HOME appoints Curzon's Jason Wood as new artistic director of film
It was announced today that HOME, Manchester’s new cultural centre, has appointed Jason Wood in its newly created role of Artistic Director: Film.
Wood is well known in the UK film community, having spent half a decade at the helm of programming at cinema chain Curzon, where he proved a strong advocate for independent film. In Wood’s opening statement in his new role, he briefly laid out his vision for cinema's place in HOME, saying the institution “will offer a recognition of cinema’s rich heritage, historical importance and ability to inspire, provoke and challenge. Film at HOME will act as a space for learning and engagement and a home for curiosity seekers.”
Chair of Trustees of HOME, Jim Forrester, champions Wood’s “experience, passion and reputation” and says he will help build on the “excellent reputation in film that has been built over the years at Cornerhouse [and it] will continue to grow and develop at HOME under his direction.”
Wood joins Sarah Perks and Walter Meierjohann, respectively HOME’s directors of Visual Art and Theatre, and together they will oversee the creative direction of the new £25m muilti-arts venue, which is due to open its doors to the public in spring 2015.
Formed from the merger of two of Manchester’s best-loved cultural institutions, Cornerhouse and the Library Theatre Company, Wood will take charge of the programming for the five state of the art, purpose-built cinema screens in the new building, designed by Dutch architects Mecanoo, which will also feature a 500-seat theatre, a 150-seat flexible theatre and a 500m², 4m-high gallery space, as well as a café bar and restaurant.
Of his previous role, Wood says: “It has been an immense pleasure to have worked at Curzon and I wish the company the very best for the future at what is an extremely exciting time for the group.”