Joseph Aspinall

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OXJAM MUSIC FESTIVAL

This weekend, Oxfam got London jiving and jamming to fight poverty all over the world with Oxjam Islington 2016. The charity music festival boasted 100 bands in 10 venues on Upper Street and Essex Road. People from across London came out to support the cause and hear great live music. All access wristbands allowed attendees to hop from one venue to the next and listen to a variety of talented acts. These were sold at £10 each with proceeds to Oxfam.

ABOVE: THE OXJAM PROMOTIONAL FLYER

The festival showcased some of the freshest local musical talent, with a broad selection of styles and genres. It was a win-win event for local artists, who took the opportunity to perform in front of large audiences of music-loving Londoners, while also raising money for a great charity. Many took to twitter to share their favourite acts of the night, using the hashtag #oxfamislington.  

ABOVE: OXJAM ISLINGTON TICKET DESK

Venue 1, ‘The Library’, was a particular highlight. A group of 18-25 year old multimedia trainees from London 360 volunteered to run the venue. They took on roles from Artist Liaison and Sound Tech to Ticketing and Door Staff.  They ensured the evening’s schedule ran as smoothly as possible, through effective timekeeping, communication and of course love for music!

ABOVE: PEARL DIVINE GETS JAZZY WITH HER HARP

Harpist Pearl Divine wowed the crowd both with her instruments and delicate voice. She thanked her audience for their charity before putting her unique spin on classics including Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black and Love is a Losing Game. Pearl and Amy both attended The Brit School. Later, Peter Von Toy got everybody clapping along and stomping their feet to his electric performances. He threw in some laughs into his 30 minute set, with some anecdotal interludes. A certain voice to watch out for is Sacha T, who performed an impressive rendition of Rihanna’s No Love Allowed. Other notable acts included Matt Tubey and Blackaby. In fact, no one wanted the evening to end. The festival-goers demanded an encore from The Library’s final act Mark Sullivan, who ended with powerful guitar solos as well as vocals.

ABOVE: MARK SULLIVAN, FINAL ACT AT THE LIBRARY

As the evening drew to a close, many ended the festival by listening to some live music at Oxfam’s Music and Bookshop, which had been turned into an event space with a practically fully-stocked pop-up bar! Phoebe Katis and her two back-up singers stunned the audience with their astonishing vocals, giving off a definite Laura Mvula vibe. With their killer harmonies, this barbershop in the bookshop proved a fantastic finale to Oxjam 2016.

ABOVE: PHOEBE KATIS WOWS OXFAM JAMMERS

To get involved in next year’s event, tweet @oxjamislington or head to http://www.oxfam.org.uk/oxjam/get-involved

by Joseph Aspinall

London 360 Junior Reporter

Artists mentioned: @pearlrosedivine @sachaofficial @matttubey @phoebekatis @pertervontoy @marksullivan

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Google is famous for providing loads of food to their employees. When the London 360 JR crew went to visit this Friday, expectations were high…

JOSEPH ASPINALL

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Harry Francis, a team leader for London 360 Junior Reporters, got a new job. We wanted to get him into the boardroom to toast his achievement… so we devised a prank!

Video by Joseph Aspinall

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On my London 360 Junior Reporter placement, I’ve been encouraged to film every moment and test out different styles of editing. So here is a (very) brief clip from our lunch break today on the roof! 

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YOUNG REPORTERS CREATE CONTENT FOR BBC OBAMA DEBATE

By Joseph Aspinall

Above: Official event poster

A group of young reporters on a London 360 scheme have been assigned a creative task by BBC journalist Nelson Abbey. The detailed brief involves making three informative videos which will be shown during an upcoming debate on the presidency of Barack Obama. The debate, which will take place on 21st October at 6pm at the BBC Radio Theatre, will incorporate the videos to spark comment. Three separate videos are being created, each asking in different ways whether Obama has served the Black Community adequately.

Above: News presenter Clive Myrie

The debate will be chaired by BBC News presenter Clive Myrie (above) and many big names will feature as panelists. It will ultimately be up to the audience to vote whether Obama has delivered for black people. The audience will be made up of over 300 people, including politicians, the press and members of the public. After they have watched the videos and heard the live debate, they will have to decide if he has with a yes or no answer. This will cause a majority, concluding the evening.

Above: Journalist Nelson Abbey

Abbey met with the video creators today to see how they were progressing. The meeting, which took place at the Media Trust in White City, went very well. After seeing rough cuts of the videos, he gave feedback to the creators, highlighting areas he liked as well as pointing out areas that needed improvement.

Though the specifics of the videos cannot be detailed at this time, due to confidentiality agreements and the potential for spoilers, Abbey did express his overall happiness with the content. The videos are looking likely to be a great addition to the evening, which is now fully booked.

The London 360 Junior Reporters are due to finish their videos within the week. Follow live updates on twitter using @JosephJACAspinall.

Image sources: 

Event poster: eventbrite.co.uk

Clive Myrie: tvnewsroom.site/images 

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From Refugee to Hollywood Star

A glimpse at the career of Arnold Oceng

By Joseph Aspinall

Above: Arnold Oceng talks to London 360 Junior Reporters

London raised actor Arnold Oceng, now famous for films such as Adulthood and Hollywood’s The Good Lie, where he starred alongside Reese Witherspoon, originally fled Uganda with his mother when he was one years old: “I’m a refugee… this is crazy for me… I’ve come from nothing”.

His acting career had early beginnings. Agency ‘Kids Plus’ scouted Oceng at the young age of six. After a few years he landed his first lead role as schoolboy Calvin Braithwaite in Grange Hill. His life at the fictional school paralleled his own, being in the same year as his character throughout his run on the show. Oceng had never been to a drama or acting school, so he learnt ‘the technicalities’ during his six years filming Grange Hill. He found it hard leading two lives, “I grew up in the hood… I was stuck in two worlds” in “Brixton with the crew”, where he grew up, as well being an actor on TV.

Oceng soon became noticed and was suggested for a role in Noel Clarke’s Kidulthood, which he was advised to turn down. The film blew up: “My agent told me not to do Kidulthood… when I saw the posters… I was gutted”. However this was not the end of his dealings with Clarke. Oceng used to be an MC under the name ‘Snakeyman’ (in his early teens he’d lost his front teeth and had a lisp). He was asked to perform at the film’s after party and through this he kept up friendship with Clarke, who later successfully auditioned Oceng for the sequel, Adulthood, where new character “Henry was born”.

Oceng’s success grew after Adulthood and he has since worked with the likes of Rosamund Pike, Reese Witherspoon and David Oyelowo. The latter of whom “reeks of authority… and made me bring out my A-game, by force”! Oceng is very insistent on the importance of realising acting is not all glitz and that it is not a job for the fainthearted. “I do auditions all the time… [you’ve] got to have thick skin… you’ve got to have drive and ambition”. However, he advises any aspiring actors to try out everything and never live in doubt for what might have been. “Don’t let [anyone] knock your confidence because at the end of the day it’s you”.

When he is asked about the challenges he’s faced, Oceng finds it hard to moan, “I dreamt for this, so how can I complain”. He does, however, acknowledge that success tends to lead to increasingly demanding roles. In one such case he had to get extremely fit and was told not to drink or smoke and was even given a personal trainer for four months. Oceng has touched on the burdens of fame, jocularly noting encounters with people who think they recognise him but aren’t sure why. He laughed about a man questioning whether he recognised him from prison, “I thought you were some brother from jail I had beef with”! But he says he tries to please people and stay grounded, “I’ve got a problem with people disliking me”.

Looking back at his life and career so far, Oceng is still in shock, “The journey’s been crazy”, which makes him very humble. He’s been physically attacked and stabbed in the leg, and from the sound of some of his agents and managers, he’s been stabbed in the back a few times too! He described a fair-weather agent dropping him when he wouldn’t take on a role he felt uncomfortable to play and then tried to win Oceng back as he grew more successful. “All you ever dream about is obtaining roles that are different from you”, “if you don’t have the family support you gotta do it for yourself”.

As a black actor, Arnold Oceng feels that he would like to see “more people of colour behind the camera”. By the end of this year Oceng will be setting up his own production company and also plans to ‘give back’ by opening a drama school based on talent,  which he never had the opportunity to go to himself. However Oceng isn’t retiring from acting himself just yet, “this is me, this is my passion… I have no cut off point, [but] … if I pass away tomorrow… I would have achieved the one thing I always dreamt… to star in a Hollywood film”.

A United Kingdom, Oceng’s latest film, is in cinemas on 25th November. 

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Joseph Aspinall asks the opinion video team how they are getting on with their project, which will be shown at an upcoming debate. Further details will be added when the event is announced to the public.

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The blogs, vlogs and everything inbetween created by our Season 3 team.

This is a great new blog from participants of a course run by the main Community Channel programme, London 360. As I currently take part in this course, much of my own work features - check it out!

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Created and presented by Joseph Aspinall

On Thursday 22/09/2016, Creativity Works Course Participants, ‘The London 360 Juniors’, were selected to attend The One Show with special guest Bon Jovi! This is what they got up to!

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Frederick the Fear-Facing Photographer

6 ways Simon Frederick became a respected and sought after photographer.

By Joseph Aspinall  

Earlier today, world renowned photographer Simon Frederick hosted an exclusive masterclass where he spoke about his life and career to young Londoners.  The photographer, or as he prefers, ‘image maker’, has more than managed to stand out both in London, one of the biggest photography ‘centres’,  and now globally.  Here is what seems to have given him the edge…

1. Being Competitive

Frederick compares his standing in the photography world with being on a treadmill. He boasted that others would have to run until their feet bled to beat him.

2. Being Fear-Driven

Where many see fear as a barrier, Frederick uses it to his advantage, as a success mechanism. ‘I’m driven by my fear’, I’m driven by my insecurities’. If a footballer is under pressure to score a goal, ‘it’s the fear of f***ing up that gets him the prize’.  

3. Being Creative

Frederick has always been creative. He used to love drawing. His mother would encourage him in his artwork, his father would insist he read instead. This same father now shows off his son’s artistic successes to his friends over a bottle of rum!

4. Being Resilient

When the financial crisis hit in 2007, Frederick lost everything. He was broke and had no regular employment. He was considered too talented to be underpaid. Ironically, he says he ‘would have done it [photography work] for a penny’. The rejections made him stronger, however, and he didn’t give up.  It was when it began to take a toll on his home life that he decided he had to rebuild himself and he’s never looked back.

5. Being Intimate

Frederick believes a photography session is the most intimate thing to do with another person, besides sex. He feels he is able to get intimate with his subjects by understanding their humanity and humility. His portfolio suggests he knows what he’s talking about. He has worked all over the world at places such as Elle and MTV and toured with the likes of Amy Winehouse and Beyonce.

6. Being Brave

During the inspirational talk, Frederick compared life decisions to an underground station. Either you walk with the flow and stay ‘invisible’, or you turn against it, accepting that you’re going to get bumped and bruised, but that you are on your own path and you will stand out for your individuality.  

September 6th 2016

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THE SKY IS THE LIMIT

Joseph Aspinall goes to Sky Academy…

Today I was among a group of young Londoners, taking part in a Creativity Works Course run by London 360, invited to go along to the AWESOME Sky Academy.

In the words of Buzz Lightyear’s good mate Woody, we literally reached for the sky, and got it!

Throughout the day we had a range of creative sessions and workshops and took an exclusive tour of Sky.

In an initial task, we had to come up with a new TV show. My group pitched a zombie-themed, reality game show. Based on an island with no way off, contestants have to keep moving between safe havens, with one being ‘eliminated’ on the way each week!

Later, we took part in interactive activities. These ranged from using QR codes on iPads to learn about different job areas, to trying out virtual reality headsets!

As the day continued, we were taken on a tour around some of the coolest sets at Sky…

We met a few famous names. Here, for example, I helped Mike and Sully look a little less scary…

After the tour we ate lunch, (I’ll skip that photo, it was a sandwich). Instead here’s one of us chilling out with a very famous cartoon family…

In the afternoon we were grouped into teams of three or four for a realistic ‘day at the office’ task. Three options were given, fictionally work for Sky News, Sky Sport or Sky Entertainment. My group choose the latter. We had around an hour to schedule evening programmes and promos for Friday through to Monday. 

We were given specific guidelines to follow. Our team had to work to an overall budget of £700,000 while bearing in mind the audience demographic and watershed times, as well as what competitor channels were offering. Some teams were then selected to give a timed presentation.

At the end of the day we were debriefed and given some need-to-know information about applying for work experience and jobs at Sky. It was a great day and gave us all a real insight into the world of TV! 

Tweet @JoeyJACAspinall

16:30 16/09/2016

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I'm sitting outside the television centre in London, soaking up the heat in probably the last of this summer's heatwaves. Go do the same while you can! #sunnydays #londonsun #heatwave

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What does London mean to you? Express your views using #LONDONIS