Embracing performance arts, design, films, architecture, publishing and advertising, the creative industries rely on huge financial investment. With the advent of an Institute for Entrepreneurship in Creativity Industries at Goldsmiths it’s highly appropriate that one of the leading players in the creative investment sphere was chosen to deliver the annual Dean Lecture.

Patrick Mc Kenna’s own career reflects changes resulting from expanding media technology. Starting out as an accountant with a talent for translating complex financial issues, and working with stars like David Lean, Bertolucci, and Spandau Ballet, he appreciated the nurturing aspect of his role, freeing the artists to concentrate on their projects. A founder of Ingenious Media in 1998, he earlier advised Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful Group, and is Chairman of The Young Vic Theatre and winner of many awards. Convinced of the link between talent and commercial success Patrick recognised that investment companies could supply an essential a package of know-how, investment ability and networking.

Delivering an overview of the challenges deterring investors in a globally competitive industry, such as unpredictable public demand, an increasingly fragmented audience, copyright and piracy issues, he maintained a buoyant view in answering audience questions. Newspaper CD give-aways, for instance, far from signalling a market based on wasteful over-consumption, stimulated a demand for live entertainment. Commercial interest’s effect on artistic output he regarded as a benefit rather than a disadvantage.

Patrick McKenna’s talk offered a fascinating insight into the links between creative output and financial rewards in the modern world.