industry panel member profile

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Philip Ilson co-founded the Halloween Society short film club (with Tim Harding) in April 1994, as a regular showcase for short film. It was originally housed at Notre Dame Hall, a 1940s ballroom just off Leicester Square in the heart of London's filmland. The screenings ranged from short dramas, animations, and documentaries to experimental and guerrilla work and always included a live element, whether cabaret, DJs or bands, as well as a compere between the films.
The initial Halloween screenings include selections of work by many film-makers who have gone on to become successful film and video-makers including Asif Kapadia (The Warrior), Andrew Kotting (Gallivant, This Filthy Earth), Jamie Thraves (The Low Down, Radiohead promos), Tim Hope (One Giant Leap, Coldplay promos), Andy Serkis (Gollum in Lord Of The Rings), comedians Harry Hill and Sean Lock, Andrea Arnold (Oscar winner for short film Wasp), and Alison Murray (Train On The Brain).

As Halloween, Philip collaborated with other clubs and film organisations, and were the co-founders of the Kentra multi-media club event in early 1998 and the Volcano Independent Film Festival in 1996. Halloween has also been invited to international film festivals in Perth, Australia, Halifax and Ottawa, Canada, and Helsinki, Finland to present short film and live events.

Other Halloween collaboration with other clubs and organisations, including Kentra 's move to the then newly opened Scala in Kings Cross in 1999 and Cargo in 2001, Islington's Embassy Bar at the Ski Tracks In The Snow Hitchcock event at Gainsborough Studios, plus the Uprush Cinema Sundays cult feature film events at the Scala in 2000, and the very recent Adventures in the Beetroot Field multi-media events in 2005.

Philip has also co-programmed and coordinated the British Council's Sensurround multi-media club extravaganza which toured Europe (Berlin, Paris, Barcelona, Athens, Thessaloniki), Israel (Tel Aviv) and South America (Bogota, Caracas).

Other programming slots have including participation in Vienna, Oberhausen and Paris, as well the Norwich FAN Festival , Glasgow CCA , Llandudno Oriel Mostyn Gallery and Croydon Clocktower arts centre in the UK.

Since the closure of Notre Dame Hall, Halloween has taken screenings to many different venues, including the Vibe Bar and the Rhythm Factory in East London, Form in Soho, The Lock Tavern in Camden and the Ritzy Cinema in Brixton. It finally found a home at the ICA Cinema during 2001.

This coincided with another Halloween first - a regular monthly even called Full Length. Featuring bands (such as Ladytron, Bis, British Sea Power, Simian, Queen Adreena, DJ Yoda) creating live soundtrack to cult films (Tron, Quadrophenia, Baraka, Microcosmos, Crash, La Planete Sauvage, The Goonies), it has toured to the Lausanne Film Festival in Switzerland as well as the Big Chill music festival.

Other festival-based short film and multi-media events include working with the Mean Fiddler on a late night film and music marquee at Leeds music festival , as well as having regular events through Glastonbury and the big Chill Festivals.

Philip co-founded the Halloween Short Film Festival with Kate Taylor (an on-off collaborator since 1999) in 2002. The first Halloween Short Film Festival relished it's punk rock ethic and was held to great success and acclaim at the ICA in January 2004. Bigger and better, the second Halloween Short Film Festival, featured a first retrospective of Andrea Arnold’s work, who in March 2005 went on to win an Oscar for her short film WASP. For 2006, Halloween has branched out again, and added the Curzon Soho as a Festival venue; Philip has been working there as Short Film Programmer since February 2005 and was an intergral part of the Curzon team who set up the first Short Film Summer School there in July 2005.