As Studio Bokehgo approaches its 10 year celebration in 2025, I wanted to get the party started early with this teaser event launching a new strand to Bokehgo - ‘Community Bokehgo’.

Community Bokehgo is all about bringing brilliant creative minds together in the pursuit of making powerful and unique pieces of cinematic art. As a self taught filmmaker, community has been everything to me, and there are so many people and projects that have believed in me and led to the studio being as established as it is today.

This event is a chance to celebrate my wonderful community, as well as expand and share it, to fill the room with great people and make magic happen.

The night will begin with some exclusive announcements around the next 10 years for Bokehgo, including launching a number of opportunities for emerging filmmakers and artists, as well as an announcement of one of my most ambitious and exciting projects to date.

This will be followed by a chance to meet a load of wonderful people, and live cinematic music from superstar DJ Mark.

I am really proud to host this event at Sela Bar in Leeds, as it has been intrinsic to my development as an artist and filmmaker. I launched Studio Bokehgo in the time I was working at Sela, and Sela provided me a flexible job that meant I could pursue my filmmaking dreams, the owner Mark always believed in me and was ready to support my dreams in any way he could, and it really is where I mastered the art of the interview as I would talk to customers around so many topics. These are just some of the ways Sela has been part of my journey, but there are so many more.

Sela will always have a very special place in my heart, so I could not think of anywhere better to launch the exclusive look at the next chapter for Bokehgo.

Of course, alcohol is not for everyone and I want to reassure you that this event is about people and music, and Sela offers a wonderful range of non-alcoholic beverages (as well as amazing pizzas), so please know that this party welcomes you however you wish to show up.

If you are not familiar with Bokehgo - Bokehgo is a socially engaged film and photography production studio that explores making the world a better place through storytelling. Bokehgo believes that through the lens of the camera we have the opportunity to share windows onto world we may never otherwise encounter and through this we have the opportunity to bring the world together, through understanding and curiosity.

As Bokehgo moves forward, the next step will be about empowering new voices within the cinematic arts and supporting the authentic voices of artists whose work can make the world a better place.

This event is pay as you feel, and all ticket sales will contribute to an initiative that will be announced at the event itself (but to give you a hint, it will be supporting new voices in cinema who don’t always get heard).

Very importantly I would love this event to be an opportunity for joy, celebration, reflection and connection. For all of us artists, we have worked so hard to be where we are, and continue to work so hard to grow and develop our work. So often we don’t take the time to just celebrate our achievements and to surround ourselves with other inspiring people. I hope we can fill that room with wonderful people who will share in a beautiful moment together.

Much love and hope to see you there,

John Slemensek-Thorne, Founder and Director of Studio Bokehgo