director of Stormjar, known for creating content driven horror experiences. Stormjar combine film, immersive theatre, electronic engineering, Discord and heritage spaces together to create interactive stories. Jim is also creative sector lead for Innovate UK Business Growth in the Southwest, supporting creative businesses to solve problems, raise investment and access funding. 

During this session we will be talking about the monster of making and making monsters. How you make something, is as important as what you make. And how we think about making informs every element of a project - from completion, timelines, budget, motivation, stress and so on.

In this playful hands-on session, we’ll create monsters using a toolkit made by Stormjar, to explore the making process - strategies, innovation approaches, risk management, prototyping, finding the fun etc. Making an original monster is surprisingly hard, joyously fun, and crammed full of insights into the making of making. 

Just a reminder that there will be no Meet Up in August, so this will be our last session before we break for the summer. We will return on Tuesday 3rd September.

Benefits of Make Shift

  • Find out about Watershed, the Pervasive Media Studio and what we offer to South West based creatives
  • A chilled space where you can meet and chat with other creatives
  • Talks from creative practitioners on anything from finding funds for your project to how to do your tax return

Timings

5:30pm - Optional drop in and get to see the space 

6:00pm - Sharing something we love - this could be a project you're working on, or something you've seen that's exciting you

6:30pm-7:30pm - Session with Jim

7:30pm-8:00pm - Social and next steps

Don't worry if you can't make it for the beginning of the session or stay for the whole session.

Accessibility

  • The Pervasive Media Studio is wheelchair accessible and there is an accessible and gender neutral toilet.
  • There is a baby change area.
  • We have a dedicated quiet room where there is low lighting, sofas, bean bags and space to lie down. This is away from the general open space of the Studio.

If drop in events aren't accessible for you, please email studio@watershed.co.uk to book in. When you book in, we will link you up with a member of our team who will reach out to find out where you would like them to meet you and what time you will arrive. That team member can also arrange a time for you to visit the Studio for a 1-2-1 tour so you can familiarise yourself with our space before attending. We have a dedicated quiet space and dedicated quiet desks area, which all visitors are welcome to use.

About Pervasive Media Studio

The Pervasive Media Studio hosts an international community of over 100 artists, companies, technologists, and academics exploring experience design and creative technology. We are a space for risk taking and early ideas; for the kind of projects and questions that inhabit the meeting points of art, technology, and society.

Make Shift Meetups are made possible with support from Bristol City Council.