Meet the Industry Partner: We Are Parable, Manchester

In the second instalment of our Meet the Industry Partner series, we’re heading to Manchester. Since opening the doors of our campus in Spinningfields last September, our dedicated Industry team has managed to forge a number of key connections throughout the city as well as the wider region. From boutique audio specialists to world leaders in post-production, our students have access to the very best of what’s on offer in the area.

Manchester’s first nominated Industry Partner is We Are Parable, an award-winning exhibition company whose mantra is ‘Experience Over Everything.’ More specifically, they are a husband-and-wife team who decided one day to start screening Black cinema for Black audiences in their local theatre. Ten years later, they have created a legacy of immersive cinematic events that focus on creating unique experiences for diverse audiences.

These events started to make a name for the founders Anthony and Teanne, and resulted in them getting noticed by non-other than Spike Lee. When We Are Parable did a nine-month retrospective of his work in London and Manchester, and the Oscar-winning superstar was so impressed that he came to London and asked them if they would like to collaborate at a further event. He was generous enough during the session to give an hour-long speech and answered questions from a captivated audience.

Fast forward to 2022 and We Are Parable and Screen and Film School Manchester are both delighted to say that a film that we recently screened as a joint event at our Riverside Studios home won a BAFTA at the prestigious award ceremony last Sunday. The documentary, The Black Cop, won the BAFTA for best short film.

Cherish Oteka’s film is about a former police officer who discusses his memories of homophobia and racial profiling in the Met. Cherish Oteka and actor Gamal Turawa visited our Manchester campus earlier this month alongside We Are Parable for a screening of the film and a Q&A and networking session. Sunday’s brilliant news was thrilling for everyone at Screen and Film School Manchester.

Luckily for us, these hard-working film enthusiasts, Anthony and Teanne from We Are Parable have become incredible allies for Screen and Film School Manchester. One of the founders, Anthony Andrews, said this about the relationship:

“We’re thrilled to be working with the Film School. We feel that our shared objectives in equipping the next generation of filmmakers they need to navigate their careers is one that will undoubtedly lead to a productive and long-term relationship.”

Crucially for our students, We Are Parable have recently announced a new partnership with Channel 4. The two companies have joined forces to deliver a brand-new initiative, ‘MOMENTUM 2022, The Movement Continues’. They describe it as a “nationwide mentoring, training and mental health programme for Black Filmmakers and Content Creators.” Anyone can apply for this scheme which will be rolled out for 60 filmmakers across six cities.

The newly appointed Access and Participation Coordinator at Screen and Film School Manchester, Clara Thomas, said of the relationship with We Are Parable:

“We Are Parable help to reconstruct genre conventions and they offer a great chance for Screen and Film School students to reflect on the importance of understanding unconscious bias as the next generation of filmmakers and encourage real change in the industry. Working with Teanne, Anthony, and the We Are Parable team is just the beginning of this.”

Nothing pleases us more than to be able to share news of success stories in our brilliant industry, particularly when they are so relevant and helpful for our students. Next week in this series, we will head to the Midlands and to Screen and Film School Birmingham for their first Industry Partner nomination.