Not From Concentrate: Continuing where 4Talent Networks left off

by Antonio on 05/04/09 at 8:02 pm

One victim of C4’s recent cuts was 4Talent Networks. This was a shame for me – I felt they’d done some amazing things over the years, not least the magazine which was always brilliantly produced. Some of the team were colleagues of mine and I was always impressed with the quality of their work and their commitment to make a real difference to the UK’s creative community.

Not From Concentrate is a new project just being started up which will aim to pick up where the guys left off, with a new commercial, sustainable model and approach. It’s being fronted by James Estill who looked after 4Talent Networks at C4.

In his words:

“What’s driving me in this new venture is the absolute belief – and tangible proof – that outside the libraries of industry’s Little Black Books is a rich seam of untapped creative talent that’s just waiting to be mined.”

“I’ve had meetings with Talent Managers who bemoan the fact that they can’t find the Next Big Thing, but then refuse point-blank to receive any unsolicited material opportunity, preferring only to work with ‘proven successes’.”

I’ll be posting regularly my take on the progression of this ‘off radar approach’ to talent and content format development, from all sides of the business.

I’ve been helping out a bit on digital, and also providing a bit of creative facilitation around defining the specifics of the proposition (having been in the target market a few years ago myself..)

It’s early days right now, but do sign up to the blog if you’re interested in creativity and format development as James’ll be using it as a sounding board for his thoughts as he develops.

Also, please pass the site on to anyone with lots of talent and ideas who’s looking for an outlet and a bit of a boost.