X-Pollinator is a cross-disciplinary professional development and networking initiative for female, trans and non-binary talent that launched four years ago, setting out to help rapidly address gender diversity in the Irish screen industry.
In late 2019, the inaugural two-weekend event saw 140 participants, 37 sessions and 63 industry speakers inspire collaborations and networking amongst the next wave of Irish talent. Since then, X-Pollinator has run more initiatives and built a strong network of over 170 female, trans and non-binary talent. Many of the previous participants have gone on to collaborate and make work for the screen that has received funding and support, screening at multiple festivals and winning awards. X-Pollinator was nominated for the Diversity & Inclusion Initiative Award at the Big Screen Awards 2023.
There is now a new generation of talent emerging since the initial launch, and X-Pollinator is delighted to announce its return to a large-scale event to bring this new generation into the X-Pollinator network. X-Pollinator 2024 will take place from Friday 23 – Sunday 25 February 2024, and aims to accommodate as many applications as possible with a maximum capacity of 140. The event will take place at TU Dublin Grangegorman School of Media.
X-Pollinator is seeking participants from various disciplines of film, theatre, performance, literature, comedy and visual art including both emerging and established female, trans and non-binary creative talent. The programme will take place over one weekend and aims to inspire collaboration and facilitate the forging of new creative teams and partnerships to foster the creation, development and production of new work for the screen. The initiative will also cover the business and practical side of creative screen content and navigating the audio-visual industry.
This initiative seeks to address the gender imbalance in the audio-visual industry while encouraging the cross-pollination of ideas and collaborative practices between art forms and creative disciplines outside of the audio-visual sector.
X-Pollinator 2024 will consist of a wide, carefully curated programme of talks, masterclasses, panel discussions, break-out sessions and keynote speeches from esteemed speakers and practitioners, sharing their approaches and experiences to inspire and inform participants over one weekend. The initiative will also provide facilitated networking opportunities to make connections between participants and build the creative teams of the future.
We are delighted to return to our original large format event in 2024 and to welcome a new generation of talent to the X-Pollinator network. The X-Pollinator team, supporters and funders are as determined as ever that direct action is needed to address the gender imbalance in the screen industries. With the recent announcement from the European Audiovisual Observatory that only 26% of European feature films were directed by women since 2018, we are further emboldened to create opportunity and champion female, trans and non-binary talent in order to level the playing field. We know there is such a wealth of exciting new and emerging Irish talent since we last came together in 2019, and we can’t wait to get everyone in a room to help foster a new crop of collaborations and networks.
Katie Holly, Lara Hickey and Evan Horan, X-Pollinator
Applications for X-Pollinator 2024 are currently open with the deadline of 5 pm on Wednesday 3 January. Visit this page to apply.
For further information on the event, email info.xpollinator@gmail.com.