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HISTORY
Lighthouse was formed in 1986. Before then it
was known as Brighton Film and Video Workshop and was based at Brighton
Polytechnic (now the University of Brighton) where it acted primarily
as an in-house independent film production group. In 1986 it was
re-branded as Lighthouse Film and Video and constituted as a company
limited by guarantee and a registered charity. It operated for the
next five years with one full-time member of staff and an annual
turnover of £25k.
Until 1993 all of Lighthouse’s activities were in film and
video production. It was at that point that Lighthouse began to
exploit the use of new technologies and its work in both projects
and training began to grow substantially. The organisation changed
its name to Lighthouse Arts and Training Ltd in 1996 to reflect
the divergence in its activity base.
Lighthouse also has a subsidiary trading company, Lighthouse Media,
which used to function as a facilities house for media production,
providing broadcast quality AVID editing suites and a range of production
equipment such as camera, sound and lighting kits. Lighthouse Media
is currently inactive.
In May 1999 Lighthouse purchased the freehold of 9-12 Middle Street
with an Arts Council Lottery grant and SRB funding from Brighton
Council and SEEDA. This purchase and its associated model was widely
championed in both the arts and regeneration fields as an innovative
development that created office space for SMEs in the emergent creative
new media sector as well as providing rental income to fund Lighthouse’s
core activity base.
In 2000, Lighthouse was awarded a prestigious Arts Council Breakthrough
Award in recognition of its innovative project work and in particular
the Chailey Heritage Digital Arts Project which enabled severely
disabled young adults to create digital arts work using assistive
technologies.
In February 2001 Lighthouse hosted a visit from HM The Queen and
HRH the Duke of Edinburgh on the occasion of their visit to Brighton
and Hove following its granting of city status.
The current Chief Executive, Sarah Flint, was appointed in May 2004
and undertook a comprehensive review of the organisation. One of
the results of this was the decision to sell the building at 9-12
Middle Street and relocate to a more suitable home in the heart
of Brighton’s cultural quarter. When Lighthouse purchased
the new premises in the Argus Lofts building, it was in shell condition,
providing the perfect opportunity to fit it out to our own specifications.
In October 2006 we moved in. Our new home provides us with the necessary
space and facilities we need to realise our vision of a Professional
Development Hub, offering a range of training initiatives, networking
events and production support for digital artists and filmmakers.
It also enables us to provide office units for other arts organisations
and creative businesses which not only generates a rental income
stream, but also embeds Lighthouse within the creative economy of
Brighton & Hove. |
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