The Riot Act – Our Monthly Newsletter

It’s getting chillier, but things are still hotting up at Riot HQ.  October included a team outing to Trafalgar Square to discuss the historical significance of the landmark in relation to Black History Month. PR trainees from the Taylor Bennett Foundation visited Riot to get a flavour of what a culture and entertainment agency does and our MD, Preena, participated in a panel discussion, hosted by Women in PR x Badass Women’s Hour, talking about the challenges, opportunities and taboo topics that impact women in the workplace. And that’s not all…

Staging the launch of Philip Pullman’s The Secret Commonwealth

How to top our magical La Belle Sauvage launch at the Bodleian Library for the latest release in the Lyra chronicles, The Secret Commonwealth? Recruit a stellar line-up of performers – including Anne-Marie Duff, Niamh Cusack and Helen Aluko – to perform favourite readings and scenes from across Lyra Belacqua’s lifetime at London’s glorious Alexandra Palace Theatre, ahead of the first interview with the great man himself. If you weren’t able to get tickets to the sold-out event, you can watch again here or listen in to a one-off episode of BBC Sounds’ Obsessed with…. podcast, out this Sunday to coincide with the first episode of His Dark Materials on BBC One. We were lucky enough to get a sneak preview of the show at its recent BFI premiere, and we can assure you that it’s as spectacular as it looks (Ruth Wilson as Mrs Coulter is suitably terrifying).

Tatty x Moomin

The Finnish crown Jewels, aka the Moomins, and iconic London-based jewellery brand, Tatty Devine, have joined forces to launch a new capsule jewellery collection. The collection – which includes necklaces, earrings, and brooches – features beloved characters and design elements plucked straight from the world of Moominvalley. We launched the collection with a Moomin Manicures pop-up, with celebrity manicurist Lee Moore, inspired by the ornate Moomin nails created for Moominvalley actress Rosamund Pike at the world premiere. In other Moomin news, our client, Gutsy Animations, also won Best Animated Kids Programme prize at the Content Innovation Awards this month. Moomin marvellous!

Are comms professionals sensitively managing the co-opting of sub-cultures? 

After 11 hugely successful seasons of RuPaul’s Drag Race over in the US, the show made its UK debut earlier this month, showcasing some of the best queens on the UK drag scene. When an established subculture becomes mainstream, the communications campaign can be a difficult thing to manage. Our Junior Campaigns Manager, Emily, shared her experiences of the drag scene and why she believes comms pros need to understand how to sensitively manage the co-opting of sub-cultures. Read all about it in our latest thought leadership piece.

Riot Recommends

The clocks have gone back and the nights are most definitely colder, so get those blankets ready, whack the central heating on, and settle in with some of our specially chosen Riot Recommends! (Confession: some do require you to leave your house; scarf advisable).

What started out as a documentary about the Duke and Duchess on the recent 10-day tour of Africa, Meghan & Harry: An African Journey morphed into a candid conversation about mental health and the stress caused by being at the mercy of the tabloids – a fascinating watch. Contrastingly we’ve been laughing out loud to both Auntie’s second series of Motherland and Phoebe Waller Bridge’s encore screening of Fleabag at the National Theatre – streaming in cinemas near you! You may have to borrow, beg or steal to get tickets, but Matthew Warchus’ production of Lungs, starring Claire Foy and Matt Smith, is so worth it. The Cut’s Ask Polly newsletter by the brilliant Heather Havrilesky, gives us some incredibly relatable content including ‘Is My Absence From Social Media a Red Flag?’ and ‘I Can’t Stop Oversharing and the Bridget Riley retrospective at The Hayward Gallery has already garnered rave reviews – definitely worth bagging a ticket!