I’ve had the honour of taking centre stage for the British Film Institute, presenting at one of the UK’s oldest cinemas for Rough Trade Books, and taking on speaking and developing roles with grassroots community groups, arts institutions, and brands. Here, you find a selection of highlights from the occasions where my work as a journalist hasn’t been for the page or screen, but delivered to an audience instead.
Part of ‘Push Play: Skate Culture on Film’
Host
BFI Southbank, London, UK
June 21st 2026
I interviewed the Oscar-winning screenwriter and director Spike Jonze at the British Film Institute for the closing event of ‘Push Play’, a programme celebrating skateboarding’s relationship to cinema.
Sports Media Education Association: ‘Breaking The Mould: Supporting Women and Niche Specialists in Sports Media’
Panellist
The University of Salford, UK
June 5th 2026
The Sports Media Education Association is the leading UK-based initiative for bridging the gap between education and employment in sports media and journalism.
Every year, the SMEA brings national and international journalists, broadcasters, teachers and students to nurture collaboration between education and industry in the sports media sector.
Alongside journalism practitioners and academics from the BBC and University of Lancaster, I spoke on a panel about niche specialisms and supporting women in sports media and others at the SMEA’s summer 2026 conference.
“Farran is great to work with academically and as a journalist.
His coverage in the world of skateboarding brings stories to life. The more students see that stories can be found anywhere, even ones they haven’t been invested in their whole lives, it makes them better.
His work sets a standard that I want my students to see and work to.”
Dr Taylor Umland, Programme Leader in Sports Journalism at the University of Salford, organiser and founder of the Sports Media Education Association
Slow Impact & Skate Bylines: ‘Prose Spotlight: Who Makes Skateboarding Media?’ (Paper Sessions 2026)
Slow Impact is supported by New Balance Numeric.
‘Paper Sessions’ is supported by the College Skateboarding Educational Foundation (CSEF)
Research paper presentation
Slow Impact, Arizona Bouldering Project, Tempe, AZ, USA
February 28th 2026
Slow Impact is an annual symposium and cultural event which attracts skateboarders, media figures, writers, academics, civil engineers, and others for a series of presentations, discussions, panels, art shows, walking tours and community sports sessions.
I presented research into the demographics and working conditions of skateboarding media, based on a survey sample of almost 200 individuals working in industry that I conducted through my Skate Bylines publication.
My paper was one of only ten selected out of 80 applicants and I am also (so far) the only UK citizen to have presented at Slow Impact.
“Every year we’re flooded by applications that make very clear the fact that skateboarding is more interesting than ever. And across two morning sessions in Tempe, we get to see that proof unfold in person. It’s extremely heartening and completely rad.”
Kyle Beachy, co-host of ‘Paper Sessions’ at Slow Impact 2026 and author of The Most Fun Thing: Dispatches From A Skateboard Life (Grand Central)
Courtesy of Thrasher Magazine‘s Slow Impact 2026 recap. Photo: Ted Schmitz
Wakefield Civic Society:
‘Skateboarding In Wakefield: Past, Present, Future?’
Guest speaker
Wakefield Town Hall, Wakefield, West Yorkshire
November 25th 2025
Wakefield Civic Society is a registered charity that stimulates public interest in the city of Wakefield, West Yorkshire. The Civic Society provides historical education, supports preservation of notable buildings and encourages high standards in architectural and town planning throughout Wakefield and the surrounding district.
I gave a talk on the history of skateboarding Wakefield which attracted an audience of local stakeholders including members of the civic society, staff from historical institutions, business owners, skateboarders and the general Wakefield community.
“When Farran first approached me to do a talk about skateboarding in Wakefield, I thought:
‘Skateboarding? How could we?’
But then, I thought:
‘How could we not?'”
Kevin Trickett MBE, president of Wakefield Civic Society
I adapted the talk from a publication I co-authored in 2025, Now and Then, which charted 40 years of the city’s skateboarding history, on the occasion of the local skateboard store Division 24 Skate Store, celebrating its 20th anniversary.
The event also included Dr Harry Meadley, who spoke about the growing field of “skate urbanism”, creative progressive environments supportive of skateboarding and other action sports, as seen in cities including Nottingham, Bordeaux and Malmo, and Kelly Devenport, a local skateboarder who shared insights into Wakefield’s contemporary skateboarding community, particularly its emergent female demographic.
Expanding upon this talk, I am co-curating exhibition with Wakefield Museum about skateboarding in the city which is forecasted to run from January 2027.
During the talk, I read a passage the book Fun and Games Up The Old Terrace by my great uncle, Harry Golding. The book recollects the experiences of growing up in our family’s neighbourhood of St. Johns Terrace in nearby Normanton and in drawing upon the text, I drew parallels between how different generations engage in childhood play.
Skate Nottingham & Skate Bylines: ‘First Light: Skateboarding, Creative Culture and Media Making’
Part of ‘Skateboarding and The City III’, supported by the National Lottery Community Fund
Panel chair and developer
The People’s Hall, Nottingham, UK
September 26th 2025
‘First Light’ engaged fresh voices, including those from minority backgrounds, giving parity of esteem alongside more established voices in-line with an ambition to create new forms of mentoring and role-modelling.
Farran was instrumental in seeing the opportunity as advocating for the people he felt had to be platformed, then assembling and capturing a provocative but respectful and safe public discussion.”
Chris Lawton FRSA, co-founder and CIC Director, Skate Nottingham and community development lead for Skateboard GB (2021—26)
I convened a panel, ‘First Light’ for a city wide skate-festival organised by Skate Nottingham, a non-profit organisation who focus on sports development and alternative education through skateboarding.
The panel brought together established and emerging figures working in print and digital media across various disciplines, sharing about ways into journalism, videography, photography, branding, and art and design, aimed at people without prior experience.
Panellists included:
• Sam Ashley, photographer, photo editor and co-founder of Free Skate Magazine, Europe’s leading skateboarding publication
• Lizzie Heath, an artist and illustrator who works with LovenSkate Skateboards, leading British publications including Vague Skate Mag and The Skateboarder’s Companion, and is a self-publisher of artwork, zines and prints
• Joe Allen, an independent videographer based in Leeds, West Yorkshire whose work has been featured in Grey Skate Mag (UK), Skate Jawn (NY, USA) and shown at Vladimir Film Festival (Fažana, Croatia)
• Alexis Lewis, designer, screen-printer and founder of PETTICOAT., a brand and community project dedicated to creating space for women and LGBTQIA+ skaters based in Bristol, UK
• Myself, as the panel’s chair, speaking from a journalistic perspective about my experience writing about skateboarding for endemic and wider publications including Quartersnacks, GQ and more.
Photography by Tom Quigley, courtesy of Skate Nottingham
From right to left: Farran Golding; Sam Ashley, photo editor and co founder, Free Skate Mag; Lizzie Heath, artist and illustrator; Alexis Lewis founder, PETTICOAT Skateboarding; Joe Allen, videographer. The People’s Hall, Nottingham, September 2025.
Manchester Metropolitan University: ‘Ten Years of Multimedia Journalism’
Part of ‘200 Years of Manchester Metropolitan University’
Panellist
Grosvenor East Building, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK
April 24th 2024
Named ‘Modern University of the Year’ by The Times newspaper (2026), Manchester Metropolitan University is also home to one of the UK’s most popular multimedia journalism courses.
I spoke about my career as a freelance lifestyle sports journalist alongside fellow MMU alumni, who work for the Manchester Evening News and Bauer Media, in a panel which celebrated the course’s 10th anniversary. Hosted by students, the panel offered an opportunity to understand how the skills learned on MMU’s BA Multimedia Journalism degree translate into professional environments.
Rough Trade Books Presents:
‘The Shining: A Visual and Cultural Haunting with Craig Oldham’
Host
Hyde Park Picture House, Leeds, West Yorkshire. July 23rd 2023
Parkway Cinema, Barnsley, South Yorkshire. March 5th 2024
Rough Trade Books is a publisher of cultural literature and the sister company of the renowned record label. I hosted two on-stage talks with Craig Oldham, one of the UK’s most influential graphic designers, creative director of Rough Trade Books and editor of the ‘Epiphany Editions’, a series of books on film criticism published by Rough Trade Books.
The talks were arranged to coincide with the publication of a book examining Stanley Kubrick’s adaptation of The Shining and took place at the Hyde Park Picture House and The Parkway Cinema. Each was followed by a screening of the film and an audience question and answer session.
Craig Oldham and Farran Golding in conversation at the Hyde Park Picture House, Leeds.
Photography by Ollie Jenkins courtesy of the HPPH
Vladimir Film Festival: Quartersnacks ‘Favorite Spot’ Screening
Accompanied by a Q&A with Paul O’Connor discussing ‘Grey Spaces of Polluted Leisure’
Filmmaker and guest
Vladimir Film Festival, Kino Valle, Pula, Croatia
September 23rd 2023
Vladimir Film Festival is Europe’s leading event for showcasing and celebrating the visual documentation of skateboarding. Its programme champions independent filmmakers and communities which are geographically and demographically diverse, across a weekend-long festival held in Fažana, Croatia and nearby locations.
I screened a selection of episodes from my Quartersnacks series, ‘Favorite Spot’, which explores the relationships between skateboarders and landmarks which are intrinsic to their careers. It was preceded by a Q&A with Paul O’Connor, senior lecturer in Sociology at the University of Exeter, where we discussed the series, architecture and skateboarding.
“A remarkable reflection on how skateboarders connect with objects in urban space and end up making them their own.”
Paul O’Connor, senior lecturer in Sociology
“A real act of cultural preservation”
Patrick Kigongo, co-host, Mostly Skateboarding podcast
Event listing from the Vladimir Film Festival 2023 Programme
Still: Lucien Clarke at Victoria Benches in Palasonic courtesy of Palace Skateboards
Civic Skateboarding Festival
Supported by Leeds 2023, Leeds City Council, Arts Council England, National Lottery Community Fund, Leeds Community Fund, The Mohn Westlake Foundation and Leeds Beckett University
Editorial, marketing, photography, archiving
Hyde Park Skatepark, Leeds University, Henry Moore Institute, Leeds Playhouse and Project House, September 16—17th 2023 (as well as various locations across Leeds throughout summer 2023)
“Farran was an invaluable collaborator who brought not only historic and local skateboarding knowledge into the project, but was an active researcher, community participant, and digital media creator.
His journalistic approach brought a rigour and fastidiousness which allowed Civic Skateboarding to move beyond just being a temporary programme into an ongoing archive and community asset.”
Harry Meadley, artist, researcher and senior lecturer in fine art, Leeds Beckett University
Led by artist Harry Meadley, Civic Skateboarding is a project which works with arts and cultural institutions to broaden the understanding of skateboarding’s local value in Leeds, West Yorkshire. Enacted through a series of events, film screenings and online resources, this culminated in a weekend-long festival supported by Leeds City Council and other parties in 2023. This festival place across the city, including at the Henry Moore Institute where the unveiling of a sculpture signified the area as a skate-friendly space, and the Leeds Playhouse which hosted a screening of local skateboarding films.
As editorial and marketing director for the Civic Skateboarding project, I co-founded the online resource civicleeds.com for which I built a map of local skate landmarks, created an archive of Leeds-based skate films, wrote articles highlighting local history, managed the Civic social media channels and took photographs to document Civic events. For the Civic Skateboarding Festival event at Leeds Playhouse, I edited an film titled ‘PLAYBACK’, a multi-generational showreel of skateboarders and filmmakers who have given unique meaning to Leeds’ landmarks and innocuous spaces whilst unconsciously capturing the city’s changing landscape.
Millennium Square, Leeds during the Civic Skateboarding Festival organised by Harry Meadley. Photo: Tim Dunk
Civic is an extension of Dr Harry Meadley’s practice-based PhD thesis ‘The Art of Skateboarding Institutions’ which sought to improve the perceptions of skateboarding’s local social value and uplift the experiences to the city’s growing female and gender-expansive skate community who are disproportionally affected by access and the lack of safety in public spaces. It was “co-created, co-curated, and co-skated” by Leeds’ skateboard community, engaging with skateboarders of various abilities, ages and backgrounds as well as the non-skateboarding public. A timeline of the project is available at harrymeadley.studio 🦉
Hyde Park Picture House presents ‘Favorite Spot’ — A Quartersnacks Series
Part of Hyde Park Picture House’s ‘On The Road’ programme
Filmmaker, event organiser and marketing
Northern Monk Refectory, Leeds, UK
March 18th 2022
I organised a screening of my Quartersnacks series, ‘Favorite Spot’ with the Hyde Park Picture House in Leeds, West Yorkshire. The event took place as part of ‘On The Road’, a programme of travelling film screenings which took place around Leeds whilst the Hyde Park Picture House itself was closed for renovation. It was held at the Northern Monk Refectory, the flagship taproom and venue of the Leeds-based craft brewery who have a longstanding relationship with supporting arts and culture at a local and national level.
Working with the Hyde Park Picture House and Northern Monk, I organised the event and produced marketing materials around it by writing copy for the HPPH’s website, editing videos content for social media and designing print posters print posters and tickets.
Social media marketing for the event. Text and video editing by Farran Golding. Original videography by Will Rosenstock, Cody Green, Paul Young and Johnny Wilson.
“Amongst the best of our new skate media, Farran Golding’s ‘Favorite Spot’ series blends archival video with the voices of skaters who know, and likely love, these places better than anyone.
Golding’s curation is as thoughtful and effective as his silent role in these rich, ranging, and extremely fun conversations.
As our lives are increasingly defined by learning how to ignore, each new ‘Favorite Spot’ is a cause for settling in, hunkering down, and opening all receptors.”
Kyle Beachy, author of The Most Fun Thing: Dispatches From A Skateboard Life (Grand Central, 2021)
BUBBLEGUM: Exploring John Carpenter’s ‘They Live’ (Premiere)
In partnership with Rough Trade Books
Filmmaker
Village Books, Leeds, West Yorkshire, UK
28th March 2019
BUBBLEGUM is a documentary short exploring the political and graphical legacy of John Carpenter’s cult sci-fi film, They Live.
I wrote, filmed, edited and presented in the film which features Craig Oldham, author of They Live: A Visual & Cultural Awakening (Rough Trade Books, 2019), Professor Roger Luckhurst, a scholar of horror and science fiction at Birkbeck, University of London, and Ben Holmes, co-owner of Village bookstore and gallery.
The film was created as a piece of coursework for a final-year module in music, culture an arts journalism at Manchester Metropolitan University and was released in collaboration with Rough Trade Books, premiering at the closing party of a They Live exhibition at Village Books.
I created marketing materials for the film which premiered at the closing part of a They Live exhibition at Village Books.
