SPEAKERS

Founder and CEO, IMDb

6 Dec | In Conversation with Col Needham, CEO/Founder, IMDb  

Col Needham is the founder and CEO of IMDb, the world’s most popular and authoritative source for information on movies, TV shows, and celebrities. Born and living in the UK, Col has had a lifelong interest in both technology and movies. After starting a computer games software business at the age of 14, he went on to complete a computer science degree at Leeds University before commencing a career in technology research in Bristol, England. 

IMDb grew out of a personal database of movie information which Col created as a teenager, combined with similar data collected on the internet in the late 1980s/early 1990s. Col published the first version of IMDb online in October 1990 and coordinated IMDb as a worldwide volunteer effort from 1990-1996. IMDb incorporated in January 1996 with the volunteers as shareholders and IMDb became a wholly owned subsidiary of Amazon in April 1998. IMDbPro, the essential resource for entertainment professionals, launched in 2002 and continues to empower its members to launch and grow their careers. 

Col continues in his original role to this day, working from an office in Bristol with IMDb staff members in countries around the world. Col is a board member of Into Film and Film Independent, and he received a 2014 Creative Coalition Independent Spotlight award for his work to support independent filmmaking. He was also awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Bristol in 2018. Col has been a jury member for leading film festivals around the world, including the Mumbai Film Festival, the Sundance Film Festival, SXSW, and the Tribeca Film Festival. 

CEO, BAFTA

7 Dec |  In Conversation with Jane Millichip, CEO, BAFTA 

Jane Millichip joined BAFTA in the role of Chief Executive Officer in October 2022 to lead the Academy in delivering its charitable remit and ambitious vision.

Having most recently served as Sky Studios’ Chief Content Officer and prior to that as its Chief Commercial Officer, Jane brings with her a unique and impressive combination of top-level commercial and creative expertise. Her 25-year career in television spans Production, Distribution and Broadcasting and she has extensive international experience, having overseen editorial and commercial activities in Sky’s European markets.

Previously as Managing Director of Sky Vision, Jane established and built Sky’s production portfolio and distribution business, acquiring and managing production companies in the UK and US.

Jane is passionate about environmental sustainability and spearheaded Sky Studios’ commitment to Planet Placement and albert – the BAFTA-owned screen industry organisation for environmental sustainability. She is also a Trustee of SEEd – a sustainability and environmental education charity. Jane has considerable experience in leading and mentoring international teams and is a WFTV mentor for 2022.

Jane joins BAFTA at an exciting time for the arts charity as it expands its year-round international programme of learning initiatives and events following the redevelopment of its London headquarters at 195 Piccadilly and the expansion of its North America operations, which unified BAFTA’s New York and Los Angeles branches.

CEO, Good Chaos

7 Dec | In Conversation with Mike Goodridge, CEO, Good Chaos

Mike Goodridge is an international producer and executive producer whose new company Good Chaos was established in 2017. He is co-producer on Ruben Ostlund’s Palme d’Or-winning Triangle Of Sadness and an executive producer on Jasmila Zbanic’s Oscar- and BAFTA-nominated Quo Vadis, Aida? 

Jalmari Helander’s Finnish action film Sisu starring Aksel Hennie had its world premiere in Toronto in September, and Mike is in post-production on films by Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurdsson, Qiu Yang, Sudabeh Mortezai, Shih-Ching Tsou & Sean Baker and Jessica Hausner. 

Goodridge was previously CEO of UK-based production, finance and sales company Protagonist Pictures and put together the finance and distribution of hit films such as Cold War, The Lobster, Love & Friendship, The Florida Project, Hunt For The Wilderpeople, ’71, Calvary, The Rider, Lady Macbeth, God’s Own Country and Maggie’s Plan. 

Among the films he has executive produced are Andrea Arnold’s American Honey, The Discovery starring Rooney Mara and Robert Redford, My Old Lady with Maggie Smith and Kevin Kline and Oren Moverman’s The Dinner starring Richard Gere and Steve Coogan. 

He oversaw over 70 films at the company, and Protagonist films received multiple Oscar and BAFTA nominations, and Cannes, Venice and Berlin Film Festival prizes. 

He has had a concurrent career as a festival director and programmer. He was artistic director at International Film Festival & Awards Macao in China from 2017 to 2021 and has worked at the Sarajevo, Locarno and Chicago film festivals. 

He was a trade journalist, editor and critic for many years and has written three books on film. 

Head of UK Global Screen Fund, BFI

6 Dec | Meet The UK Global Screen Fund

Denitsa Yordanova was appointed Head of UK Global Screen Fund, a £7 million p.a. initiative of the UK government and the British Film Institute, in June 2021. Denitsa has over ten years of experience in the Media and Entertainment industry, across strategy, corporate development and investments, gained in leading corporate development and strategy roles, most recently in independent TV production at All3Media and Endemol Shine. Prior to this, she was responsible for business development and investment initiatives at Guardian Media Group, parent company of the Guardian newspaper, and helped spearhead its venture investment strategy and manage an investment fund of over £1 billion. Denitsa holds degrees from Colgate University and Stanford Graduate School of Business in the US, and a degree in Film and Media Studies from Birkbeck University in London. 

LinkedIn

Producer

6 Dec l Jason Solomons ‘Meet the Producer’ Podcast

Simon Chinn is a double Oscar-winning producer who is responsible for some of the most successful feature documentaries of recent years.

In 2005, he conceived and produced his first theatrical feature documentary, Man on Wire. It went on to win over 40 international awards including the BAFTA for Outstanding British Film and the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. He followed that up with a string of award-winning feature documentaries including Project Nim, The Imposter, The Green Prince, Garnet’s Gold, Bolshoi Babylon and Searching for Sugar Man which also won a BAFTA and an Academy Award and made over $20m at the international box office. In 2015 he teamed up with his old school friend Louis Theroux to produce My Scientology Movie, Theroux’s first theatrical doc. It grossed £1.1 million at the UK box office, making it one of the highest-grossing feature docs of all time in the UK.

Simon launched Lightbox in 2014 with his LA-based cousin, Emmy-winning producer Jonathan Chinn. Focused on producing high-end non-fiction – series, feature docs and shorts – for multiple platforms, Lightbox has completed major projects for Xbox Studios, Netflix, Fusion, Esquire Network, Channel 4, BBC2, FX, National Geographic and ESPN.  Its feature doc on the 1992 LA riots, LA 92, for National Geographic, won a primetime Emmy and was shortlisted for an Academy Award.

Recent multi-part series include Sins of Our Mother for Netflix; Supervillain: The Making of Tekashi 6ix9ine for Showtime; Hip Hop Uncovered for FX/Hulu; Curse of the Chippendales for Amazon UK and Discovery+ US; hit Netflix series Sophie: A Murder in West Cork; returning true crime series Till Death do us Part for Investigation Discovery; Diagnosis, an innovative Netflix Original eight-part documentary series produced in association with The New York Times; and Spector, a four-part documentary series for Showtime.

Lightbox’s latest feature documentaries are Torn, which premiered at the Telluride International Film Festival and recently debuted on Disney +. The Princess, which premiered on the opening night of the Sundance Film Festival and is the first theatrical release documentary about Princess Diana for Sky & HBO; and The Fastest Woman on Earth for HBO Max, which chronicles the extraordinary life of Land-Speed racer Jessi Combs.

VP of Physical Production, Universal Studios 

7 Dec l Let's Get Physical - The Insider's Guide to Global Production with Universal's James Lin

James Lin (LMGI) started his career 30 years ago working on automotive ads for Road & Track to commercials for BMW, Porsche, Mercedes and Ford to name a few. He transitioned from print to commercials to features and multimedia content.  He realised that he wanted locations to be part of the storytelling journey and has showcased that thru various projects like Google Glass IO 2012, Into the Blue, Rush Hour 3, Fast Furious Five, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and Avengers: Endgame. Lin’s degree in Landscape Architecture with a minor in architecture from UC Berkley helps him clearly convey what he is asked to find as a location scout for his various projects. He has extensively travelled the world and has real working experiences in Iceland, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Germany, Brazil, Canada, Taiwan, Philippines, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Malta, Menorca, Paraguay, Uruguay, Monte Video, Caribbean Islands, Malta, and New Zealand.  

Lin presently works as VP of Physical Production at Universal Studios and has been in this position for 4 years, overseeing projects like NOBODY, Nope, Violent Night and Renfield. Lin lives in Venice Beach California. 

Executive Producer, Willow Tree Productions/Acorn Pictures Ltd

6 Dec l Money on My Mind – Financing Your Projects

Sarada McDermott (born April 3, 1975) is a British film and television producer.

Sarada has a prolific career in film production, more recently having produced Hope Gap (2019), Tolkien (2019), Fighting with My Family (2019) and The Sense of an Ending (2017). Her most notable recent tv series productions include the period drama Bridgerton (2020), and the thrillers The Beast Must Die (2020–2021) and Liaison (upcoming).

Head of Social & Content Strategy, VCCP

7 Dec l Gaming, the new media channel - Presented by the UK Advertising Exports Group

Nick Lewis is an award-winning brand marketing specialist with 15 years UK and Global experience. A creative and cultural trend expert, Lewis has helped to shift the need for the world's most beloved brands in sport and entertainment including Adidas, EA Games, Nike, PepsiCo and Red Bull. 

Lewis joined VCCP from football media business COPA90, having spent six years with the fan-first publisher helping brands navigate the intersection of football and popular culture. 

At VCCP Nick leads a team of social planners, devising culture-led strategies for brands to engage and authentically activate in passion communities.

Senior Creative, AMV BBDO

6 Dec | Where is Advertising Going? As Revealed by this year’s APA Collection

Will spends his time working as a creative in London with some of the nation's most loved (and hated) brands. He has created apps for the visually impaired, relaunched the oldest telecoms company on earth, built a human-powered football pitch in a Brazilian favela, tamed superheroes, had Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang fined £250,000 for his antics and assembled a superstar football team to combat online hate. To this day he still finds it astonishing that the things that fall out of his mind end up being shown to millions of people, but shhhh! Don't tell anyone, because he really loves what he does. 

Head of Licensing, PRS for Music

7 Dec l Do the Rights Thing: Music Licensing 

Andy is the Head of Licensing at PRS for Music, the London-headquartered music royalty collective that represents the rights of over 160,000 songwriters, composers, and music publishers in the UK and around the world. Andy has worked for PRS for over 17 years further to graduating with a Music Business Management Hons. degree in 2005. During this time, he has worked predominantly in mechanical rights licensing with responsibilities in his early career including synchronisation licensing for music use in TV, Films and Advertisements followed by account managing and overseeing the physical product portfolio of some of MCPS’s largest customers, including BBC Studios and Sony Music Entertainment.

He was promoted to Head of Recorded Media in 2015 where he was responsible for overseeing all licensing of UK Record companies, DVD Producers and background music providers.

Andy’s remit has expanded to include the licensing of the commercial radio sector and independent TV production companies and synchronisation licensing for both commercial and MCPS Production Music.

He serves as the Chair of the BIEM Management Advisory Committee, working alongside colleagues from other international mechanical collection societies, as well as serving as Board Director of the Educational Recording Agency (ERA).

www.prsformusic.com

Head of Creative – Film & TV, Beggars Group

7 Dec l Do the Rights Thing: Music Licensing 

Over forty successful years of trading later and still run by founder Martin Mills, Beggars Banquet has since graduated to the Beggars Group, home to five of the most recognisable independent record labels around – 4AD, Matador, Rough Trade, XL Recordings and Young.

Jason joined Beggars in 2017 and looks after pitching and licensing the label group’s recordings for Film, Television, Trailers and Video Games. Working on projects both within the UK and internationally, he has recently licensed music for projects including – The Crown, Grand Theft Auto, Money Heist, Peaky Blinders, FIFA, Triangle of Sadness, Cyberpunk and Irma Vep.

With numerous Brit, GRAMMY® and Mercury Music Prize wins among them, Beggars Group has recently released music from innovative and groundbreaking artists such as Adele, Radiohead, The National, Queens of the Stone Age, FKA Twigs, Future Islands, Sampha, Interpol, Grimes, Perfume Genius, Alabama Shakes, The xx, Big Thief, ARCA, Spoon, Tune-Yards, Yaeji, Aldous Harding, Parquet Courts, Jockstrap, Belle & Sebastian, Tkay Maidza, SOAK, Kurt Vile, U.S. Girls, Kamasi Washington, black midi and many more.

Producer

7 Dec l Independents Day - Women Producing 

Jane Bartelme, worked her way up in the ranks, first as an Assistant and then a Production Coordinator. She got her first break on The Cotton Club. She worked with such directing luminaries as Francis Ford Coppola, Michael Mann, Bertrand Tavernier and John Schlesinger. She then Production Supervised two films with Oliver Stone: Talk Radio and Born on the 4th of July.

At that point, seasoned, she segued into Producing feature films. To name a few, she worked
on Legends of the Fall, Sleepless in Seattle, two RoboCop sequels, Along Came Polly, Bringing Down the House and Fun with Dick and Jane.

In 2013 she became interested in working in Episodic Television. The idea of chaptered entertainment was appealing and she worked on many pilots and series. Jane was just nominated for an Emmy for her work on the critically acclaimed limited series Dopesick.

Intimacy Coordinator/Director/Writer/Performer/Movement director

7 Dec l Shooting Intimacy - Bectu’s New Guidelines

Tommy came to intimacy coordination through their extensive work in safer spaces training & social justice and their commitment to embodied practice; as well as having first-hand experience in the industry as a director, writer, performer and movement director. Since undertaking their apprenticeship last year, Tommy has had the opportunity to work across stage and screen with BAFTA-nominated filmmakers and Sundance winners. Tommy has just come back from Serbia working as the intimacy coordinator on the psycho-sexual thriller Follow Me with Connie Neilson for Catalyst Studios. As a Jewish queer nonbinary person, they are especially passionate about developing and supporting intimate queer content that expands the representation of queer relationships and marginalised identities.

Tommy is the current Development & IC Registry Representative of IC Branch of Bectu.

www.tomrosswilliams.com

Supervising Location Manager

7 Dec l Everything You Wanted to Know About Locations (But Were Afraid to Ask) 

Tony Hood has been a location manager for 20+ years working across Film and TV.  He is currently working with Netflix on Bridgerton.

LinkedIn
 

Co-founder/Managing Director, Target3D

6 Dec | AI: Your New BFF for Storytelling

Co-Founder and Managing Director of Target3D, established in 2017, Allan Rankin has been working in 3D Motion Capture and tracking for over 10 years, serving industry and education solutions in multiple sectors. Strong sales and business development skills with a passion for technology. My experience in delivery of projects includes working on live-stage production solutions incorporating tracking for full body, object tracking and driving avatars, props and projection mapping content alike.

The more traditional side involves the design and installation of motion capture spaces for animation, VFX, robotics, engineering and biomechanics. The growth of Target3D is the most exciting endeavour as it involves working with brilliant people from multiple industry sectors and that alone fosters innovation and variety making working life continually interesting.

Target3D as an organisation are branching into Virtual Production, as well as supplying and installing VP stages across the UK and supporting these installations with technical staff and producers to enable good working practice and the development of workflows.

Target3D is a growing company with locations in Spain and New Zealand providing a range of technical consultants, specialist 3D and immersive technologies and studio offerings.

target3d.co.uk

Head of Research and Insight, BFI

6 Dec l Money on My Mind – Financing Your Projects

Rishi Coupland is a creative industries strategist and leader with over twenty years of experience in delivering research, innovation and strategic programmes. He is Head of Research and Insight at the BFI, where he leads the Research and Statistics Unit and is responsible for the National Lottery Research Fund and Innovation Challenge Fund. Prior to this, he held the roles of Head of Data Intelligence at the National Theatre, where he launched and lead the sector flagship Data Studio, Head of Audience Strategy (National Theatre), Marketing Services Manager (Southbank Centre), and Creative Producer (Buzz-erk Productions). Rishi began his career as a technologist and engineer with multinational companies including British Airways and Kimberly-Clark, in locations across the UK and Europe. In 2017, Rishi was awarded a Clore Fellowship and is currently a board member of London Arts and Health.

Twitter

Head of Production Services, Film London

6 Dec l No Planet – No Film: Celebrating Six Years of the European 'Green Screen' Partnership

Michelle heads up Film London’s Production Services team, championing London as a destination for filmmaking, developing diversity and inclusion programmes and environmental sustainability initiatives. This is a pivotal role for Film London, generating £1.3billion of inward investment spend for the city in 2019 alone. She is responsible for the strategic management and logistics of filming across London, including studio development, and ensures that London maintains its status as one of the world’s most film-friendly cities, overseeing up to 16,000 filming days per year.

Working with the industry since 2001, Michelle was instrumental in setting up and launching the agency’s successful London Filming Partnership – a unique network of over 600 public and private bodies, companies, studios and locations that work together to ensure London is able to deliver for major film and TV productions.  Previous roles include managing filming across Network Rail’s national estate,  working with high-profile titles such as Mission Impossible: Fallout and The Crown; heading up business development at The Royal Parks and commercial development consultancies across the UK.

LinkedIn

President, Italian Film Commissions Association (IFC)/General Manager, Roma Lazio Film Commission

7 Dec | Cross-Border Collaboration - a Mission: Impossible Locations Masterclass

Cristina Priarone has been the General Manager of ROMA LAZIO FILM COMMISSION since 2007, as well as President of the Italian Film Commissions Association (IFC) and Vice President of CINEUROPA. She is a member of the DAVID DI DONATELLO jury award and the European Film Academy (EFA). 

She has collaborated with international companies, being in charge of Communications & Marketing, Training, Teambuilding, Coaching, Personnel Selection, Int & External Communication. 

Writer/Filmmaker, Kode

7 Dec | Developing and Nurturing New Talent in the current Financial Climate

Born and raised in Hong Kong, Nicolee is a London-based writer and filmmaker. Her practice attempts to investigate notions of culture, identity and experience unique to the underrepresented communities; often fusing movements, electronic sounds and intimate storytelling into one.

From the images and narrative, she creates - whether it's rich colours, textures or nuances, she often borrows from her sensory memories of growing up in Hong Kong. Behind the skyscrapers, pastel estates, and neon-lit alleyways, there are always stories and depths of griminess that she finds romantically charming and reminiscent of her current work.

Film Certification Analyst, Certification Unit, BFI

6 Dec l ‘How to Co-Pro’ – A Guide to Canada-UK Co-Production

Chantel Burrell is a film certification analyst in the BFI Certification Unit. She has been part of the unit for over 20 years assessing and providing guidance on the Cultural Test for Film and official co-production treaties. She worked at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the UK Film Council. Has spoken at events for the BFI Network Hubs, the Doc Society and conducted 121 sessions at festivals and conferences including TIFF, Berlin, Munich and Cannes.

Executive Director/Film Commissioner, Newfoundland and Labrador Film Development Corporation (NLFDC)

6 Dec l ‘How to Co-Pro’ – A Guide to Canada-UK Co-Production

Chris Bonnell serves as the Executive Director/Film Commissioner at the Newfoundland and Labrador Film Development Corporation (NLFDC). At the NLFDC, Chris manages the Corporation and is responsible for the overall operation of the Corporation. He ensures that the policies and decisions of the Directors are implemented effectively and efficiently. Chris acts as an ambassador and spokesperson representing the Corporation in public forums and in the media.

Film Commissioner, Ottawa Film Office

6 Dec l ‘How to Co-Pro’ – A Guide to Canada-UK Co-Production

Sandrine has an extensive illustrative career in entertainment, production, co-production, creative development and distribution with impressive global relationships and deep experience in deals & negotiations in children's and family programming, 360° all covered. Sandrine is dedicated in this new role as the Ottawa Film Commissioner to promote Ottawa as an affordable boutique destination/experience for filmmakers, to develop Ottawa's film industry and its infrastructure, to support Ottawa's film producers, crew and talents, to choose projects that take advantage of her passion and creative skills, to use her experience in putting together dynamic co-productions, and to give her attention to all aspects of production and distribution with a human touch and an attention to diversity, inclusion and going green on production.

Most recently, she worked in sales and distribution at Radio Canada / CBC growing their kid's catalogue offering.

At Rocket Launch Media and Sanden Media, Sandrine has been a female entrepreneur creating kids’ content from published book properties and distributing content domestically and internationally.

From 2016 to 2019, Sandrine worked at TFO, a Franco-Canadian public broadcaster, as Director, Acquisition and co-production, handling co-production, creative development, programming/scheduling, gaming, sales and acquisition.

Before TFO, Sandrine spent 9-years with Bejuba Entertainment as EVP of Sales & Acquisitions putting together an impressive list of acquisitions and WW show sales to build a catalogue of over 600 half-hours of kids’ TV and securing co-development and co-production deals. Prior to Bejuba, Sandrine worked in NYC for an array of major entertainment companies in creative development, co-production and distribution for Sunbow Entertainment (Transformers, My Little Pony, GI Joe, etc), Sony Wonder/Sony Music, TV-Loonland, Hallmark and Classic Media/Dreamworks. While at Classic Media/Dreamworks, Sandrine spearheaded WW sales and co-productions on Casper, George of the Jungle and other titles. Sandrine is also very much involved in the industry as she regularly participates in various festivals and organizations as a juror, mentor, panelist and research adviser.

Co-managing Director, Elation Pictures 

6 Dec l Meet The UK Global Screen Fund

Elation Pictures is a UK-based production company set up by Emilie Jouffroy and Kamilla Kristiane Hodøl, and selected by the British Film Institute as one of the foremost new production companies in the UK in the context of their 2016 Vision Awards.

Their most recent feature, Great Yarmouth, premiered in the Official Competition at San Sebastian Film Festival 2022. In 201, their feature film Tides premiered at the BFI London Film Festival before being theatrically released by AX1 across the UK. Emilie and Kamilla’s credits also include award-winning shorts such as Edmond (Winner of BAFTA Best Animation, BIFA Best Short Film, and Sundance Best Animation), Manoman (BAFTA and BIFA nominated, Official Selection at Cannes Cinefondation, Sundance and SXSW) and Diagnosis (Short of the Week and Vimeo Staff Pick). 

Elation Pictures’ current slate includes projects at development and packaging stages with the BFI, BBC Film, Screen Ireland and Protagonist Pictures. 

Both Emilie and Kamilla are graduates of the MA in Producing at the National Film and Television School, and have taken part in talent schemes including iFeatures, Guiding Lights, the Edinburgh International Film Festival Talent Lab, and the Nordic Genre Boost. 

www.elationpictures.co.uk 

Writer/Director/Producer/Designer, Oiffy

6 Dec l Games Will Save Cinema  

Jörg is a writer, director, producer and designer of films, plays and games. He’s currently producing the live-action/painted animation A Winter’s Journey starring John Malkovich and Jason Isaacs, the first feature to use multiple BAFTA Games award-winning Media Molecule’s Dreams on PlayStation 5 to design and build its epic sets. His game The Last Worker, coming to VR, consoles and PC in early 2023, was the only game selected for the 78th Venice Film Festival.

Twitter (for socials): @newjorg (me) / @oiffy (my company) / @awintersjourney (the film) / @thelastworker (the game)
 

Chief Commercial Officer, Protagonist Pictures 

6 Dec l The Essential Guide to Working with a Sales Agent 

George joined Protagonist in 2013, rising to the role of Head of Sales and becoming an integral part of the company’s work with producers to help structure and find finance for projects.  

George began his career producing and directing digital content for a wide range of brands and agencies, as well as a number of short films through his own boutique production outfit. 

Executive Vice President, Production & Distribution, Upgrade Productions 

7 Dec l Independents Day - Women Producing 

Based in London, industry veteran Vanessa Saal spearheads Upgrade’s global distribution strategy and builds out its European operations and ventures. She also works alongside co-presidents Matt Brodlie and Jonathan Kier to source material as well as identify strong co-development partners and secure producers and showrunners for projects in development. 

Prior to joining Upgrade, Saal served as Managing Director, Sales & Distribution for Protagonist Pictures, the London-based international sales, finance and production company. She originally joined Protagonist as head of worldwide sales in 2014. Prior to that, she served as Senior Vice President, International Sales at Studiocanal in Paris and was a founding executive at Paris-based Kinology. Saal began her career at Focus Features International in New York and is a graduate of Brown University. During her career, she has worked on critical and commercial hits such as Pawel Pawlikowski’s Cold War, Taika Waititi’s Hunt for the Wilderpeople, Sean Baker’s The Florida Project, Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Lobster, Tomas Alfredson’s Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy, the Coen brothers’ Inside Llewyn Davis, Jaume Collet-Serra’s worldwide box office hit Non-Stop, and David Heyman’s production, Paddington. 

Managing Director, Olsberg•SPI 

6 Dec l Dollars and Percents: Navigating the Global Production Incentives Landscape

Leon is SPI’s Managing Director, leading and delivering high-level strategic advice, insight and business planning for SPI’s global client base.  

Recent projects include Screen Business (for the British Film Institute), the Economic Impact of the New Mexico Film Production Tax Credit (for the New Mexico Film Office), and an Economic Evaluation of the Utah Motion Picture Incentive Program (for the Motion Picture Association of Utah, with support from the Utah Film Commission). 

Leon has also delivered Global Screen Production – The Impact of Film and Television Production on Economic Recovery from COVID-19, Global Film Production Incentives, a White Paper on Global Film Production Incentives (for the Motion Picture Association), Best Practice in Screen Sector Development (for the Association of Film Commissioners International), and The State of the UK Independent Film Sector, a major analysis of conditions in the independent UK film sector undertaken for Pact. 

He has undertaken several feasibility studies and strategic business plans for studio facilities, as well as several projects regarding screen tourism and associated strategy. With extensive knowledge of incentives, Leon has overseen the creation or re-engineering of mechanisms in a range of markets. 

Leon has spoken about the screen sector at international events, including Focus in London, Screen International’s Finance Forum, AFCI’s Cineposium, the Guadalajara International Film Festival, Durban FilmMart, and the Reykjavik International Film Festival.  

Prior to joining SPI in 2013, Leon was a film business journalist and editor for 15 years. Leon is also a member of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA). 

www.o-spi.com

LinkedIn

Olsberg•SPI: LinkedIn

Chief Executive, Norwegian Film Commission

7 Dec | Cross-Border Collaboration - a Mission: Impossible Locations Masterclass

Meghan Beaton is chief executive of the national film commission for Norway, with a government-set remit to support and advance the production of international feature film and television in Norway.  Emerging as a premier location, Norway has hosted some of the largest releases of the last five years, including Succession, No Time to Die, Black Widow, Dune, Mission: Impossible - Fallout, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning 1. 

Meghan speaks broadly on international film industry, government policy, regional growth opportunities and more, anchored in a broad background within the film and creative industries, nationally and internationally.  The national commission was recently established as an independent entity, and has strategic partnerships with trade entities across Norway, as well as private partnerships. 

Twitter & LinkedIn

Norwegian Film Commission: LinkedIn

Intimacy Coordinator & Director/Theatremaker

7 Dec l Shooting Intimacy - Bectu’s New Guidelines

Adelaide Waldrop is an Intimacy Coordinator, Director, and Theatremaker based in London, UK. 

As an Intimacy Coordinator, she has worked on productions for HBO, Warner Brothers, Netflix, BBC, Paramount+, Hulu, Apple TV, Sky, ITV+, Channel 4, Working Title, and various independent projects. Recently released projects include indie film Aftersun (dir. Charlotte Wells), the remake of Christina Aguilera's Beautiful music video (dir. Fiona Jane Burgess), and the Netflix series The Bastard Son and the Devil Himself (dir. Colm McCarthy).  

Adelaide is certified with Intimacy for Stage and Screen and is the current Co-Secretary of the IC Branch of Bectu. 

Founder & Music Supervisor, Redfive/Creative Director, Atlantic Screen Music

7 Dec l Do the Rights Thing: Music Licensing 

Rupert is the Creative Director of music supervision agency, Redfive, where is he also co-founder. Ru started his career in music publishing in 1998, initiating the synchronisation departments at both Music Copyright Solutions, and latterly Kingstreet Media. Subsequently, as a freelance music supervisor, Ru worked on various global advertising campaigns with brands including Marks & Spencer, Nike, as well as the Discovery Channel and National Geographic. After four years as a freelance music supervisor, in 2009 joined Imagem (now Concord) as Head of Film. During his time at Imagem, he represented the Rodgers & Hammerstein and Boosey & Hawkes catalogues, as well as numerous artists and bands on the contemporary roster including Daft punk, Mark Ronson, Pink Floyd, Vampire Weekend, Genesis, and The Stone Roses. During his five- year tenure, Rupert worked with brands such as Reebok, Skoda, Next, Iceland, Hyundai, and Tesco amongst others, and several successful US, UK and European-based films. He joined Metropolis Group in 2014 as Creative Director and founded the publishing division (Metropolis Music Publishing) and quickly secured an impressive repertoire of artists, bands and composers, racking up multiple synchronisation placements and campaigns. Having also founded and set up Metropolis Music Supervision, in 2016 he won both Best TV Advert and Overall Sync of the Year as music supervisor at the MusicWeek Sync Awards. 

Since co-founding music supervision agency Redfive, Ru's film and TV projects include Golden Globe, BAFTA, and Oscar-nominated projects films such as The Wife, The Trip and McQueen, also including recent films such as Worth and Mothering Sunday, where he has both supervised the commercial music and coordinated the scores. Upcoming credits include the new Roland Emmerich space epic Moonfall, and Number Nine Film's adaptation of the Kazuo Ishiguro novel, Living, starring Bill Nighy. 

Ru is co-founder and senior board member of The UK & European Guild of Music Supervisors. 

Global SVP Production Operations, MPC 

6 Dec | Global Post-Production: The Allure of the UK as a World-Class Hub for Post & VFX

Over 20 years of experience working in high-end Visual Effects for film and episodic projects. Originally as an artist and supervisor at highly respected VFX companies; DNEG, Weta Digital and Animal Logic. Notable films include the Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Matrix Reloaded and Batman Begins. 

More recently focusing on operational structure and production management for large global Visual Effects teams, as Global Head of VFX for DNEG and presently Senior Vice President of Production Operations for MPC. 

Co-founder and CEO, One Of Us 

6 Dec | Global Post-Production: The Allure of the UK as a World-Class Hub for Post & VFX

Since starting One Of Us in 2004, Rachael has carefully and successfully steered a boutique facility, with a reputation for tackling design and creative challenges, to a company able to execute ever more complex and sophisticated work on a far larger scale. She has built close relationships with filmmakers, executives and studios. She oversees the company’s creative and business strategy. 

Director of Research at School Of Performing and Digital Arts, Royal Holloway, University of London/Head of Virtual Production, StoryFutures

6 Dec | AI: Your New BFF for Storytelling

Peter Richardson is Professor of Creative Industries and Head of Virtual Production at StoryFutures Academy: the UK’s National Centre for Immersive Storytelling run by the National Film and Television School and Royal Holloway, University of London. His career in the film industry spans 20 years during which time he directed music videos, commercials opera and documentaries. Peter is currently working on a number of in-camera visual effects projects in partnership with ILM and Epic and is Executive Producer on the VP Futures scheme. He has acted as Executive Producer on various immersive projects for Channel 4 and BBC through the Random Acts and New Creatives schemes. He is co-author of the 2021 VP skills report: ‘Virtual Production A Global Innovation Opportunity for the UK’.

CEO, Media Finance Capital 

6 Dec l Money on My Mind – Financing Your Projects

Marlon has been responsible for the structuring and deployment of more than $100 million into Film and TV projects. 

Other experience includes engagements in physical production and format development for several companies including German media concern UFA, where his media career began in 2006. Marlon also acts as the exclusive executive producer for sister company Samuel Marshall, on behalf of which he continues to oversee investments into films such as The Lost Daughter, Second Chance and Honest Thief. 

LinkedIn

Partner - Film and TV, Saffery Champness

6 Dec l How to Access and Maximise UK Tax Reliefs 

Isla is a Partner in the Film and Television Team at Saffery Champness and has worked within the
creative industry sector for over 10 years.

Isla provides a range of services in relation to the UK Creative Industry tax reliefs, including; advising producers on how to access UK creative industry tax incentives; advising on British cultural test qualification and attaining co-production status for films, TV programmes and video games; advising on multi-territorial production structures and financing arrangements; evaluating budgeted production expenditure for qualification of tax relief, providing opinion letters for financiers and assisting clients with statutory audits, accounts and tax compliance.
Her client base includes film, television and video game production & distribution companies,
commissioning producers and rights owners across a range of large US and UK studios to small
budget independent producers.

Saffery Champness LLP is a UK audit, accounting and tax practice that operates throughout the UK and Ireland.

Executive Director, Media Banking Office, Coutts & Co 

6 Dec l Money on My Mind – Financing Your Projects

Judith is an Executive Director in the Media Banking Office at Coutts & Co, a leading private bank with a specialist media division involved in all areas of the media and creative industries including film, television, music, theatre, arts, advertising, marketing services, publishing, tech and fashion. She heads up its business development for the team, originating new business, developing new products and specialising in structuring film and television debt transactions. Judith has over twenty years of experience in media financing, starting her career at an investment bank in Los Angeles where she spearheaded the Bank’s involvement with the independent film and television sectors, followed by Ingenious Media where she managed three equity funds principally investing in film and television content, and over 15 years with the Media team at Coutts. 

Judith is currently a Trustee of Film London, The National Film and Television School Foundation, The Resilient Foundation and a Member of the Development Board of the National Youth Theatre. 

Creative, Leo Burnett 

6 Dec | Where is Advertising Going? As Revealed by this year’s APA Collection

Freya & Gina are a creative team at Leo Burnett. The pair met 11 years ago at Leeds Collage of Art and teamed up on the creative advertising course at Bucks. They joined Leo's in May 2021 and have produced work for McDonald's, Skoda and Disney. Starting their career in 2015, the pair have worked at BBH and WCRS delivering major campaigns for Audi, Tesco and Warburtons amongst many others. In 2018 they were awarded Best New Creative Team at the British Arrows. Freya and Gina are also part of the Unsigned Union, and are really passionate about helping unsigned and under-represented talent get into the industry. 

Creative, Leo Burnett 

6 Dec | Where is Advertising Going? As Revealed by this year’s APA Collection

Freya is a creative at Leo Burnett with her partner and fellow northerner Gina. The pair met 11 years ago at Leeds Collage of Art and teamed up on the creative advertising course at Bucks. They joined Leo's in May 2021 and have produced work for McDonald's, Skoda and Disney. Starting their career in 2015, the pair have worked at BBH and WCRS delivering major campaigns for Audi, Tesco and Warburtons amongst many others. In 2018 they were awarded Best New Creative Team at the British Arrows. Freya and Gina are also part of the Unsigned Union, and are really passionate about helping unsigned and under-represented talent get into the industry. 

Founder, Cantilever Media 

6 Dec l How to Access and Maximise UK Tax Reliefs 

6 Dec | Meet The UK Global Screen Fund

Andrew Baker is an experienced Producer, Executive Producer and Media Lawyer and founder of Cantilever Media, a UK film and television production company. 

With a 25+ year career in TV and Film production, Andrew’s previous roles include Head of Business Affairs at ITV and Granada Film and SVP Legal & Business Affairs at Granada Entertainment based in Los Angeles. Andrew also founded the UK’s largest business affairs consultancy, Rights.tv, which he sold to Compact Media before co-founding Kidscave Entertainment where he was Executive Producer on the animated Netflix Original Series RoboZuna, produced with ITV Global Entertainment. 

Cantilever Media’s first animated theatrical feature film is The Amazing Maurice, based on the award-winning book The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents by Sir Terry Pratchett, written by Terry Rossio (Shrek, Aladdin) and is a co-production with Ulysses Productions in Germany (Louis and the Aliens, Oops Noah is Gone). The film stars Hugh Laurie, Emilia Clarke, David Thewlis, Himesh Patel, Gemma Arterton, Hugh Bonneville, Ariyon Bakare, Joe Sugg, Julie Atherton and David Tennant, and will be Sky’s main Christmas feature film of 2022.

In 2022, Cantilever was awarded funding by the UK Global Screen Fund’s International Business Development fund – a DCMS fund administered by the BFI, in recognition of its ambitious international expansion plans.  

Video Game Certification Analyst, Certification Unit, BFI 

6 Dec l How to Access and Maximise UK Tax Reliefs 

Stuart is a video game analyst at the BFI and is responsible for assessing projects that apply for British certification. Working closely with developers from around the country, Stuart is on hand to offer advice on the certification process and also provide additional information on the creative sector tax reliefs. He regularly talks at events around the country such as EGX, EGX Rezzed, London Games Festival, and many others. 

Filmmaker/Producer 

6 Dec l Become a Self-Shooting PD – The Skills Needed to Succeed

Annika Hagemann is a filmmaker and journalist who works in observational documentaries, including the recently released feature documentary The Last Mountain (BBC2/Universal). She spent most of 2021 on aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth for its first operational deployment to the Far East to make a six-part observational series for BBC alongside director and anthropologist Chris Terrill, embedding with the ship's company and capturing personal experiences. Passionate about telling human-led stories that elevate marginalised voices, she is currently co-producing her first documentary and VR immersive film about a woman’s experience with multiple sclerosis.

LinkedIn

CEO, The World Trailer Awards Company Ltd.

6 Dec l The Art and Science of Trailers

High-level creative practitioner with over 25 years of experience in the entertainment and commercial worlds.  Skilled communicator with a keen ability to find the collaboration points between culture and commerce.  Proven track record as a marketing strategist, brand re/inventor and company leader with a commitment to leveraging the power of the narrative. Currently, Global Director of World Trailer Awards.

Co-founder, Virtual Umbrella

7 Dec | XR - The Business Model for Immersive

Samantha Kingston is the co-founder of Virtual Umbrella. Founded in 2015, Virtual Umbrella helps businesses tap into the commercial and creative potential of immersive technology. From creative, technical and delivery they cover it all. Samantha is also VR director, with her first 360 film Anoymous premiering at Raindance Film Festival. This year she stood on the TEDx stage and spoke about "How I used VR to process grief". Samantha is also a community champion for Alcohol Change UK, using her voice to help reduce harm.

Twitter & Linkedin 

Creative Diversity Partner, ITV 

6 Dec | Disability and ITV

Sam is Creative Diversity Partner at ITV and is part of the team delivering the Diversity Acceleration Plan. She is involved in delivering ITV’s Disability agenda and also works closely with Producers and the commissioning teams to ensure that a diverse and inclusive team is involved for ITV commissions working particularly closely with the teams in Factual Entertainment, Sport, Daytime and the soaps.  

Prior to joining ITV, Sam worked for training and consultancy company thinkBIGGER! where she worked on projects such as the Channel 4 Production Training Scheme and on the training programme for the disabled presenters and reporters for the coverage of the London 2012 Paralympic Games. 

Sam Chair's BAFTA's Disability Advisory Group, is a member of their Learning, Inclusion and Talent Committee and is part of BAFTA's Diversity Steering Group for the Awards. She is part of the British Film Institute's Disability Advisory Group, is Chair of the Board of Trustees for Graeae Theatre Company, the UK’s leading disabled-led theatre company and in 2021 was listed in the Shaw Trust's Power 100, the list of the top 100 most influential Disabled people in the UK. She was awarded an MBE for her services to Disabled People in the Queen's Jubilee Birthday Honours list in June 2022. 

Intimacy Coordinator, Moving Body Arts

7 Dec l Shooting Intimacy - Bectu’s New Guidelines

Yarit is an IDC-certified Intimacy Coordinator, Movement Coach and Chair (2020-2022) of the Bectu Intimacy Coordinators Branch. She was part of the writing & editing group of Bectu’s new Shooting Intimacy guidance and will be moderating the panel at this event.    

Film/TV recent credits include Glass Onion: Knives Out Mystery, The Wheel of Time, SAS Rogue Heroes, The Sandman, Cheaters, Mood, Atlanta 3, Becoming Elizabeth, Pistol The Girlfriend Experience 3 and Adult Material amongst others.    

She is a long-term advocate & advisor of intimacy for the screen, contributing to Directors UK guidance, Equity’s information for employers and performers. In 2020, she led a fully funded mentoring programme for underrepresented individuals since the UK intimacy coordination community lacked more diversity.  

To help support future filmmakers, Yarit is a regular visiting tutor for NFTS, Raindance and BA Film at UAL as well as teaches actors in major drama schools such as Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Arts Ed and RADA.  

www.yarit-dor.com

Intimacy Coordinator & Director/Fight Director/Actress/Voice-over Artist

7 Dec l Shooting Intimacy - Bectu’s New Guidelines

Haruka Kuroda is a UK-based Japanese Intimacy Coordinator/Director, Fight Director, actress and Voice-Over artist.  

She took part in the 2020-21 cohort of IC Mentoring Scheme for Under-represented Groups, organised by Yarit Dor from Moving Body Arts.  

Her credits as IC/ID include; Life After Life, Sherwood, Strike: Troubled Blood, Silent Witness (all for BBC), Culprits (Disney +), Real Friends (Sky), A History of Pleasure Seeker (Hulu), All My Sons (Queens Theatre Hornchurch), The Woods (Southwark Playhouse) and Starcrossed (Wilton Music Hall).  

Haruka is currently performing in My Neighbour Totoro at the Barbican theatre. 

Executive Producer, Wall to Wall Media 

7 Dec l A Toolkit to Embed Mentally Healthy Productions

Melissa joined Wall to Wall as an Executive Producer in 2016 and currently oversees Child Genius for Channel 4 and Glow Up for BBC Three. Wall to Wall credits include ITV's 100 Years Younger In 21 days and Channel 4's Hello Stranger. Melissa has developed and produced a selection of award-winning and channel-defining factual entertainment, features and formatted programmes. Past credits include Naked Attraction (Channel 4), TOWIE (ITV2), The Baby Borrowers (BBC3) and most notably The Great British Bake Off (BBC2). 

Production Executive, Wall to Wall Media 

7 Dec l A Toolkit to Embed Mentally Healthy Productions

Kirsty joined Wall to Wall in January 2012 to line produce The Voice UK before becoming the Production Executive across their Ents/Fact Ent slate – shows include Little Big Shots (ITV), Glow Up (BBC/Netflix), Nadiya’s Chop & Chat Series (BBC), Growing Up Animal (Nat Geo/Disney+) and Warrior Island w/t (BBC). Prior to joining Wall to Wall, Kirsty worked at the BBC managing many of their top Entertainment shows from Top Gear to Eurovision to Strictly Come Dancing. 

International Correspondent, Variety 

7 Dec l Independents Day - Women Producing 

K.J. Yossman is an International Correspondent at Variety, based out of London, where she covers film and TV markets (and occasionally music). She was previously freelance, writing for publications including ELLE, The New York Times, The LA Times and Animation Magazine. Before becoming a journalist she was a media lawyer.

Twitter & LinkedIn

Immersive Technologist, Digital Catapult 

7 Dec | XR - The Business Model for Immersive

Nicole is a Technologist at Digital Catapult in the Immersive Team, she has been with Digital Catapult for 6 years specialising in Events before moving into Immersive Technology, managing the network of Immersive Labs and supporting Digital Catapult’s programmes. With a background in theatre and technology, she has worked with creators and developers to realise their projects, provide business and technical support, and educate organisations about immersive technologies. 

digicatapult.org.uk 

Twitter

Digital Catapult: Twitter & LinkedIn

CEO/Founder, Ansible PR & Communications

6 Dec l The Art and Science of Trailers

A specialist in producing communications and events designed to genuinely engage audiences, Tracey has over 20 years of senior leadership and executive-level roles. As CEO and founder of Ansible PR & Communications, she has worked her marketing metaverse magic with companies like Epic Games, Mythical Games, BAFTA, Sci-Fi-London, Bossa Studios, Furious Bee, and Green Man Gaming. Listed as one of Games Industry Biz's Top 100 Influential Women, she is also the Coordinator of the annual W.IN (Women.In) event at the London Games Festival.  

www.ansiblecomms.com 

Twitter & LinkedIn

Founder/Director, Zealot 

6 Dec l The Art and Science of Trailers

Founder and Director of Zealot, a creative marketing company with offices in London, New York and LA creating trailers, promos and TV/Digital spots for the film and television industries. 

www.zealotuk.com 

www.zealotinc.com 

Creative Director, Once Upon A Time

6 Dec l The Art and Science of Trailers

Currently, UK-based. Emmy Award-winning Creative Director with experience on 3 continents. He has overseen and driven creative for the biggest entertainment brands in Australia (Fox, Seven) and the US (NBC Universal, ABC Disney, Warner Bros and ViacomCBS). He has launched 100s of TV series, movies, events, specials and entire brands for over 15 years including iconic brands such as “NBC”, "Ellen", "The Voice" and 4 "Law & Order" franchises. His work is informed by a simple mission: drive awareness and viewership. 

www.timrcanderson.com 

Supervising Location Manager, Jupiter Spring Productions – Paramount Productions 

7 Dec | Cross-Border Collaboration - a Mission: Impossible Locations Masterclass

My 5-year goal is to become a Production Manager within the TV & Film industry with the hope to improve the flow of information & working relationships between Production and other Departments. The role of a Production Manager is key to the streamlining of any Production in order to deliver a product on time and within budget. My experience within the industry so far in my career has shown and taught me that you will only achieve this by treating the crew with the same respect and professionalism you would expect to be treated with yourself. I aspire to be a better version of the Production Managers I’ve had the pleasure of working for so far, taking all the best parts of how they work and combining them into the best 

When I was younger I rowed for Great Britain and was Under23 International champion in single & quad rowing boats over multiple years.  

I have a rare blood type and as such give blood donations as regularly as possible. To date, I’ve donated over 40 times.  

I became Supervising Location Manager on one of the biggest films in the world at the age of 33.

While at university I grew my hair for 9-months and it turned into an afro down to my shoulders.  

Ben Firminger's IMDB

Producer/Managing Director, Stage 32

6 Dec l Local Stories into a Global Story: What the Streamers are Looking For

As Managing Director for Stage 32, Amanda oversees operations and partnerships for the global business. She has curated over 2,000 hours of online education created exclusively for Stage 32, and works with hundreds of entertainment industry executives from around the world to serve as educators and mentors. She has spearheaded partnerships with such prestigious organisations as the Cannes Film Festival Marché du Film, American Film Market, Netflix, SXSW, Austin Film Festival, Raindance Film Festival, Hollyshorts Film Festival, PGA, WGA and DGA, as well as brands such as AT&T, Peerspace, Pond5, Mandy, Bondit Media Capital and her personal favourite partnership, Tito’s Handmade Vodka, which is the official vodka of Stage 32. 

As a television producer, she recently sold a scripted drama series to a mini-major studio and a premium unscripted show to a major US network. As a film producer, Amanda has worked on the psychological thriller What Lies Ahead starring Rumer Willis and Emma Dumont, Metaphorms, a Hungarian film, which premiered at the Raindance Film Festival and Dolphin Girl which premiered at the Oscar-qualifying Hollyshorts Film Festival. She has also helped incubate Chick Fight, starring Malin Akerman, Alec Baldwin and Bella Thorne. She is an Executive Producer on Vagic with Amy Baer at Gidden Media, as well as My Clone's an A*Hole with National Lampoon. 

Amanda has spoken all over the world at the Cannes Film Festival (France), Hollyshorts Film Festival (US), Raindance Film Festival (UK), Hamburg Film Fest (Germany), Trinidad & Tobago Film Commission (Trinidad), Black Nights Film Festival (Estonia), Fest Festival (Portugal) and Harvard (US) on the business of the entertainment industry.

Twitter & LinkedIn

Writer/Producer/CEO, Stage 32

6 Dec l Local Stories into a Global Story: What the Streamers are Looking For

Richard “RB” Botto is the Founder and CEO of Stage 32, a working screenwriter, best-selling author, actor and producer. 

As the CEO of Stage 32, RB oversees the world’s largest online tech platform connecting and educating the global entertainment industry with nearly 1 million members in the community. Stage 32 is the education partner of Netflix, the American Film Market and the Cannes Film Festival Marche du Film. 

As a screenwriter, RB has sold feature screenplays and recently set up a television series he created at a mini major studio. As a producer, his films have played at dozens of festivals including Cannes, Sundance, SXSW and Raindance. As an actor, his latest film On the Corner of Ego and Desire recently premiered at the Raindance Film Festival. RB’s book Crowdsourcing For Filmmakers: Indie Film and the Power of the Crowd, was published by Focal Press/Routledge under the American Film Market Presents banner and has hit #1 in 6 different film and business-related categories. 

RB has been a keynote speaker and panellist at such festivals and conferences as Cannes (France), AFM, Tribeca, Sundance, Raindance (UK), Austin, SXSW, Cinequest, ITVFest, Portugal FEST, Trinidad and Tobago, Filmfest Hamburg (Germany) and Winston Baker. He has also guest lectured at institutions such as Harvard, USC and Columbia University.

Twitter & Linkedin

Producer/Education Producer, Stage 32

6 Dec l Local Stories into a Global Story: What the Streamers are Looking For

Sara Elizabeth Timmins is a veteran film and television producer who recently was on the producing team of the Emmy-nominated HBO series McMillions produced by Mark Wahlberg’s production company. 

She established her production company Life Out Loud Films to create quality, inspiring impact films that champion women. Her films have been seen in theatres, HBO, The Hallmark Channel, Starz, Showtime and internationally. She has worked with Oscar & Emmy-winning talent like Jane Seymour, Ellen Burstyn, Chris Cooper, Josh Lucas and Mackenzie Foy and writers like NY Times Best Selling Author David Baldacci.

Every film she has produced has featured award-winning talent and secured international distribution. She has parlayed her success and experience producing to educate and inform the global entertainment industry through producing Stage 32 education and her consulting firm No Film School. No Trust Fund. No Problem. 

Sara Elizabeth has spoken all over the world about the entertainment industry including Stage 32 Education, the Cannes Film Festival Marche du Film and FilmTT in Trinidad and Tobago. 
Sara Elizabeth believes she has a responsibility through film to spark conversations, that inspire action, that ignites change. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from Xavier University.

Twitter

Executive Producer/Director of Education, Stage 32

6 Dec l Local Stories into a Global Story: What the Streamers are Looking For

Sam Sokolow is a highly respected television executive and 2-time Emmy nominated Executive Producer with deep experience in developing and producing television series.

Sam is currently Executive Producer of Genius, a scripted series for National Geographic Network, which he developed from book to series.

The first season of Genius depicted the life of Albert Einstein with Geoffrey Rush starring as Einstein and Ron Howard directing the pilot. Genius: Einstein garnered ten 2017 Emmy nominations including a Best Limited Series nomination for Sam.

The second season of Genius - Genius: Picasso - depicted the life of Pablo Picasso with Antonio Banderas starring as Picasso and garnered seven 2018 Emmy nominations including a Best Limited Series nomination for Sam.

The third season of Genius – Genius: Aretha - depicts the life of “The Queen Of Soul” Aretha Franklin, with Cynthia Erivo portraying Aretha and Suzan-Lori Parks showrunning. Season 4 of Genius – Genius: Martin Luther King – has been ordered and will premiere in 2022 on Disney+.
Prior, Sam served as a founder of Nice Media Studios, an independent studio based in Los Angeles and Toronto and the President of EUE/Sokolow, an independent television studio based in Los Angeles and New York and before that Sam was a founding partner of SokoLobl Entertainment, an independent television production company based in Los Angeles. While leading these companies, Sam executive produced 18 original TV series and set up dozens of television and film projects at every major studio and distributor in Hollywood.In 2000, Sam served as Co-President of Homemade Entertainment, a venture capital-backed television and media content website. In 1997, Sam co-wrote, produced and directed the award-winning independent feature film The Definite Maybe, starring Josh Lucas, Roy Scheider and Bob Balaban. In 1999, Sam became the first filmmaker to self-distribute his own feature film via the Internet, a groundbreaking digital distribution initiative that landed him on Good Morning America and in Time Magazine. Previously, Sam created and produced world-class advertising and marketing campaigns for agencies such as Wells Rich Green, Moss/Dragoti and Partners & Shevack. Sam also spent a year as a Metro & crime reporter for the New York Daily News.

Twitter

Founder, Women of Web3 

6 Dec l Web3: Decentralising the Creator Economy

Lauren Ingram is the Founder of Women of Web3, a community helping women make the leap into the world of Web 3.0 through job opportunities, learning resources and connections.

She is a marketing leader with experience in agencies and tech companies including Meta, where she was responsible for Meta’s multimillion-dollar program for female entrepreneurs, #SheMeansBusiness. As a consultant, Lauren helps brands and agencies to win in Web3 by demystifying the opportunities in this burgeoning space.  

Lauren also hosts the Women of Web3 Podcast where each week she interviews a different incredible woman making moves in Web3. 

Twitter

Producer 

6 Dec l Become a Self-Shooting PD – The Skills Needed to Succeed

Rebecca is an all-round producer with broadcast journalism training. With a varied and versatile CV, she’s worked on a range of formats filming in studio and on location in the UK and around the world. Rebecca enjoys telling compelling human interest stories that take the audience on a journey to consider unique places, personalities or perspectives.   

Most recently, she enrolled on the Screenskills course “Producing and directing on the Sony FS7” to refresh her technical knowledge and develop her strengths with storytelling whilst self-shooting. 

Producer 

7 Dec l Independents Day - Women Producing 

Sabina Smitham is a producer across features, TV and short films through her company Hinterland Pictures. Her features are in development with partners including BBCFilm, Film4 and the BFI, and her recent productions include Film4’s Joy by Alexandra Brodski (Channel 4’s Somewhere Boy) which premiered at the BFI London Film Festival, and BBCFilm’s Original Skin by Mdhamiri á Nkemi, premiering in 2023. Alongside her independent slate, Sabina freelances as a Development Producer, currently working with Disney+ on their upcoming TV productions and previously at Fable Pictures (producers of Rocks, Wild Rose, Stan & Ollie) where she developed their first TV comedy series, Channel 4’s Hullraisers, which she also worked on as Associate Producer.  

Twitter

Producer

7 Dec l Independents Day - Women Producing 

Anne Beresford is an independent producer working in film and television. Much of her work is at the junction of film, dance, music and drama. Her films often involve international collaborations and co-productions, working with both established and emerging talents. 

She is currently in post-production on the feature film Chuck Chuck Baby written and directed by Janis Pugh and supported by BFI, BBC and Ffilm Cymru Wales.

Other recent credits include the short drama Wings (BFI Network/Film London) and the performance documentary Showwomen about the subversive role of women in circus (The Space).

Anne’s work encompasses stage-to-screen cinema films such as Maxine Peake as Hamlet and Peter Grimes on Aldeburgh Beach as well as screen-to-stage productions, most recently the site-specific live version of the deaf hip hop film Here/Not Here for London Borough of Culture/Liberty Festival. 

www.anneberesford.com 

www.artemisiafilms.com 

Musician/Co-founder, The Outsider Collective/Strategy Lead, Loser Club

6 Dec l Web3: Decentralising the Creator Economy

Omotayo is a web3-native musician, co-founder of a creative community called the Outsider Collective and Strategy Lead for popular NFT project Loser Club. Now fully immersed in the world of web3, she has over a decade of experience in branding and marketing working at creative agencies with world-famous brands such as Adidas, Samsung, Vice Media, Hypebeast and many more. Since entering the web3 space just under 2 years ago, her passion for the movement continues to grow and she is a firm believer in the power of the technology made available to us through web3 as a vehicle for a meaningful paradigm shift in the economic structures of the creative industries. 

www.omotayo.co

Twitter & Linkedin 

Executive Creative Director, The Brooklyn Brothers

6 Dec | Where is Advertising Going? As Revealed by this year’s APA Collection'

Orlando started working in advertising when he accidentally got a job as an account handler in 2002. He soon realised that his calling was on the creative side and it wasn’t long before he was a writing ads at Saatchi's, creative directing many of their main clients. Since then he has worked for many of London’s top agencies, winning every major award the industry has to offer. His recent period at Engine saw him overseeing all comms for the Royal Navy. He is now ECD at The Brooklyn Brothers. 

Executive Creative Director, Leo Burnett

6 Dec | Where is Advertising Going? As Revealed by this year’s APA Collection

Elwood re-joined Leo Burnett in March 2020 as Executive Creative Director of Leo Burnett after two decades away. As ECD, Mark is responsible for the day-to-day running of Leo Burnett’s creative department, overseeing all creative work across all of Leo Burnett’s clients including McDonald’s, AXA, Premier Inn and Tui.   

Since re-joining the agency, his guidance has helped Leo Burnett’s longest-standing partner, McDonald’s, to navigate and succeed with record sales during its most challenging year with restaurants shut during the lockdown. His teams have also won at creative awards, with the iconic McDelivery ‘Lights On’ campaign winning at D&AD, The Design Week Awards and The Drum Design Awards as well as a Gold and Silver Lion in Cannes. 

At MullenLowe London, Elwood was Executive Creative Director and also crafted award-winning campaigns for The NHS, BUPA, Bahlsen, British Heart Foundation, Dunelm, Subaru and Wagamama as well as the ‘Stay Home, Protect the NHS, Save Lives’ campaign at the beginning of the Coronavirus pandemic. Elwood joined MullenLowe in October 2017 after the independent creative agency he co-founded in 2011, 101, was acquired by IPG and merged into MullenLowe.

For the six previous years, Elwood was Head of Art and Creative Director at Fallon London during which time the agency (now part of Leo Burnett), won Campaign’s agency of the year in 2006 and 2007. Prior to that, he held Head of Design positions at JWT, Euro RSCG and AMV BBDO, where he was promoted to Board Director, having moved agency side in 1996 at Leo Burnett.

Mark started his career as an apprentice typesetter, learning the craft of typography and design from day one, a subject he remains passionate about today. 

LinkedIn 

Commissioning Editor for Arts and Performance, BBC

7 Dec | Re-tune Your Pitch with SMASH 

Emma Cahusac has worked as a programme maker for more than 20 years and is currently commissioning editor for Arts and performance at BBC Television. 

Film & Entertainment Executive, Strategist & Innovator

6 Dec l Somebody Knows Something: Connecting with Your Audience

Louise is an accomplished consumer research guru and film industry strategist who has run both Global strategy at Disney and International strategy for Sony Pictures. 

An expert in understanding how consumers respond to storytelling, her work is focused on helping filmmakers and marketing teams connect with audiences around the world. She has impacted the global marketing campaigns of more than 500 name-recognition movies, from boutique independent releases to franchise and tent-pole blockbusters. 

More recently, she’s focused on technology-based solutions for content producers, spending the last 4 years co-creating a biometric tool for Sony that allows filmmakers to see, second by second, the emotional journey of their audience. Currently deployed in LA across theatrical, streaming and TV content, it is hoped that VX (‘Viewing Experience’) will soon be available in the UK. 

Operating now as a consultant gives Louise the freedom to follow the projects that feed her interest in media technology - and to continue to solve problems on behalf of the industry. 

Louise sits on the Board of Directors for BAFTA Media and Technology.

LinkedIn

Producer/Head of Development, Braintrust

7 Dec l Independents Day - Women Producing 

Following two years of working in development in Paris, Hélène joined the Producing MA at the NFTS. She has produced several short films that all competed in festivals worldwide, earning a nomination at the 44th Annie Awards for her short Fishwitch and winning the 2017 RTS Award for Best Postgraduate Drama. She was selected for the Berlinale Talents Lab, Inside Out Finance Forum and Edinburgh Talent Lab.  

Hélène worked as executive assistant / junior business & production executive at Filmwave before joining the start-up company Braintrust in 2018 as Development Executive. She was promoted to Head of Development and Producer in 2019. In this capacity, she helped secure their first commission for a children’s animated series entitled Twende, based on a pilot episode that was selected in competition at the Annecy International Animation Festival. Other projects include a live-action comedy series backed by Endeavor Content and a US-set debut feature backed by Altitude Film Sales.  

Hélène’s debut feature, Blue Jean, financed by BBC Film and the BFI and produced through her own company, Kleio Films, received its World Premiere at the Venice Film Festival 2022 in the Giornate degli Autori section where it won the People’s Choice Award. It has just been nominated for 13 BIFAs including Best Independent British Film and Breakthrough Producer.

braintrust.tv 

Twitter

Sustainability Consultant/Co-director, Sustainable Film

7 Dec | Sustainable Film: Reducing our Emissions 

Amelia has worked in Film & TV production for nearly 20 years, her career began in the production office on a variety of productions in the UK and abroad, before moving to the locations department working on large features such as Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation and Spiderman: Far From Home.  Amelia became motivated to address the unsustainable practices seen in all areas of our industry and become a force for positive change.   

She co-founded Sustainable Film in 2021 and the company is currently supporting a number of large productions in the UK and internationally. 

Amelia is an Associate member of AIEMA and co-founder of The Generator Project 

sustainablefilm.green

Twitter & LinkedIn

Director, Rogue

7 Dec | Developing and Nurturing New Talent in the current Financial Climate

Bethan is a vivacious director who creates strong visual worlds filled with bold production design and authentic performances. She's known for her colourful, powerful and playfully inventive films. Character development serves as a pivotal part of Bethan’s films, with a comedic vein running through her commercial work. This combined with her distinctive visual style led her to direct Flaps Season 2, the all-female hit sketch show for Comedy Central and Peck ‘Eds for BBC Three Comedy.   

www.bethanseller.com

President, CCS Rights Management 

7 Dec l Do the Rights Thing: Music Licensing 

In 2011, Jodie founded CCS Rights Management with a vision of a dynamic global independent company that puts artists and songwriters first, providing individualized attention and a full range of services to maximize income, elevate careers, and protect the value of their works.  Under his leadership, CCS has experienced continuous growth and significantly expanded its global reach and scope of services provided to a growing roster of award-winning and up-and-coming songwriters, artists, musicians, producers, and labels, as well as major corporate brands and other rights holders. The company manages more than 150,000 copyrights and specializes in publishing administration, royalty collections, creative services, neighbouring rights administration, and music licensing for film, TV advertising, games and other media. CCS is also the exclusive, worldwide music publishing and neighbouring rights administration company for leading global children’s entertainment company Spin Master Ltd., including PAW Patrol, a top preschool series airing in 160 countries. 

LinkedIn

Curator

6 Dec l Web3: Decentralising the Creator Economy

Angel Leung is a digital art project manager and curator who works between London and Hong Kong.   

She curated Ersilia - Body of Gateway Cities (2022), Micromégas (2021-) and co-curated Foundation: A Web3 Media Art Festival (2022-23), Virtual Bodies Micro Residency at Peer to Peer: UK/HK 2022 (2022), Birds without Legs: Body & Mobility (2022) and Digital Birth: Zooming in on NFT (2021) at Art Basel Hong Kong. 

At Videotage, she managed a number of programmes, notably Artificial Landscape (2019) at SOGO Hong Kong, Both Sides Now V-VII (2019-) with videoclub(UK), Leave Your Body Virtual Residency on Minecraft (2020-, various partners), and Hallucinatory hereafter (2022) at M+ Mediatheque. Prior to working at Videotage, she was an assistant programmer at Broadway Cinematheque in Hong Kong and organised film festivals including Hong Kong Asian Film Festival (2017) and Agnès Varda Retrospective at Le French May (2018). She finished her Master's degree in Screen Art at Université de Strasbourg in 2016 and received her Bachelor's degree in Creative Media at the City University of Hong Kong in 2009. She is also a researcher and writer on cinema. She co-edited the book David Lynch (Kubrick, 2017) while her articles were published in various media. 

She is Conference Coordinator of FOCUS 2022. 

LinkedIn 

CEO/Producer/Director, Ida Rose 

7 Dec l Independents Day - Women Producing 

Shantelle opened her company Ida Rose in 2017 with her first in-house award-winning film Two Graves which was bought by Netflix. She worked on numerous films and ran multiple companies as a CEO, head of production, producer and line producer before opening the company. 

In 2020, under Covid protocol, Shantelle produced the ‘Black British Theatre Awards’ alongside Kwame Kwei-Armah for Sky Arts. Since then, she has been working on a diverse slate of films, series, documentaries and digital projects with the first film of 2022 entitled Stolen, which is an official South African and UK co-production part funded by the BFI UK Global Screen Fund and has been bought as the first instalment of a franchise for BET+ Original.

Shantelle is the only candidate that has been awarded two funds via the UK Global Screen Fund Co-Production/International Business awards. She is also a candidate on the Breakthrough Leaders 2022 programme run by Freemantle and The TV Collective as well as a candidate on the prestigious BAFTA Elevate programme.

www.ida-rose.com 

Twitter

CEO/Founder , Orange Smarty 

6 Dec | This Just In: The Future of Global Content 

Karen is a Media and Industry professional with an established background in Sales and Marketing and whose experience spans twenty-five years in the Distribution sector.  

Since starting Orange Smarty in 2013, Karen is delighted to have seen her vision become a reality. The company has quickly established itself as one of the leading independent funding and factual specialists and boosts a catalogue of over 2000 hours of quality content including, A Place in the Sun, Michael Palin in Iraq and a substantial Royal Collection.

The company regularly delivers bumper sales to its Producer partners and has invested more than a million in content finance in the last year alone. 

Billing itself as ‘Different from the Rest’, the company offers a Smart Choice for Smart Content 

About Orange Smarty 

Orange Smarty is not just a Distribution Company, we are experts at bringing financing to the right projects ensuring they go from idea to screen.  If you are looking for a specialist approach with an unprecedented level of experience, Orange Smarty is the answer to your content finance and distribution needs. 

Orange Smarty represents over 1800 hours of quality content including a successful formats division. 

The team’s wealth of experience ensures each project benefits from a bespoke sales strategy and enhanced marketing exposure, giving you the best opportunities to increase your financial returns. 

Laser-sharp marketing and detailed insight into our client's strengths are crucial in an increasingly complex marketplace. 

As an independent, we appreciate flexibility is not a corporate buzzword, but the very basis of survival. 

Twitter

Creative Director, Brazen Productions 

6 Dec | SUE HAYES LECTURE: Inclusion, Allies and Action: An Emerging Indie Perspective on How Easy Change is

As a freelance line producer and then producer, Brazen founder Jules has always been at the forefront of forging change in mainstream drama in terms of processes and content. Jules was a consultant in the early days of Albert, an ambassador for Raising Films, and co-founder of the CallIt! App and the initiator of new, inclusive working practices in 'Ralph & Katie'. Jules has also developed and run two training initiatives for under-represented early career cast and crew. Brazen are challenging behaviour. 

brazenproductions.co.uk

Twitter

Founder/Managing Director, InZone Agency 

6 Dec l The Pulse of the City : Empowering Creatives

After 10+ years working a Nike, Batuala Alexander founded InZone Agency on the foundation of giving young people the voice and ensuring culture starts with the consumer first, and not the other way around. He is also the proud founder of a not-for-profit organisation called Creators House that supports and empowers young creatives through a free creative studio, mentoring programs and free therapy. 

LinkedIn

Director, Spindle

7 Dec | Developing and Nurturing New Talent in the current Financial Climate

Molly tells soulful and emotionally honest stories across film and photography. Packed with meaning and symbolism, her striking visuals cut straight to the heart. She has a passion for telling raw, human-centred narratives. 

Molly worked closely with the artist ‘Arlo Parks’ over a few years, helping to develop her visual identity across six music videos. Hope was nominated for ‘Best Pop video’ at the UKMVA’s 2021 and ‘Black Dog’ for ‘Best R&B / Soul’ 2020.  She worked with Oscar-nominated DOP Robbie Ryan on a domestic abuse charity advert for Women’s Aid.  Respite was nominated at 'Cannes Lions Awards 2021’ and won three awards at Creative Circle Awards 2021. She was also nominated for ‘Best New Director’ at Kinsale Shark Awards 2021 and won Gold at the British Arrows 2022, picking up ‘A Young Arrow’ award. Her film ‘Have A Word’ for the Mayor Of London received over 3b reaches. ‘Have A Word’ won a Glass Lion award at Cannes Lions 2022 and two silvers YDA’S for ‘Best Commercial’ and ‘Best Charity Commercial’. 

Linkedin

Screenwriter/Director, Knucklehead

7 Dec | Developing and Nurturing New Talent in the current Financial Climate

theo grew up in south london and watched films on his dads betamax and did tae kwon do and when he was seventeen he trained as a hairdresser but couldnt master the wet look perm so he waited tables at little chef and then manned the tills at blockbusters and if that isnt a cliche trajectory for a filmmaker then he doesnt know what is but proofs in the pudding because his first two diy shorts premiered at the bfi london film festival for two consecutive years and all the other film festivals and channel 4 picked him out of a gazillion people to make a road movie for a bafta winning show and then the bfi funded his latest film pram snatcher which had its world premier at the bfi london film festival which makes that a hatrick and the film is a proof of concept for his debut feature of the same name which got him selected for a bunch of talent labs like network@lff but that came with a price because now he cant do a reverse jumping roundhouse kick anymore but he can weirdly say any word you can think of backwards at the drop of a hat which isnt the reason he got signed to independent for narrative work or knucklehead for commercials and music videos nor is it because he hates grammar and capital letters but despite having the confidence to say hes pretty fucking good at his job he lets his work speaks for itself which is always the moment he wishes he liked full stops 

www.theojameskrekis.com

Virtual Production Supervisor, Lux Machina

7 Dec l Shooting in Virtual Locations - LED Volumes        

Chris Bouchard is a Virtual Production Supervisor at Lux Machina Consulting and also an award-winning filmmaker. Lux Machina is one of the leading innovators of In-Camera Visual Effects who developed the technologies for the massive LED Virtual Production Volume used for The Mandalorian Season One with ILM. Lux has recently designed and operated the LED Volume for a number of current major Film and Television projects including HBO's House of the Dragon and has rapidly grown to become a global leader in the technology. 

Chris has 20 years of experience in the visual effects and film industry. Before Lux Machina he worked on Industrial Light and Magic's Stagecraft team, including on the LED volume shoot for Antman 3: Quantumania (2023), as well as developing tools and new workflows for large-scale virtual shoots. Before that he worked for a number of visual effects companies including Framestore and Technicolor, as a technologist, engineer and workflow innovator, developing tools, and best practices for new cameras and working on-set as a DIT and colour grading engineer.  

Chris is also a producer and director, having shot several feature films, that leverage the latest technology of the time. His award-winning Tolkien fan film The Hunt for Gollum (2009) was a break-out success on the Internet and used various innovative visual effects. His passion is implementing the latest tech and creative workflows in practically effective ways, to help filmmakers bring ambitious stories to the screen. 

www.luxmc.com

Lux Machina is a member of NEP Virtual Studios 

Lead for Immerse UK, Innovate UK KTN 

7 Dec | XR - The Business Model for Immersive

Asha Easton is currently Innovate UK KTN’s Lead for Immerse UK, the UK’s national innovation network for immersive technology professionals. The organisation works to grow the immersive tech industry in the UK, and make the ecosystem across the country less fragmented by facilitating connections between private companies, the academic community, and the government. Asha is particularly passionate about helping to promote diversity & inclusion in the industry. She is one of the original members of the London chapter of Women in Immersive Tech (WiiT), a co-founder of the XR Diversity Initiative, and an ED&I advisor to Europe’s first Metaverse fund, FOV Ventures. 

Twitter & LinkedIn 

International Promotion Manager, Film Paris Region 

7 Dec | Sustainable Film: Reducing our Emissions 

Lola is the International Promotion Manager at the Paris Region Film Commission, known as Film Paris Region, which supports French and foreign productions that wish to produce in one of the most dynamic ecosystems in the world. 

Holding diplomas from the University of Leeds (BA English Literature and Theatre Studies), University of Bristol (MA Film and Television Studies) and IESA (MBA Funding and Cultural Production), she has been involved in the cultural sector in the fields of cinema, theatre and art for several years, working on exhibits and productions.  

After two years working on sustainability issues regarding the audiovisual sector as part of the Paris Region team, and rich of fifteen years spent living abroad, she aims for her new position to reconcile international projects with green ambitions. 

LinkedIn

Head of Programmes, BAFTA 

7 Dec | Driving Change with BAFTA Elevate

London-based Mariayah Kaderbhai studied French and Cinema at Queen Mary’s College, University of London and Paris. She began her career at the BFI and then joined BAFTA, where she is Head of Programmes, overseeing industry events and initiatives across film, television and games industries. She works across  events, research and policy to ensure the screen industries become more inclusive across all unrepresented groups on and off screen and reflect the society we live in. She has also worked on Al Jazeera's former flagship film show The Fabulous Picture Show' as a producer/journalist. 

Mariayah has interviewed cinema greats as Penelope Cruz, Jake Gyllenhaal, JJ Abrams, Jacques Audiard, Spike Lee, Ron Howard, Tom Hanks, Thomas Vinterberg, Daniel Kaluyya, Timothée Chalamet, Anthony Hopkins, Mira Nair, Stephen Frears, Nicole Kidman, Steve Carell and Riz Ahmed among many more. 

She has just completed her Masters Degree in Media and the Middle East at SOAS, University of London, focussing on the geopolitics of the Middle East, her thesis focussed on the representation of Muslims on TV in the UK BBC. Her research fed into USC Annenberg’s study of Muslim Representation in Film & Television. 

Twitter & LinkedIn

Producer

7 Dec | Driving Change with BAFTA Elevate

Alexander Newland has worked in the screen industries for more than 25 years, producing shorts, commercials and music promos. Alexander is passionate about making the industry more equitable, and in his spare time works on Breaking Through The Lens, a project connecting female and non-binary filmmakers to potential financiers at market. 

He started out in the industry as an actor, making his screen debut in A Touch of Frost (1994), with Cracker (1994), Wire in the Blood (2005), Silent Witness (2013) and Cast Offs (2009) among his following credits. He moved into producing with his first short, The Invader’s Song (2019), and has since made Friends in the Corner (2020), Petra (2021) and Tiny Vessels (2022). He has two further shorts in post-production and recently wrapped on his first feature as a producer, Up on the Roof (tba). Elsewhere, he co-founded creative technology company, Visual Voice, in 2011, working on groundbreaking campaigns with the likes of Sky, Adobe and Lexus.  

Alexander is driven by a passion for film and loves the challenge of making a creative vision a reality. He currently has a diverse slate of projects on the go, including a television series, Powdered and Dancing, and a female-driven werewolf film entitled Alpha. 

Producer

7 Dec | Driving Change with BAFTA Elevate

Ameenah Ayub Allen is a BAFTA-nominated and BIFA-winning producer, who was named as one of Screen International’s Stars of Tomorrow in 2018. A year later she completed Rocks (2019), directed by Sarah Gavron and produced with Faye Ward. The critically acclaimed film earned seven BAFTA nominations, including Outstanding British Film, and won for Casting. It also won five British Independent Film Awards (BIFA), including Best British Independent Film. 

Following a BA in Film & Drama and an MA in Theatre Directing, Ameenah began her career at the BBC where she worked as an assistant director. Her first role as an assistant producer was on Brick Lane (2007), serendipitously directed by Gavron. Following this, she produced several short films, one of which was shortlisted for an Oscar (The Road Home, 2010), and documentaries, notably Erase and Forget (2017), which was nominated for the Original Documentary Award at Berlinale. 

Most recently, she co-produced Clio Barnard's Ali & Ava (2021), which was nominated for two BAFTAs and won two BIFAs, having worked across all Barnard's features - most notably The Selfish Giant. Carol Morley's Typist Artist Pirate King, produced with Cairo Cannon is currently in post. In 2021, Ameenah completed the prestigious film business training and leadership programme, Inside Pictures, as well as Film London’s Breaking the Glass Ceiling. 

Producer 

7 Dec | Driving Change with BAFTA Elevate

Barrington Paul Robinson is a creative producer who quit his 15-year job working in finance to follow his passion for the screen arts. Named as a Screen International Star of Tomorrow in 2006 and one of the UK Film Council’s Breakthrough Brits two years later, Barrington has built up a catalogue of short films that have been screened at film festivals around the world. He is also a BFI Insight Producer (2020-2021), BFI NETWORK x BAFTA Crew participant (2020-2021) and an Edinburgh International Film Festival Talent Lab alumnus (2012). 

After producing several short films over the past 15-plus years, in 2021, Barrington broke into high-end television, co-producing four episodes and producing the final episode of the BBC’s The Responder (2022). He currently has two more shorts in post, and has just finished producing three episodes of Sky’s A Town Called Malice, due for broadcast in 2023. 

Now living in north-west England, Barrington has been working with exciting local talent to develop film and television ideas through his own production company, Redbag Pictures. Equally, after co-founding and delivering the BFI Network’s Creative Producers Lab for the North and Midlands Film Hubs, he is helping to build a stronger producer network in both regions. 

Producer 

7 Dec | Driving Change with BAFTA Elevate

Dominique Webb is a film and television producer of high-end drama and documentaries. She is no stranger to BAFTA, having been a member of BFI NETWORK x BAFTA Crew – the development and networking programme for emerging and mid-level creatives – for several years. Dominique was also selected to take part in the Edinburgh International Film Festival Talent Lab in 2019 and Creative Enterprise’s Market Trader 2020. 

Her breakout film was the theatrically released Lapwing (2021), which she executive produced and was directed by Philip Stevens, director of several of her previous short films. These shorts were made with the support of Creative England, the BFI and BBC and were screened at various BAFTA and Academy Awards-qualifying film festivals. Two of these, The Knock (2016) and Going Country (2019), went on to win festival awards. Two feature-length films, Bloom and Brethren, are supported by the BFI and Ffilm Cymru and have been selected for industry development programmes. 

Dominique founded her own production company in 2017, Inceptive Films, which is based in the east Midlands and was supported by Creative England’s Business Builder in 2021. She currently has a range of projects in development, including a feature adaptation of true story The Race Against the Stasi (tba), which is currently out to directors. 

Founder/CEO, Aviary Films

6 Dec | The Convergence of Film & Games The Gallery Case Study

Schooled at St. Paul's, Darjeeling and Gordonstoun, Scotland; Neville graduated from Cambridge University with a degree in English Literature before qualifying as a chartered accountant in London with Arthur Andersen. He entered the entertainment industry in 1982. Over the next 20 years he worked in the production, distribution and exhibition  sectors. He held various executive positions until 2002 with Paramount, UIP (the Universal/Paramount/MGM-UA joint venture), Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow. His last executive position was as CEO of Village Roadshow’s cinema operations in Switzerland. He became an independent film producer in 2002 and has since completed 7 feature films and 1 interactive film/FMV Game hybrid. 

www.aviaryfilms.co.uk

LinkedIn

Film Writer/Director, Aviary Films 

6 Dec | The Convergence of Film & Games The Gallery Case Study

Paul Raschid is a London-based filmmaker with 8 narrative writing/directing credits to his name. 5 of these are interactive films or live-action (FMV) video games. His last linear feature film White Chamber was selected for 10 film festivals around the world in 2018, including Edinburgh, Sitges, Frightfest, Mumbai, BIFAN and Brussels. Lead actress Shauna Macdonald received the BAFTA Scotland Best Actress award for her tour-de-force performance and the film was available on Netflix between August 2019 and February 2021. Thereafter, Paul’s interactive titles include: The Complex starring Michelle Mylett and Kate Dickie. Deathtrap Dungeon: The Golden Room starring Georgia Hirst. Five Dates starring Marisa Abela and Mandip Gill. It's forthcoming sequel ’Ten Dates’ starring Rosie Day and Meaghan Martin. His latest interactive title, The Gallery, stars Anna Popplewell and George Blagden - it was recently selected for the Dinard Film Festival where it held three interactive cinema screenings. 

www.paulraschid.com

Twitter & LinkedIn

Inclusion & Accessibility Consultant, Broadcaster and Social Entrepreneur 

6 Dec | Disability and ITV

Shani Dhanda is one of the UK's highest-profile and most influential disability activists and a multi-award-winning inclusion specialist, working with global companies, broadcasters and the UK government to break barriers and integrate intersectional inclusion and accessibility into their frameworks. As an influential woman in leadership and social entrepreneur, Shani has taken change into her own hands and founded numerous organisations to improve representation and challenge social inequality globally - Diversability, Asian Woman Festival and Asian Disability Network. Shani has been recognised with over 21 awards for her inclusion and activism work.

www.shanidhanda.com

Twitter & LinkedIn

Senior HETV Training Liaison Manager, ScreenSkills

6 Dec | Get Set Ready: Ahead of the curve on Access Coordinators

Jacqui is the senior high-end TV training liaison manager at ScreenSkills and manages the day-to-day relationships with all high-end television-related training providers, public bodies, production companies and key industry contacts across the UK, working with them to ensure high-quality training is delivered that outcome-focused and supports the expansion, growth, and inclusive makeup of the workforce in high-end Drama. 

Prior to this Jacqui was Head of Production Talent at the BBC in Drama and Comedy where she was responsible for crewing up and training and developing talent. 

Linkedin

Talent Agent & Access Coordinator

6 Dec | Get Set Ready: Ahead of the curve on Access Coordinators

Abbie Hills is a talent agent, access coordinator and producer. She founded her talent agency The Dazey Hills Company age 23. Abbie has cerebral palsy and is an advocate for diversity and inclusion within the Film and Television industry.  

abbiehills.uk 

LinkedIn

Founder/Executive Producer, Bridge06

6 Dec | Get Set Ready: Ahead of the curve on Access Coordinators

Sara Johnson is an industry-leading executive producer, with a career spanning over 25 years. She started as a script editor on EastEnders before moving to Sky as Head of Drama. She held many roles in the production world including Head of Co-Productions and Executive Producer at Keshet, and was responsible for bringing The A Word to the UK. She was Vice President of Scripted at Fox Networks EMEA and Creative Director at Endor Productions before she left to found her company Bridge06.  

Bridge06 is a creative and strategic consultancy created to improve Disability representation for the Media and Entertainment industries and beyond. It was founded on Sara’s years as a parent carer and CODA and fuelled by her passion to connect, amplify and embolden individuals and organisations alike. Bridge06 was responsible for the recent About Time event at BAFTA to tackle the problems of onscreen representation. On the back of the call out from Underlying Health Condition, they carried out the ScreenSkills HETV-funded training of Access Coordinators, and are now rolling out the position across the industry. 

www.bridge06.com 

Twitter

Producer

Dec 7 l The UK Production Boom - How the Nations and Regions are the UK's Superpower 

Louise started her career at the BBC in Belfast working in production across Radio, TV and Online services. She flew the BBC nest and started working on independent shorts and features, producing her first feature film A Bump Along The Way, starring Bronagh Gallagher and Lola Petticrew.  She joined Hattrick at the start of 2020 to run their most westerly outpost in Belfast, seeking out new and exciting projects from across Ireland. Louise is the recent recipient of an IFTA for best short film Rough, and is co-creator and Executive Producer of Blue Lights, co-produced with Two Cities Television and BBC Drama. 

Drama Consultant/Executive Producer 

7 Dec | The Role of the Showrunner

Dominic Schreiber is an experienced consultant and exec producer who has worked with leading independent production companies, distributors and broadcasters to develop, package and finance numerous international co-productions. 

Dominic was most recently SVP of Co-Productions and Acquisitions for Newen Connect, the international distribution arm of France’s leading producer of audiovisual content. During his time at Newen, he was responsible for scripted co-productions across the group, working closely with Newen’s in-house production companies as well as third-party producers and creators. In addition, he oversaw the acquisition of scripted series from independent producers in the UK and other English-speaking territories. 

Dominic also set up and oversaw a slate of drama series at Reel One Entertainment, which was acquired by Newen in 2019, including an English-language remake of the award-winning Belgian drama series Team Chocolate. 

Dominic was previously International Development Manager at Channel 4, where he was responsible for developing the channel’s drama co-production strategy and helped to structure its first international co-production with Kudos Film and Television, for the hit supernatural drama series Humans. 

LinkedIn

Co-founder, Creative Zero 

7 Dec | Sustainable Film: Reducing our Emissions 

While running a London photo studio for a decade, Roxy Erickson was determined to move the industry into the green economy and proclaimed the studio the “Most sustainable photo, film and event space in the World”. This was partially in hope that other businesses would communicate their efforts with her. Speaking engagements and client requests led to consulting other creative companies on what they can do to transition to lower-emission ways of working. 

She joined forces with Tim Paton (Commercial Director, Magnum). Both with an understanding of what a cooperative agency can offer to advance the sustainability efforts of the industry, they formed Creative Zero, bringing sustainability minds together to work collaboratively for their clients. Creative Zero has recently partnered with Film London to deliver The Fuel Report, a summation of research on the low emission-transformation needed within film industry transport and power generation.   

Roxy is an Associate with the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA) and is certified by the University of Cambridge's Institute for Sustainable Learning (CISL) in Business Sustainability Management. She volunteers as Co-Chair for the Governance Committee for the global entertainment industry action group partnering with the United Nations, currently known as Entertainment Net Zero Accord (ENZA). 

Founder/Managing Director, Cosmopolitan Production Services

7 Dec | A Guide to Immigration for the UK film and TV industry  

Victoria is the founder and Managing Director of Cosmopolitan Production Services: an immigration company specialising in film, TV and theatre. Created in 2011, Cosmopolitan has worked with some of the biggest names and studios in the world: Disney, Marvel, Universal, Paramount, Netflix, Amazon, Apple TV, Working Title and Lucasfilm – to name a few. Victoria is a regular participant in panels and industry discussions and an advocate for the entertainment industry. Cosmopolitan’s ethos is to provide production companies working in the UK with the most effective, time sensitive and efficient solutions, while upholding immigration laws and ensuring that the post-Brexit landscape can be effectively navigated by the thriving UK film and TV industry. 

Partner, Film & TV, Lee & Thompson LLP  

6 Dec l Money on My Mind – Financing Your Projects

Anwen is a Partner in Lee & Thompson’s Film & TV Group. 

An experienced media finance specialist, Anwen is widely regarded as one of the UK’s leading film, TV and video games finance lawyers.  She returned to Lee & Thompson as a Partner in March 2019 having originally left the firm in 2012.   Recognising the increasing convergence between the traditional film and television industries and the wider gaming and interactive entertainment market, Anwen has built a practice which is a real reflection of the ever-changing global entertainment business, enabling her to respond fully to clients’ needs. 

She started her career in film production and then trained as a lawyer, spending 6 years at Olswang. In 2010 she joined Lee & Thompson and subsequently moved to Sheridans to become a Partner in their Film, TV & Broadcasting team. In 2017 she moved to the BFI where she was responsible for overseeing all legal aspects of the BFI’s funding activities.  For the past four years, Anwen has also been on the board of Ffilm Cymru Wales. 

LinkedIn

Co-founder, T A P E Collective 

6 Dec | A Winning Film Festival Strategy

Isra (she/her) has a background in events management and community spaces and cinemas. She is the co-founder of  T A P E Collective and has curated for London Short Film Festival, BFI Southbank and Aesthetica Short Film Festival. Isra has more recently worked with BIFA, Inclusive Cinema, Independent Film Trust and London Film Festival, Habibi Collective and Shasha with a focus on audience development and outreach. In addition to her work with T A P E she is currently the Head Of Programmes and Audience Development with Birds' Eye View.   

tapecollective.co.uk 

LinkedIn

6 Dec | A Winning Film Festival Strategy

Suzy Gillett has been empowering emerging talent across international independent film for over three decades in various capacities as a Script Development Producer of international film script development labs: Low Budget Film Forum, Lagos Lab; Making Waves, Film Garage, BFI & BBC’s iFeatures and Les Arcs Talent Village. Edit Consultant First Cut Lab, Course Leader of the Barbican Young Programmers/ Chronic Youth, Teacher Documentary Filmmaking at ESAV Marrakech and UNATC Romania. Festival Programmer Mosaïques, Film Africa 2013, Women’s Cinema from Tangiers to Tehran, Marrakech Biennale. Writer/Director Chéramy (Produced by Dublin Films) her first feature, inspired by Frédéric Bazille, the forgotten impressionist, pioneer of Queer Art, which has received funding from France: CNC, Région Nouvelle Aquitaine and Procirep-Angoa and Region Occitanie, co-written with Nadja Dumouchel, Jury Ciné Maubit, Bucharest, Cap Spartel, Tangiers, Lago Film Festival, Italy, Gabes Cinema Fen, Tunisia, Short Waves, Poland. Content Curator of the industry talks for We Are UK Film Cannes, 2022, and Focus – The Meeting Place for International Production, 2021& 2022.

LinkedIn

CEO, Onextra

7 Dec | The In-Camera VFX Hype Cycle

Born in 1982, Giacomo Talamini dedicated his whole career to independent filmmaking. In 2009 he directed the ultra-low budget sci-fi feature film Philanthropy, a project inspired by the Metal Gear Solid videogame saga that rapidly became an Internet sensation and a collaborative case history featured by Italian and international press. 

Since 2012 he has been the CEO of Hive Division, a production company and VFX studio specialising in highly technical and innovative projects, often featuring languages hybridized with videogames. 

Since 2015 he has operated as a producer for feature films and high-budget ads. 

In 2022 he became CEO of Onextra, a joint venture between Hive Division and the videogame company Centounopercento, which focuses on In-Camera VFX and Virtual Production. 

LinkedIn

Business Consultant, Pact

7 Dec | In Conversation with Mike Goodridge, CEO, Good Chaos

Jules Robinson has 30+ years of experience working with media and content creation businesses. He studied business studies with a focus on marketing and then worked for several broadcasters working with their commercial clients at ITV, CNBC, Discovery and Viacom, running their pan-European business and creating unique content and events for MTV. He then moved to the NBA to help their clients and brand partners to get value from their association with the league and then joined Pinewood Studios as Head of Business Development. More recently he has been a consultant for companies such as Pact, BBC, ScreenSkills, Bossa Studios, & Marlow Films Studios where he has helped develop commercial strategies and new partnerships. When he’s not working with clients, he’s riding his bike, watching rugby and trying to keep up with his children and wife. 

LinkedIn

Web-editor, The Location Guide

6 Dec l High Flyers: Learning from LA Location Pros

6 Dec l The Pulse of the City : Empowering Creatives

As a writer and storyteller, Kianna has taken her experiences and skills gained along her travels and relocations to Barbados and Atlanta, and has brought them all to her current role as an editor at The Location Guide. With a BA in Comparative Literature and Culture with International Film from Royal Holloway University of London, and as the former film and television editor for Orbital Magazine, Kianna's work continues to reflect the critical thinking developed during her course and an open communication with those who she writes for. 

LinkedIn

CEO/Executive Producer, Make It Happen Studio 

7 Dec | The Role of the Showrunner

Sydney Gallonde, the French producer of Harlan Coben-penned No Second Chance, launched Make it Happen Studio in 2017, a Paris-based independent production outfit. Financially backed by Alliance Entreprendre, a private equity subsidiary of Natixis group, Make it Happen Studio is dedicated to producing premium drama for French and international audiences. The company has also signed a first-look deal with MGM International TV Productions. 

Make It Happen Studio is producing and will release three productions in 2022: The Reunion, based on Guillaume Musso’s bestselling novel La jeune fille et la nuit, starring Ioan Gruffudd, produced with France TV, RAI, ZDF (The Alliance) and worldwide distributed by MGM International TV Productions; Last Light, starring Matthew Fox, for NBC Peacock, Viaplay (Nordic territories), Stan (Australia), MBC; and The fragile colossus (Le colosse aux pieds d’argile) starring Eric Cantona for TF1.

Twitter & LinkedIn

Self-shooting PD (factual) & Writer/Director (narrative) 

6 Dec l Become a Self-Shooting PD – The Skills Needed to Succeed

JIJO is an emerging freelance director, producer and screenwriter, most recently working as Deputy Head of Creative and Senior Director at RDContent. Spanning documentary, narrative and commercial worlds, his visual storytelling explores humanism, contemporary culture and systems of power. 

Raised between India and the UK, his pursuit of impact storytelling has earned recognitions such as IMDb’s New Filmmaker of the Year, a Cannes Young Director Award nomination, Best Director at the LA Music Video Awards 2021, Best Documentary at Cannes Short Film Festival, a place on BFI x BAFTA Crew 2021 and most recently, BAFTA Connect. 

Human stories are the heart of his work, investigating issues like social justice, human rights, the environment and culture, in over 60 countries for clients including Google, Microsoft, National Geographic, Ernst & Young, Universal Music Group, BBC Studios, TIME and The Guardian. He also regularly works as a self-shooting producer/director, with broadcast credits PD’ing for BBC2, BBC4, Paramount+, Channel 4, Discovery Asia and Film Division India. 

His independent documentary work has previewed at Sundance London 2020, receiving BFI YACF and Creative England support, and most recently, he produced Trust Me - an experimental documentary short on mental health supported by the BFI Doc Society, produced through his production company Just Be Nice Studios, releasing in 2023.

JIJO’s aim is to continue creating cinematic stories that foster empathy and challenge minds. 

jijo.work

LinkedIn

Founder, SheSays/The WEI

6 Dec | She Says: Creative Leadership in the Screen Industries Workshop 

Ale Lariu is a former Executive Creative Director at the global firm Frog Design. She was in Fast Company’s “League of Extraordinary Women” with Hillary Clinton and "Most Creative People in Business" list. She holds 18 global industry awards and is a TEDx speaker. In 2007, Ale co-founded SheSays, a vibrant community of creative women which now has more than 70,000 members in 55 cities. She is now launching SheSays’ career development platform The WEI. 

weareshesays.com

LinkedIn

COO/CFO, Warp Films

Dec 7 l The UK Production Boom - How the Nations and Regions are the UK's Superpower 

Niall is COO/CFO of Sheffield-based Warp Films. He joined the company in 2006. 

As COO, Niall is responsible for the day-to-day running of the company. He works in conjunction with the Joint CEOs, Mark Herbert and Peter Carlton driving medium and long-term strategy. The company recently secured investment from Channel 4’s Indie Growth Fund and has an ambitious 5-year plan for expansion in the region.   

As CFO, Niall is responsible for the finances of the main production company and overall financial control of the SPVs set up for each production. He is an integral part of the 'business' core of the company, made up of Finance, Production and Business Affairs whose remit is to ensure the interests of the company are served throughout the lifetime of each production and also that the company adapts to the changing methods of funding, production, marketing and distribution. 

Niall’s production credits include Producer on The Last Panthers TV series, Executive Producer on feature films Ghost Stories and Everybody’s Talking About Jamie and Associate Producer on The Stone Roses: Made of Stone documentary. 

He also sits on the ScreenSkills HETV Council and is chair of the Regions working group. 

International Features Editor, Variety 

6 Dec l The Essential Guide to Working with a Sales Agent 

Leo Barraclough is international features editor for Variety, based in London. Prior to that he was managing editor at Screen International, and deputy editor at Moving Pictures. He has spoken at numerous international events including CineEurope, Mipcom and Cannes Film Festival. 

Producer

Dec 7 l The UK Production Boom - How the Nations and Regions are the UK's Superpower 

Suzanne started her career at Channel 4 working on numerous sponsorship and branding campaigns. She has worked in a production capacity with many acclaimed filmmakers including Terry Gilliam, Nicolas Winding Refn, Kevin Mcdonald and Lone Scherfig. 

She has worked as Production Manager on feature films The Flying Scotsman, Stone of Destiny, The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus, Valhalla Rising, The Eagle, One Day, Railway Man and The Correspondence. She also line-produced low-budget films Outpost, Up There and Shell along with TV series Peaky Blinders and TV movie King Charles III. 

Alongside working on her own slate of projects Suzanne has co-produced feature films Moon Dogs, What We Did on Our Holidays and TV series Curfew and Third Day. She has also produced five short films. 

Suzanne produced TV series Guilt for Lionsgate, Trust Me for BBC1 and recently The Rig for Amazon Prime. 

Head of Production/Producer, Vox Pictures

Dec 7 l The UK Production Boom - How the Nations and Regions are the UK's Superpower 

Llyr Morus started his career working in production over 28 years ago - working initially on Light Entertainment shows in studio and on location before moving into Children's Television. 22 years ago he started working in Drama, working both in Welsh and English and working his way up from Runner to Production Executive and Executive Producer.  His career has seen him work in the independent sector as well as being a staff member at BBC Wales and BBC Studios for many years. His credits as Production Executive include Upstairs Downstairs, Wizards vs Aliens, The Game, Eric & Ernie and Under Milk Wood. Llyr is a keen advocate of developing new talent within the industry and was the BBC representative on many development boards and Executive Producer on the It's My Shout short film scheme for 4 years - a scheme that has been successful in introducing many new diverse talents to the industry.   

Currently, Llyr holds the position of Producer and Head of Production at Cardiff-based Vox Pictures, joining the company in 2019 with recent credits including Un Bore Mercher/Keeping Faith 3, Cyswllt, Fflam and Dal y Mellt as Producer and The Trick as Line Producer.

Head of Mental Health and Wellbeing, Film and TV Charity 

7 Dec l A Toolkit to Embed Mentally Healthy Productions

Lucy is a policy, stakeholder relations and advocacy expert, who specialises in mental health, workplace wellbeing and anti-bullying, harassment and discrimination interventions. As Head of Mental Health and Wellbeing at the Film and TV Charity, Lucy also researches and develops new resources and services. She’s currently planning a behaviour-change campaign aimed at bullying and harassment in early 2023. 

Lucy sits on the BAFTA/BFI steering group on Bullying and Harassment, the ScreenSkills Mental Health Training+ working group, and she chairs the Film and TV Charity's working group on Bullying and Collective Accountability. She’s previously worked at Mind, Comic Relief and the BBC, and is a Clore Social Fellow and ‘Emerging Leader of 2022’. 

CEO, Molinare/Co-founder & Chairman, Pip Studios

6 Dec | Global Post-Production: The Allure of the UK as a World-Class Hub for Post & VFX

Nigel Bennett is the CEO of leading creative post-production facility, Molinare and Co-founder & Chairman of audio post-production and localisation studio, Pip Studios.  

With a track record of identifying opportunities and growing profitable creative businesses, as CEO at Molinare, Nigel oversees the commercial and operational strategic vision for the company. Since joining in 2019, Nigel has driven Molinare to diversify, brokering key partnerships to strengthen the company’s proposition in the market.  

Prior to joining Molinare in 2019, Nigel was the Group Director of Creative Services at Pinewood Group, a position he has held since 2014, where he oversaw the opening of Pinewood Digital in Atlanta.  

Starting his career in post, Nigel worked his way up from Re-Recording Mixer, through Operations Management across Film, TV and Games, Head of Operations of Digital Content Services, up to his most recent role.

Twitter & LinkedIn

Supervising Location Manager

6 Dec l High Flyers: Learning from LA Location Pros

Leann Emmert (LMGI) is a Supervising Location Manager based in Los Angeles, California.  With a passion for photography, exploring new places and people and finding that PERFECT LOCATION for every film, she landed her dream job.  

With 23 years of experience, she has had the opportunity to add her creative vision to many features, including Minority Report, Lincoln, Django Unchained, Transformers 1, 3 & 4, Dark Knight Rises, Kong: Skull Island, and most recently The Fabelmans and Rebel Moon.  Her work has brought her to all corners of the United States and she has extensive experience in Australia, Vietnam, Hồng Kong, Japan, South Korea, Iceland, Greenland and Finland. 

She was featured in an ad for Microsoft Surface Pro in 2017  and has appeared on various podcasts and news articles over the years.  She has also spoken on a panel at Comic-Con, as well as at various universities and high schools, including teaching a class at AFI for Graduate Students. 

When not travelling for work, HOME with her partner is where her heart is.

Development Executive, Film and TV Charity

7 Dec l A Toolkit to Embed Mentally Healthy Productions

Anna is a former TV Senior Head of Production and industry diversity and mental health champion who joined the Film and TV Charity in October 2022 as Development Executive for their Whole Picture Toolkit, the Charity’s free and easy-to-use online resource for productions to use to improve mental health and wellbeing. In her role Anna leads the delivery and development of the Toolkit, driving the Charity’s ambition to embed mentally healthy productions as an industry standard, and supporting long-term positive change for the charity’s beneficiaries: the film and TV workforce.   

Anna has worked at Raw TV, where she managed a slate of programmes for National Geographic and CNN and previous she was at the BBC where as Senior Head of Production she managed a range of Factual departments before heading up Production Management at BBC News and Current Affairs. Her credits there included Panorama, Louis Theroux and Newsnight.  She launched a disability scheme called ‘Extend in BBC News’ to support production and journalistic staff with TV, audio and digital career opportunities. 

Film Festival Programmer

6 Dec | A Winning Film Festival Strategy

Manish Agarwal is a film festival programmer who has worked for the BFI London Film Festival, Edinburgh International Film Festival, Overnight Film Festival, London Short Film Festival, UnderWire, Rio Cinema, East End Film Festival, Fringe! Queer Film & Arts Fest, Birds Eye View, The Quietus, Secretly Group, MOJO, Kerrang! and Time Out. He lives in London. 

manishagarwal.net

Twitter

Managing Director, Park Pictures

7 Dec | David Reviews Shoptalk - Around the World in 80 Shoots

Fran is a multi-award winning executive producer with over twenty-five years of experience and has worked alongside some of the industry’s best creative minds and technicians across the UK and America, including Kate Bush, Georgia Hudson, Aoife McArdle, FKA Twigs, Frank Budgen, John Hillcoat, Nicolas Winding Refn and Yann Demange.  

Thompson has produced award-winning campaigns for Nike, Lego, NHS, British Airways, Adidas, Virgin Media, H&M, Sky Mobile, Carlsberg, Waitrose, British Heart Foundation and many more.  

Most recently, Thompson produced All of This Unreal Time directed by Aoife McArdle, starring Cillian Murphy which premiered at The Tribeca Film Festival 2022.  

Having been freelance for over 20 years Fran joined the Park Pictures team at the beginning of this year: “When Jackie [Kelman Bisbee] and Lance [Accord] asked me to come on board, it felt like an opportunity I could not allow to pass by. The talent on the roster is exceptional and it’s any producer’s dream to collaborate with such directors, to help realise their ambitions, and to lead Park Pictures London into their most creatively ambitious stage yet.”  

Fran is an ardent vintage tractor spotter. 

Co-Managing Director, Academy Films 

7 Dec | David Reviews Shoptalk - Around the World in 80 Shoots

Simon Cooper is a lifer - he joined Academy Films straight out of university in 1987, and thirty-five years later he is co-owner and joint-Managing Director. In fairness, it hasn’t been an entirely unbroken spell as, in 1991, he was released on parole to travel the world with only his camera for company. He found his way back to London after four years… Older, wiser and with a heap of undeveloped camera film.  

Working as a freelancer, he began producing for Jonathan Glazer, who was blowing up in a highly promising fashion, The pair formed a formidable partnership which continues to this day, and although Glazer, as director, quite rightly receives most of the plaudits for the commercials and music videos they’ve made together, everyone in the industry understands how much the director has benefitted from Cooper’s wise counsel, constant capability and calmness in the heat of battle.

In the late 1990s, Academy Films cornered Simon Cooper in Soho and lured him back to their office with exotic cheese, and having secured his services on a full-time basis, they paired him with the likes of Frederic Planchon, Seb Edwards and anyone else who needed a top, top producer for an important project.  

Cooper stepped away from day-to-day production in 2017, concentrating instead on finding and nurturing young talent as one of London’s finest EPs alongside co-owner Medb Riordan. 

Director, Rattling Stick

7 Dec | David Reviews Shoptalk - Around the World in 80 Shoots

Daniel Kleinman is not only one of the best commercials directors in the world, but he’s also one of the most popular people in the whole advertising industry. During a distinguished career, he has garnered a heap of recognition from his peers including top awards at Cannes Lions, D&AD, the New York One Show, the British Arrows, and the Clios.  

Rattling Stick – the company he co-founded with Ringan Ledwidge and Johnnie Frankel in 2006 – has been similarly admired and honoured. In addition to the individual awards won by its directors, the company itself was voted top production house for six consecutive years by Televisual, and has been Production Company of the Year at the British Arrows on four occasions.

After Hornsey Art School, Daniel began a career as an illustrator in 1983, working on storyboards in the emerging music promo scene. He swiftly moved on to directing, becoming a pioneer in the use of post-production special effects, and picking up awards for collaborations with artists such as ZZ Top, Fleetwood Mac, Prince and Madonna.  

Unsurprisingly, he was soon invited to begin making TVCs, and he immediately became one of the most ‘in demand’ directors in the world. During a purple patch that continues to this day, he has directed world-famous work for John West, Guinness, Johnnie Walker, Audi, Boddingtons and many more.

Daniel has also directed eight of the last nine title sequences in the James Bond franchise, and has directed award-winning work for television including Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse’s Smashie & Nicey - The End Of An Era, which won the Golden Rose at Montreux.  

Busy as ever, he’s just completing a new comedy special for the BBC. During his rare breaks from work, he enjoys playing the ukulele and tending to his garden. 

Head of Production, Mother London

7 Dec | David Reviews Shoptalk - Around the World in 80 Shoots

Anna Murray is Head of Production at Mother London, working across all the agency’s integrated projects and delivering multi-channel campaigns. The shop continues to fly high as one of the world’s most highly regarded advertising agencies, with an enviable reputation as one of the coolest places to work in any creative industry.  

People like Anna Murray make a huge contribution to sustaining this reputation… She is incredibly passionate about the craft and quality of creative work. During her eleven years at the agency, she has spearheaded the production of some of Mother’s most famous and awarded campaigns for clients including IKEA, MoneySuperMarket, Samsung, Boots and Stella Artois.  

Prior to arriving at Mother, Anna worked at The Leith Agency, Ogilvy & Mather, BMB and BBH, producing work across accounts that included Levi’s, Audi, British Airways, KFC and Vodafone.  

Today, she is one of the most admired and well-liked people working in the advertising industry, with a commitment to nurturing directorial talent, achieving work of the highest possible quality, and – just as important - ensuring that everyone involved is treated kindly and respectfully. 

Editor, David Reviews

7 Dec | David Reviews Shoptalk - Around the World in 80 Shoots

Jason Stone has been the editor of David Reviews since it was founded in 2002.

Established as the UK advertising industry’s favourite way of keeping up with TV commercials and other forms of video-based content, David Reviews is increasingly reaching an international audience. 

www.davidreviews.com

Twitter

Location Consultant/Producer/Founder, Land Dragon Films

6 Dec l High Flyers: Learning from LA Location Pros

Becky Brake's film career spans over three and a half decades.  

Brake has an extensive background as an international Supervising Location Manager for blockbuster feature films such as Star Trek, Star Trek Into Darkness, Mission: Impossible III, and Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol to name a few. Her other collaborations have come through consulting during the development and pre-production phases on films such as Tomorrowland, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Godzilla: King of the Monsters and a variety of others. 

She is known for capturing unique film locations and negotiating iconic location deals both domestically and internationally with a wide range of individuals, the offices of heads of state, aerospace agencies, various branches of military and other high-level government agencies from around the globe. 

She recently transitioned into Producing and is developing several film and television projects in a variety of genres, most of which are inspired by true stories. All projects highlight the merging of contrasting cultures. 

Brake's strength in producing includes her established international relationships, distinct visual perspective, and first-hand experience in bridging cultures--these, with a passion for telling remarkable stories with humour and heart.

Becky Brake is based out of Los Angeles, California and is the Owner-Manager of Land Dragon Films.

www.BeckyBrake.com 

LinkedIn

Founder/Festival Director, Sci-Fi-London Film Festival

6 Dec | A Winning Film Festival Strategy

Founder and Festival Director of the Sci-FI-London Film Festival, film producer and science fiction consultant. 

Louis is visiting Professor of Science Fiction at Richmond American University, and over many years Louis has been an advocate of new talent, indie genre cinema and the promotion of science fact and fiction. 

Twitter & LinkedIn

COO/Co-founder, Festival Scope

6 Dec | A Winning Film Festival Strategy

Born in 1975, with a diploma from HEC Business School, INALCO (B.A. in Chinese), Paris X (B.A in Philosophy) and Paris II (LLM in Literary and Artistic Copyright Law), Mathilde Henrot worked 8 years for MK2 as Director of Sales, also handling acquisitions.

In 2010, together with Alessandro Raja, she founded Festival Scope Pro, the benchmark online service for film professionals allowing them to watch on-demand films from more than 90 of the most prestigious international film festivals. Festival Scope, launched by the duo in 2016, focuses on festivals' catch-up screenings for an audience of film lovers worldwide. ArteKino, developed with ARTE since 2016, presents to European audiences emerging and confirmed European talents online and in cinemas.

She founded also Maharaja Films, a production company whose lineup includes The Strife of Love in a Dream directed by Camille Henrot, recipient of the biennale Silver Lion in 2013 for Grosse Fatigue; Smugglers' Songs directed by Rabah Ameur-Zaïmeche, Jean Vigo Prize in 2011, Locarno Official Competition 2011; Alps directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, Venice Official Competition 2011 -Best Screenplay and Saturday directed by Camille Henrot (Palais de Tokyo Carte Blanche October 2017).

Since 2012, she curates the Kinoscope program of the Sarajevo Film Festival (Bosnia and Herzegovina).

Since 2018, she has been a member of the Selection Committee of the Locarno Film Festival (Switzerland).

Since 2022, she has been a member of the Selection Committee of the Villa Medici Film Festival (Italy).

pro.festivalscope.com

LinkedIn

CEO/Founder, MediaXchange 

7 Dec | The Role of the Showrunner

As Chief Executive Officer and Founder of MediaXchange for 30 years, Katrina built the company and laid the foundations of a global network of professionals working in TV and film drama, now including games. 

Katrina pioneered programmes tailored for the interests of individual TV and film professionals and was Co-Founder of Women in Film UK (now called Women in Film and TV), the leading membership organisation for women working in media, of which she remains an honorary lifelong member. 

Twitter & LinkedIn

Creative & Development Executive, Factual Fiction

7 Dec | Re-tune Your Pitch with SMASH 

Chamoun Issa is a Creative Producer at the TV production company Factual Fiction. 

The company was founded by Emily Dalton (former MD of Darlow Smithson and originator of the hits The King in the Car Park, 24 Hours in the Past, and The Mill), Tom Dalton (writer/producer of the successful Channel5/Netflix film Agatha and the Truth of Murder and its two sequels), Patrick Irwin (a highly experienced executive producer whose credits include The Fall and Miss Scarlet and the Duke) and Chamoun. 

Factual Fiction was launched during the first lockdown and has already produced programmes for Amazon, ITV and Channel 5 and is developing and producing factual and scripted for BBC, C4, Warner Bros, ZDFE and Fremantle. 

Before joining Factual fiction Chamoun worked as a freelancer in TV, film and advertising. He studied Fiction Direction at the National Film & Television School. His graduation film Bilingual, a comedy about a Lebanese family living in London, dealt with identity and belonging. It was selected for festivals around the world, won a couple of awards, and screened on the French and German national TV channel ARTE. 

”My love of tv and film comes from growing up in Beirut during the civil war. When bombs would rain outside our home, I'd sit inside and watch whatever was on this amazing window into other worlds.” 

Senior Technician/Technologist, StoryFutures Academy/NFTS

6 Dec | AI: Your New BFF for Storytelling

Johnny Johnson is a technologist with over two decades of filmmaking and interactive content-making experience. He has provided specialist camera technical support for leading global events, produced 90+ VR productions in the UK and internationally, directed a variety of 2D content and worked as VP supervisor on a range of LED virtual production films and documentaries. He provides XR production training with StoryFutures Academy and the National Film & Television School (NFTS) and has led several R&D projects, which have focused on the use of AI/ML for story-driven content and bio-science interaction. 

LinkedIn

Showrunner/Creator/Screenwriter, Pupkin

7 Dec | The Role of the Showrunner

Willem Bosch is currently Showrunner and Creator of Disney Plus’ first Dutch original drama Nemesis, and Viaplay’s true crime drama The Hunt for Jasper S, both greenlit to start shooting in the coming 12 months. 

For the past ten years, Willem Bosch has been one of the most prolific screenwriters in the Netherlands, working on Dutch hit shows such as Van God Los (Godforsaken) and Penoza (Black Widow). His latest creation The Spectacular, a Dutch-Irish co-production that he wrote and directed, earned rave reviews nationwide and is currently being sold to numerous country’s around the world. 

Last year, he sold his company to Dutch-based production company Pupkin and became part of European Production Group Newen, based in France. Since then he works exclusively for Pupkin as a writer, director and producer.

Twitter & LinkedIn

Managing Director, Scorpion TV 

6 Dec | This Just In: The Future of Global Content 

David Cornwall has been working in documentary Sales and Distribution for 20 years. Starting as a runner at Bullseye TV who were making clip shows and documentaries, he rose to become the Head of Sales and then went on to become Director of Sales at Zodiak TV where he worked with clients ranging from the BBC, Channel 4, NBC USA, CBC Canada, Discovery, Nat Geo, NTV Japan and TV4 Sweden. After cutting his teeth representing a variety of genres, he followed his passion and set up Scorpion TV in 2009 dedicated to selling the best thought-provoking documentaries and entertaining the world. 

Twitter & LinkedIn

EVP Content, All3media International 

6 Dec | This Just In: The Future of Global Content 

Maartje leads the international assessment of scripted, non-scripted and format content. She has excellent producer relationships with a wide range of independent and All3Media group producers across all genres and around the world. She has over 15 years of experience in the TV industry.  

Her background is in entertainment and factual production as she started her career at leading Dutch Producer IDTV. She moved to the UK in 2001 where she continued her career by working in acquisitions for independent distributor Chrysalis  

Distribution and now heads up the Content team at All3Media International where she is EVP Content. 

LinkedIn

Producer/Executive Producer, Lucasfilms

6 Dec l Jason Solomons ‘Meet the Producer’ Podcast

Roopesh Parekh is currently an Executive Producer for Lucasfilm’s Willow series for Disney +. Prior to this, he was the Series Producer on His Dark Materials: The Subtle Knife for BBC / HBO and Bad Wolf. 

Roopesh has produced several popular and acclaimed dramas, namely Mammoth Screen's BAFTA-winning series Poldark for BBC and PBS, BAFTA-nominated The Long Song for Heyday Films, and Ordeal By Innocence for Amazon & Mammoth Screen. 

He has also worked for Neal Street Productions and Carnival Film & TV on the BAFTA-winning mini-series The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses - an adaptation of Shakespeare's historical plays. Roopesh is represented by Paul Hook of ICM Partners and is a member of BAFTA, Producers Guild of America & The Production Guild of Great Britain. 

Twitter & LinkedIn

Producer and Presenter

6 Dec l Jason Solomons ‘Meet the Producer’ Podcast

Jason Solomons is a widely recognised figure in UK film and media. 

Known as the “Voice of London Film” for his 25 years as film critic, presenter and interviewer on BBC Radio London, he is currently a popular podcaster and regular commentator on BBC News. 

Having written for the Observer and The Mail on Sunday newspapers, as well as many magazines, Jason is currently film editor of The New European, contributing editor of A Rabbit’s Foot and curator and host of the Cinedrome at Greenman Festival, the leading arts and music festival in Wales. 

In a new phase of his career, Jason is now an independent British film producer with several projects in active development, including an adaptation of the best-selling 

memoir A Waiter in Paris and a comedy-drama, King of the Witches. He is also the host of Meet The Producer, a new podcast from the Production Guild of Great Britain. 

www.jasonsolomons.com 

Sumerah Srivastav - Writer/Producer

7 Dec | The Role of the Showrunner

Sumerah is a British, South Asian writer and producer working on both sides of the pond. Most notably, she has written on Golden Globe-nominated series LUPIN and the much anticipated final season of MANIFEST. Other TV credits include GOOD KARMA HOSPITAL, COLOSSEUM, MESSIAH, CASUALTY and EASTENDERS. With an MBA and a background in law, Sumerah also acts as co-Chair of the Equalities & Diversity committee at the Writers Guild of Great Britain. 

Twitter & LinkedIn

Senior Investment Director of the Media Division, The Ingenious Group

6 Dec l Money on My Mind – Financing Your Projects

Peter Touche is the Senior Investment Director of the Media Division of Ingenious in London. Having graduated from Oxford University in 1990, Peter decided to focus on the business side of the media sector. He qualified as a Chartered Accountant through the media division of Deloitte and then enjoyed production finance and business development roles at the BBC, the British Film Institute and the Walt Disney Company. Peter became Operations Director of Ingenious Media in 2001 where he oversaw the closing of a large number and a wide variety of film and television finance transactions with both independent companies and US studios. In 2008 he moved to the USA with his family where he produced and financed a number of independent films through his own company, including Goats with David Duchovny and Vera Farmiga, Susanna Fogel’s directorial debut Life Partners starring Leighton Meester and Gillian Jacobs and Lenny Abrahamson’s Frank starring Michael Fassbender and Maggie Gyllenhaal. Peter returned to London and to Ingenious in 2017,  where he has since produced or executive produced a number of films, including Blinded by the Light, Military Wives, Dream Horse, Unhinged, Seberg, Unwelcome, Crimes of the Future, The Son and Emily.

LinkedIn  

General Content Director, SP Televisão & Spi/Screenwriter

7 Dec | The Role of the Showrunner

Since 2007, Pedro Lopes has been Content Director at SP Televisão. In 2022, he was appointed as Content Director of SPi, a production company for international series and co-productions, within the SP Media Group. He teaches at the School of Communication and Media Studies and the Catholic University of Portugal. 

He has written for film and television and is the author of over twenty titles among shorts, feature films, telenovelas, mini-series, and series. His work featured in the main international festivals: Rockie Awards-Banff World Media Festival; Prix Europa; Festival de la Fiction La Rochelle; Monte-Carlo Television Festival; Roma Fiction Fest. 

He won an International Emmy Award for Best Telenovela for Laços de Sangue and a Gold Medal at the New York Festivals TV & Film Awards with Coração D’Ouro. In 2019 he was nominated for Best Screenwriter at the Seoul Drama Awards. 

In 2019, he co-authored the Portuguese/Spanish series Auga Seca, the first Portuguese series aired on HBO. One year after, Netflix announced Glória, its first Portuguese original series, created and written by Pedro Lopes. Glória was the big winner of the 2022 Sophia Awards, in the category of best series/telefilm, awarded by the Portuguese Film Academy. Internationally, Glória was pre-nominated for the 2022 Platino Iberoamerican Awards in the categories of Best Series Creator and Best Series.  

In 2022 a new series was announced for Globoplay - Codex 632 - in which Pedro Lopes was the head writer and showrunner. 

LinkedIn

Story Consultant/Executive Producer

6 Dec l Become a Self-Shooting PD – The Skills Needed to Succeed

Nic Guttridge is an international story consultant and executive producer. Based in London, England, he works closely with filmmakers and production companies to maximise the  editorial impact of their ideas and rushes across the full spectrum of documentary and factual productions, for broadcast, theatrical, festival and online release. Projects include the Netflix feature documentary The Spy Who Fell to Earth and the AACTA nominated series The Night Caller for Sky/ Sundance Now. 

Previously Nic was an award-winning director for 15 years, with over 100 credits for all major UK and many international networks. He is also an experienced and highly regarded industry trainer who runs workshops in storytelling, directing, shooting for the edit, and interview techniques, and is a mentor for Documentary Campus Masterschool and Campus Istanbul.

Nic is a former board member and long-serving chair of Directors UK’s Factual Committee.

LinkedIn

Associate, Harbottle & Lewis LLP 

6 & 7 Dec | Legal Refresher for Film & TV Producers

Stephanie advises clients across the media and entertainment industry with a particular focus on film, television and theatre in relation to rights acquisition, development, production and distribution. She acts for a range of clients including production companies (from independent UK producers to major US studios and SVOD platforms), rights-holders, agencies and individual writers, directors and producers. 

LinkedIn

Associate, Harbottle & Lewis LLP 

6 & 7 Dec | Legal Refresher for Film & TV Producers

Caitlin advises media and entertainment clients on development, production and rights exploitation in the film, television and theatre industries. She acts for a range of clients including production companies (from small UK producers to major US studios and SVOD platforms), rights-holders, agencies and individual writers, directors and producers. 

LinkedIn

Founder, Producers Without Borders

6 Dec l Somebody Knows Something: Connecting with Your Audience

Attorney turned filmmaker, Kayvan Mashayekh, began his career by writing, producing and directing an epic, independent feature film called, "The Keeper: The Legend of Omar Khayyam," which Premiered at the Moscow Film Festival in 2005 and had a successful theatrical run in the US for 53 weeks in 14 separate cities.    

Mashayekh was the winner of the Relativity Media Special Prize of $25,000 at the 2007 Middle East International Film Festival in Abu Dhabi for his script “Batting for Palestine. One of the judges, Branko Lustig (legendary Oscar Winning Producer of “Gladiator" and "Schindler’s List), noticed him and subsequently took him in under his wing as an apprentice producer developing his slate of international, studio-grade projects. He is the Founder of Producers Without Borders a trusted, private network of curated international producers that collaborate, create and deliver content together. The closed group had its genesis as a series of film entertainment seminars and webinars since 2015 at world-class film festivals and markets (such as Focus London, BFI London, Cannes, Berlinale, FilmBazaar in India, State Film Agency of Ukraine, American Film Market, Amman International Film Festival (where Mashayekh has served as a Juror, Moderator and Speaker), El Gouna International Film Festival (as a Juror), and Cairo International Film Festival as a Speaker.    

Prior to that, he became a member of the Producers Guild of America in 2008 and was chosen as its Middle East Representative in the International Committee, working closely to develop an outreach program with the PGA’s first ever Middle East Affiliate, The Royal Film Commission of Jordan. By creating workshops, seminars and events with RFC, the relationship has helped launch the careers of many talented producers in the region who have benefited from the bridge-building nature and educational importance of cross-border production by PGA mentor members for over a decade.    

In June 2018, Mashayekh was elected as Co-Chairman of the International Committee for the PGA. In that capacity, he has been proactive in globally branding the World's largest trade organization of Film, TV, and Multi-Media producers with a membership of over 8500. He has increased the membership of the specific committee of 180 members he Chairs by over 100% since taking over from his predecessors, proving that when people feel empowered and motivated by action and results, they will be engaged to participate and add value to the group.  

Mashayekh is also the Head of International for SIE Society, the leading alliance in Social Impact Entertainment whose mission is to connect, equip and amplify SIE organizations, creative and impact producers, CSR and SBCC practitioners.

producerswithoutborders.com 

www.siesociety.org 

Supervising Location Manager, LMGI

7 Dec l Everything You Wanted to Know About Locations (But Were Afraid to Ask) 

John Rakich DGCO / LMGI has been working as an Assistant Location Manager, Location Scout and now as a Supervising Location Manager for over 22 years based mostly out of Toronto, Ontario Canada. With a wealth of experience working on long and short format features and numerous television series for studios and streaming services.   

He is the current President of the Location Managers Guild International and on the Directors Guild of Canada Ontario board as their current Location Caucus Representative.  

A frequent speaker at college campuses, industry symposiums and a contributor of articles about filming in Ontario and Canada, production sustainability, labour workforce development and training, and the economic benefits of location-based filming; he’s also a regular panellist at San Diego Comic-Con speaking about locations and location scouting. 

Location Scout

6 Dec l High Flyers: Learning from LA Location Pros

From Tbliisi to Hanoi to Lençóis Maranhenses, veteran Scout Lori Balton is grateful for a career that lets her explore the world. The first location pro accepted into AMPAS, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, she is also a member of the Television Academy.  She has worked with some of the best directors, and designers in the business.  Credits include:  Heat, Argo, Being the Ricardos, Maverick: Top Gun 2, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, A River Runs Through It, Inception, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Memoirs of a Geisha, Seabiscuit, Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, and Pirates of the Caribbean 4 and 5.  

A believer in giving back, Balton was a jurist for the 2021 EUFCN Location Award and the Location Guide’s Inaugural Makers & Shakers Awards.  She has been featured on numerous podcasts and master classes most recently at the Shooting Locations Marketplace in Valladolid, Spain. Balton is the co-founder and former president of the LMGI.  She co-founded and co-edited the Compass Magazine for 8 years, and produced the award show until 2020.  Accolades include the LMGI Trailblazer Award, many California on Location Awards and nominations, and an LMGI Award and nominations.  When not chasing incentives, she lives in Venice, California with her husband, and rescue dogs. 

www.loribalton.com 

LinkedIn

Supervising Location Manager

6 Dec | Mud, Sweat and Tides - The Essex Serpent Location Management Case Study

Having a deep love of architecture, beaches, churches, and every landscape in between, Harriet fell into Location Managing in the early 90s, accidentally finding a career she loved that suited her inquisitive and organised nature. Despite the early starts, sometimes miserable weather and endless rubbish, Harriet is happiest out and about and still, after 25+ years, thinks being a location manager is (probably) the best job in the world. Starting in commercials, Harriet has found the moon on Earth, Scotland inside of the M25, the Maldives in a Heathrow hotel and Wolverhampton in Central Scotland: she has filmed underground, over-ground, on beaches, mountains, prisons and stately homes.  

For most of 2020/21, she was in the tidal muddy estuaries of Essex shooting an adaptation of The Essex Serpent and this Autumn has just wrapped on Emerald Fennell’s new film Saltburn. She has worked on all sorts of TV dramas, feature films, and stills shoots including David Copperfield, Avenue 5, Overlord, Suffragette, Burton and Taylor, Fleming, Parks & Recreation, Henry VIII, all the Outnumbered series, setting up the first series of Downton Abbey and many of Stephen Poliakoff’s films including Dancing on the Edge. Harriet is passionate about training the next generation and has for many years run the renowned Assistant Location Managers Training Course. 

Company Director, Marine Dept

6 Dec | Mud, Sweat and Tides - The Essex Serpent Location Management Case Study

Jonjo Stickland owns Marine Dept - a dynamic Marine company supporting all aspects of filming in and around water - camera boats, platforms, safety, advice, diving, logistics, picture boats, artist training and more. Crucially they have a talented pool of boat crew and skilled divers who work round the world with Film and TV productions. Recent credits include Wonka, Luther, Wednesday, Essex Serpent, Swimmers, No Way Up, My Policeman, The Rig, Rebecca, Marengo, 47M, The Third Day, Slow Horses, and Mission Impossible to name a few. He has a brilliant and knowledgeable team behind him, showcasing a wide variety of skill sets, covering all aspects of Marine and Dive work, with the primary aim of working with production to find the best possible solution for their script requirements.   

Jonjo started his career as a dinghy sailing instructor, moving into international yacht racing, whilst diving as a hobby. He stumbled upon film work whilst running a classic yacht on “Mamma Mia” and found a career that brought together all his skills in an exciting, creative industry where no two jobs are ever the same.  

Since then, he’s gone from one film to the next, working through the ranks to marine and diving coordinator. Twelve years after Mama Mia, he formed Marine Dept and, since then, has become a leading Marine support company in the industry. Whether it’s ensuring cast and crew safety on water, sourcing picture boats, large-scale marine operations or you just want to sink your entire set underwater, he, and his team can help make it happen.  

Jonjo is happiest with an eye on the horizon, wheel in hand, coordinating a huge fleet of picture boats! 

Currently, Jonjo and Matt are planning the next exciting chapter for Marine Dept and their future support for the underwater film industry in the UK. 

marinedept.co.uk

Sustainability Manager, Film London

7 Dec | Sustainable Film: Reducing our Emissions 

Having worked on set in Film and TV production for the last 15 years, I am very fortunate to now bring my two main passions, addressing the climate crisis and Film & TV production, together as Sustainability Manager at Film London. Working within the Production Services department, my goal is to support physical productions to lower their environmental impact, as well as other key practices around environmental and social sustainability in the industry, from connecting sustainable suppliers to key stakeholders to developing training and research. Through collaboration with the industry, my role aims to guide and aid the industry as we all strive to make the vital changes needed to move swiftly towards a low-carbon, sustainable future. 

LinkedIn

Marine Coordinator and Dive Supervisor, Marine Dept 

6 Dec | Mud, Sweat and Tides - The Essex Serpent Location Management Case Study

Matt Cambridge is a highly experienced Marine Coordinator and Dive Supervisor who has worked in film and TV for 15 years.   

He grew up messing about on boats, up the creeks of Cornwall, which led to a career in the Royal Marines. After retiring from the military, Matt turned his hand to various ventures around the world, including working in Risk Management and Marine Protection and Safety before finding himself in the Film Industry.  

Equally, at home on, in or under water, Matt relishes solving the challenges of large complex stunt or dive sequences, leading his team to deliver the best solutions, working out the multiple logistics required; the more complex, the better…(or occasionally just a pond yacht in a swimming pool!) Matt enjoys all aspects of waterwork in the industry but especially loves the conundrum (Rubik's Cube?) of getting what the production needs artistically, with variable factors of wind, tide, weather, boats, depth, scripts, equipment, actors, and crew thrown into the mix. 

Restless and curious by nature, his rare time off includes exploring remote locations, family and good food. And it usually involves a boat.  

Currently, Jonjo and Matt are planning the next exciting chapter for Marine Dept and their future support for the underwater film industry in the UK. 

https://marinedept.co.uk/

Co-founder/COO, My SMASH Media 

7 Dec | Re-tune Your Pitch with SMASH 

Christine Hartland is an independent film producer and co-founder of My SMASH Media, the IP marketplace for the creative industries, with fellow independent producer Fiona Gillies. Christine and Fiona met on the Creative England Market Trader programme.   

Christine’s debut feature the thriller WMD in 2008, was one of the first films to follow a reverse distribution strategy. She produced Containment, which was released and sold worldwide. She received Creative Europe and BFI development funding. She is a member of Women in Film & TV and Pact.   

Christine is fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. 

LinkedIn

SMASH: Twitter & LinkedIn

Co-founder/CEO, My SMASH Media

7 Dec | Re-tune Your Pitch with SMASH 

Fiona Gillies is an independent film producer and co-founder My SMASH Media, the IP marketplace for the creative industries, with fellow independent producer Christine Hartland. Fiona and Christine met on the Creative England Market Trader programme.  

Fiona produced The Beat Beneath My Feet, which was in competition at the Berlin Film Festival and released worldwide. 

She received funding from Creative England/BFI for Some Sweet Oblivious Antidote, starring Sir Lenny Henry and Wumni Mosaku. 

She has been a mentor for Women in Film & TV. 

Fiona is fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. 

LinkedIn

SMASH: Twitter & LinkedIn

Director/Founder, Straight 8

7 Dec l  Straight 8 Shootout

Ed Sayers is a London-based director and the founder of the global super 8 filmmaking challenge ’Straight 8’: an experiment he started with colleagues in the industry in 1999. The challenge: to each make a short film on just one roll of super 8mm film, with no editing, seeing the work for the first time at its premiere. It has grown by word of mouth over 23 years with nearly 3000 films made, and screens at the Cannes Film Festival, on TV and in cinemas and other festivals around the world. Straight 8 Shootout is for industry companies to compete at Straight 8 for charity.

Twitter & LinkedIn

Straight 8: Twitter & LinkedIn

Chief Executive, British Film Commission

7 Dec | Cross-Border Collaboration - a Mission: Impossible Locations Masterclass

Adrian Wootton OBE is Chief Executive of the British Film Commission and Film London. Adrian is a Programme Advisor to the BFI London Film Festival; Venice Film Festival and Noir in Fest, Milan; Founding Director of Shots in the Dark Festival, Nottingham and Curator of the annual Cinema Made In Italy programme, London. Adrian is a recognised authority in various film/TV and literature subjects (Hollywood, crime and mystery and Italian Cinema amongst others) and regularly lectures, writes broadcasts and curates programmes on them. In 2012, Adrian received an Honorary Doctorate in the Arts and was appointed Visiting Professor of Film and Media at Norwich University of the Arts. In 2014, Adrian received an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from the University of East Anglia and in 2017 was awarded an OBE for services to the film industry. Most recently, Adrian has led the BFC’s work to develop the ‘Working Safely During COVID-19 in Film and High-end TV Drama Production guidance’, as part of the BFI’s wider COVID-19 Screen Sector Recovery Task Force. 

Adrian Wootton OBE: Twitter

BFC: Twitter & LinkedIn

Head of Career Development and Skills, Directors UK

6 Dec l Become a Self-Shooting PD – The Skills Needed to Succeed

Andrea Corbett is Head of Career Development and Skills at Directors UK and joined the organisation in Spring 2016.

She has a background in training and development within the UK film and TV industries, having previously managed the Creative Skillset Film Academy at the London Film School. Other roles include Exhibition and Development Manager at Film London, Training and Events Officer at UK MEDIA desk, BFI, and training and development within the regions and nations at PACT, where she began her career. 

Andrea also worked in Ireland for three years as Head of Festivals at the Arts Council of Ireland and Executive Director at the Dublin Film Festival. 

Twitter & LinkedIn

Creative Diversity Partner, ITV

Nahrein is Creative Diversity Partner at ITV working with commissioners and producers to help diversify ITV programmes both on and off-screen and delivering ITV’s Diversity Acceleration Plan.

In her previous role as Film & TV Executive at Film London, she founded and ran the Equal Access Network (EAN) with support from the Mayor of London, HBO and UKTV.

Under her leadership, over 390+ jobs were found for those from diverse backgrounds on productions for Netflix, Apple TV, Warner Bros, Marvel, Disney, HBO (amongst others) as well as in in-house roles at companies including Green Door Pictures, Two Brothers Pictures and Pathé. She also created the first ever Return to Work Scheme for parents/carers in TV (now in its’ third iteration) where Returners are ‘retrained’ and placed in paid Returnships (companies who have taken a Returner on the three schemes include Carnival Films, Molinare, Tiger Aspect and Cuba Pictures to name a few). She also created Breaking the Glass Ceiling, a Leadership programme for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic professionals who received coaching and mentoring as well as access to top industry speakers as well as a Getting Into Film and TV, a new entrants programme which culminated in placements for participants at companies including Altitude, Heyday Pictures and Number 9 Films.

She has more than 20-year industry experience across genres, in development and as a producer. In recognition of her diversity and inclusion expertise in film and TV, she joined BAFTA’s Diversity Steering Group which met with over 450+ professionals from all backgrounds and disciplines to conduct a major review to improve representation in BAFTA’s film awards. 

Nahrein is also a member of the Mayor of London’s Skills for Londoners Business Partnership Group, BAFTA’s Learning, Inclusion and New Talent Committee and SIGN and XR Stories EDI Advisory Board.

Managing Director of Global Strategy, Pact

6 Dec | In Conversation with Col Needham, CEO/Founder, IMDb  

6 Dec | This Just In: The Future of Global Content 

Dawn McCarthy-Simpson MBE is an international development expert with over 20 years of experience in the broadcast industry (television and radio). This includes Managing Director, Commercial Director and Broadcast Development Director roles at local, national and international television channels.   She is also a thought leader and expert speaker in the broadcast industry.

Dawn has had a varied media career which spans over 25 years, which started with five years working for one of the UK’s largest radio groups before launching her career in TV.

She has produced and directed hundreds of hours of live entertainment shows, including brand-integrated programmes and hundreds of hours of factual and documentaries.

As a pioneer of local TV, she launched one of the first local terrestrial TV channels in the UK, where she remained for a further two years as Managing Director.  Dawn then went on to be involved with the launch of a second channel, which was the UK’s first short film channel which aired on the Sky platform. In her final year, she successfully launched the channel into a further seven European countries.

Not satisfied with having experiences in both TV & Radio, Dawn also ventured into the literary world when she became a published author with her best-selling non-fiction book in June 2006.

Dawn is currently the Managing Director of Global Strategy at Pact, working with industry and government to develop a robust export strategy.

About Pact
Pact (Producers Alliance for Cinema & Television) – the UK’s trade association that represents and promotes the commercial interests of independent feature films, television, animation and interactive media companies. Pact represents over 500 companies across the UK that are known for some of the world’s most iconic TV shows, such as Sherlock, Downton Abbey, X-Factor and award-winning documentaries.

Head of Production UK, British Film Commission

7 Dec | Cross-Border Collaboration - a Mission: Impossible Locations Masterclass

7 Dec | A Guide to Immigration for the UK film and TV industry  

Samantha worked in theatre stage management and in film and television production, post-production and locations before joining the British Film Commission (BFC) in 2004.

Samantha worked closely with Government and industry in developing the UK's Creative Sector Tax Reliefs and was seconded to run the Certification Unit at the UK Film Council overseeing British qualification for the Film Tax Relief.

As Head of Production UK, Samantha leads the UK team, providing tailored production support,
guidance and troubleshooting to major international film and television projects from development through to delivery. She additionally oversees the BFC’s work supporting and promoting the UK film and television infrastructure globally and is responsible for liaising between the industry and Government to secure and maintain production-friendly policies.

She was instrumental in the creation of the BFC’s Working Safely During COVID-19 in Film and High-end TV Drama Production guidance, which was launched in June 2020.

Samantha has assisted on many high-profile projects for international film and television clients
including A+E, Amazon, Amblin, AMC, Apple TV+, Disney, HBO, Lionsgate, Lucasfilm, Marvel, MRC,
Netflix, Paramount, Sony, Starz, Twentieth Century Studios, Universal and Warner Bros. Discovery.

Samantha is on the board of The Production Guild of Great Britain. She was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s New Year Honours List 2019 for services to the film and TV industry and The Production Guild of Great Britain’s Inspiration Award in 2022.

Managing Director, Sara Putt Associates

7 Dec | In Conversation with Jane Millichip, CEO, BAFTA 

7 Dec | A Toolkit to Embed Mentally Healthy Productions

For 30 years Sara has run Sara Putt Associates, an agency for freelance technicians and production personnel based at Shepperton Studios. The company represents some of the finest freelancers both in the UK and internationally, working in all areas of film and TV.

Sara Putt Associates also runs an in-house Trainee Scheme and Foundation supporting the next generation of freelance talent including those entrants from less traditional backgrounds.

Sara is a BAFTA Trustee, & is Deputy Chair of the BAFTA TV Committee. She is also a Trustee of the Film and TV Charity and Deputy Chair of Women in Film and Television.

CEO, The Production Guild of Great Britain

6 Dec l Jason Solomons ‘Meet the Producer’ Podcast

Lyndsay Duthie is CEO of The Production Guild of Great Britain. She has over 25 years experience  as a senior leader in the creative industries. With a background in television production (credits for BBC, ITV, C4 & SKY) and education. Lyndsay’s academic career led her to become Professor of Media and the Head of School for Film, Media and Performing Arts at the University for the Creative Arts, as well as the co-author of (Bloomsbury’s) The TV Studio Production Handbook. She has appeared on SKY, ITV and BBC news as a media expert. Lyndsay has also held numerous board positions including Women in Film and Television and is currently on the National Advisory Board for the British Film Commission. 

productionguild.com

Head of Certification, BFI

6 Dec l How to Access and Maximise UK Tax Reliefs 

6 Dec l ‘How to Co-Pro’ – A Guide to Canada-UK Co-Production

As Head of Certification, Anna works closely with key stakeholders in government and across the Screen Sectors to provide advice and guidance on the application processes for all the cultural tests, co-production treaties and policies relating to all the Creative Sector tax reliefs for film, High-end, Animation Television, Children’s Television and Video Games. Anna regularly speaks on panels at conferences and events to promote tax relief such as the Children’s Media Conference, the Develop Games conference and many others. In addition, Anna has organised BFI-led seminars and events for all the Screen Sectors.

Anna is a Board member of the Content Board of the FOCUS Conference. She is in the GI Biz 100 women in the UK Games Industry, a trustee for the Video Games industry’s charity ‘Games Aid’ and an ambassador for AutisticaPlay the video games arm of the charity Autistica. She is also a Patron of Safe in Our World, the video games industry mental health charity. She is a member of BAFTA, the Production Guild of Great Britain and Women in Film and TV.

Chief Executive, APA

6 Dec | Where is Advertising Going? As Revealed by this year’s APA Collection

7 Dec | Developing and Nurturing New Talent in the current Financial Climate

Steve is a lawyer and advises on any issues of concern for APA members; particularly complex contractual, copyright or insurance issues. Alongside this, he oversees all APA events and serves as an ambassador for the industry.

As a member of the APA Council, which meets monthly to review objectives and strategy, Steve is focused on the APA’s main objective of creating the best possible business environment for its members.

Steve is also a member of the board of the Advertising Association, Executive Vice President of the CFPE and one of the founders of the World Producers Summit in Cannes.

Director of High-end Television, ScreenSkills

Dec 7 l The UK Production Boom - How the Nations and Regions are the UK's Superpower 

Kaye Elliott is Director of High-end Television (HETV) at ScreenSkills, setting the strategy and overseeing all aspects of HETV industry investment in skills support for UK freelancers and production companies. The Director reports directly to the High-end TV Council made up of every UK broadcaster and UK-based streamers as well as representatives of independent production companies, Pact and Bectu.

Previously Kaye was Deputy Director of Partnerships and Head of Production Services at Creative England where she was responsible for developing partnerships with national and international industry, as well as overseeing the delivery of a suite of support services to film and TV production across the English regions.

CEO, UK Screen Alliance

6 Dec | Global Post-Production: The Allure of the UK as a World-Class Hub for Post & VFX

Neil Hatton was appointed Chief Executive of the UK Screen Alliance in February 2016 after a lengthy career in post-production stretching back to the early 1980s.

The UK Screen Alliance is the trade association for companies providing services, infrastructure and expertise to the film, TV and commercials industries in the UK. It represents the business interests of Visual Effects, Animation, Audio & Video Post-Production, Special Effects, and Freelance Editor Agencies as well as Film & TV production studios.

Neil was a prime mover in the setting up of the post-production trade body in 2004 and in 2017, as CEO, he forged an amalgamation of the UK Screen Association with Animation UK into a single body now renamed, the UK Screen Alliance, bringing the animation studios, producers and distributors into the portfolio as well as facilities. There are now over 80 companies in the UK Screen Alliance, including Pinewood, Double Negative, Framestore, MPC, Industrial Light and Magic UK, Cinesite, The Mill, Aardman, BlueZoo, Jellyfish, Locksmith, Lupus, Molinare, Encore and Technicolor.

The UK Screen Alliance’s primary function is advocacy and much of Neil’s role is dedicated to lobbying government and its agencies to improve and optimise the business environment for its members. He participates in Creative Skillset’s Film Skills and HETV Councils, The BFC’s National Advisory Board as well as BFI steering groups. He is a founder partner in Access: VFX, which champions inclusion and diversity.

For more than 20 years, he worked at MD/CEO or owner level within post-production houses in Soho like Frontier Post and Azimuth. In 1992, he pioneered non-linear editing and became the first person to cut a long-form documentary on an NLE in the UK. Over the years, he has gained many primetime editing credits on all the mainstream channels for programmes like QED, Horizon, Arena, The Grierson Documentary Awards and Ground Force. He was also post-production supervisor on the platinum-selling DVD En Vivo for the legendary rock band, Iron Maiden.

Film Commissioner, Film Cyprus

6 Dec| Cyprus, A Natural Film Studio

Lefteris S. Eleftheriou is a Certified Film Commissioner and a Director, Head of Filming Unit at Invest Cyprus. In his capacity, Lefteris is proactively promoting Cyprus, for more than twelve years, as an attractive destination abroad in key economic sectors of the economy.

In 2013, Lefteris took a lead role as part of a team assigned to prepare the strategy for the development of the film industry in Cyprus. Following intense efforts, in 2017 the Council of Ministers adopted the Cyprus Film Scheme. Representing Invest Cyprus, Lefteris is now the Chairman of the Cyprus Film Commission, the body responsible for assessing applications for the Scheme, also leading the national effort for the promotion of Cyprus as an attractive film destination.

As of 2022, Lefteris is an elected member of the board of directors of the European Film Commissions Network (EUFCN), the official association of the film commissioners in Europe.

Lefteris holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Sciences and Philosophy from the Hunter College, New York and a Master Degree in Politics from New York University, having also attended law courses at the University of London and Political Communication courses at the University of Cyprus.

Head of Production, Screen Flanders

6 Dec| Why Co-produce with Flanders?

Graduated as Master in Art History and Conservation, Katrien Maes started her career at Flanders Image, the audiovisual export agency of the Flanders Audiovisual Fund (VAF). In 2009, she joined the team of Location Flanders as Deputy of the Film Commission. In 2012, Location Flanders became Screen Flanders and set up its own economic fund to support international co-productions. Being active as a voting member and secretary of the fund’s selection committee, she followed into the footsteps of Jan Roekens as Head of Production in the summer of 2021.

Film Commissioner, Screen Flanders

6 Dec| Why Co-produce with Flanders?  

Katrien De Hauwere joined Screen Flanders and the Flanders Audiovisual Fund (VAF) in 2022, taking care of communication and the film commission. She had already gained nine years of experience working in the audiovisual sector at Lumière: an all-round Benelux company housing production, film financing, distribution, a streaming platform, four cinemas and an animation studio.  

Carnet Representative/ Creative Screen Industries Specialist, Boomerang Carnets

6 Dec | ATA Carnets: The Boomerang Benefit

Eric has worked as a documentary cameraman for the past 30 years and has filmed programmes for major UK and international broadcasters including the BBC, Discovery Channel, National Geographic, and Smithsonian. His assignments have taken him to locations all over the globe from jungles to deserts and often hostile, remote environments.  Almost all these filming trips have required his team to travel with camera and filming equipment, and the ATA Carnet system has proved invaluable in allowing easy transit through customs at points of entry and border crossings. Eric has extensive knowledge of using a Carnet both in its preparation at the pre-production stage as well as on the ground during a filming trip and has first-hand experience of the issues and challenges that can arise when dealing with customs at border crossings.

Ambassador of the Republic of Panama to the United Kingdom

6 Dec| Why Panama?

Panama’s Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Natalia Royo, was born in Panama on December 24th, 1967. She studied her bachelor’s degree at NYU and has three master’s degrees, including one on International Relations from Columbia University.  

Ambassador Royo has held several positions in the Panamanian foreign service. She was Counsellor at the Mission of Panama to the UN, where she oversaw the economic section; and she was the coordinator for the Rio Group -formed by 14 Latin American countries- responsible for conciliating the group’s positions before the UN. Ambassador Royo continued her diplomatic career at the Mission of Panama to the Organization of American States during the XXVI General Assembly of 1996 and she also worked with the Permanent Mission of Panama to the UNESCO.

Additionally, Ambassador Royo worked in Madrid, Spain as a counsellor overseeing cooperation planning at the Ibero-American General Secretariat and as Communications Director at the CODESPA Foundation on development in Latin America, also based in Spain.

Managing Director, Boomerang Carnets

6 Dec | ATA Carnets: The Boomerang Benefit

Mr. Wilson directs and oversees all boomerang carnets® day-to-day operations. He is a hands-on leader who takes ultimate responsibility for quality and customer service. His expertise includes carnet bond underwriting, logistics, carnet claims management, client relationship management, cargo insurance and new product development. As a co-founder of boomerang carnets®, Mr. Wilson directed the transition of boomerang carnets® from a claims handling company to a major U.S. carnet issuing office. Under his management, the surety operations of boomerang carnets® have grown from zero in 1988 to US $365,000,000 of bond penalty amount in 2019. Mr. Wilson oversaw the expansion, in 2015, of boomerang carnets service into the United Kingdom. Partnering with the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce and streamlining ATA Carnet processing, the surety operations of boomerang carnets UK has grown to £61,000,000 in 2019.

Film commissioner, Slovak Film Commission

6 Dec | Filming in Slovakia - Good Idea!

6 Dec l No Planet – No Film: Celebrating Six Years of the European 'Green Screen' Partnership

Zuzana has been active in the Czechoslovak audiovisual environment for more than 20 years. Since 2018, she has been creating a platform under the Slovak Audiovisual Fund - the Slovak Film Commission. She is creating the conditions for a functioning audiovisual industry in challenging conditions, a presentation not only of Slovakia but also in the international context of Europe. She actively presents the possibilities of filming in Slovakia, monitors the activities of film professionals intending to strengthen their position on the European market, and continuously works with domestic and foreign producers who want to shoot in Slovakia. The Green Screen project, co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund, which she managed for the Slovak Republic, also testifies to the fact that societal challenges are important for her. 

6 Dec | Filming in Slovakia - Good Idea!

Manager, Košice Region Film Office

Jan has been working in the TV and film industry for more than 15 years in various production positions. Now he is focusing on service productions for international projects. In the spring he became manager of the Košice Region Film Office to create conditions that would support bringing productions to the region. 

President, Italian Film Commissions

Cristina Priarone is the General Manager of Roma Lazio Film Commission as well as President of IFC Italian Film Commissions Association and Vice President of CINEUROPA. Previously she joined Cinecittà Holding at Lazio Film Commission in charge for Marketing and Coproduction; she has been at Filas in charge for marketing and development of "Cinema and Audiovisual activities, Venture Capital Fund".  

She worked as team coordinator for marketing research, Personnel selection and assessment at "ISIN Istituto Italiano di Negoziazione Scienza dello Scambio" and at GRUPPOMUST Milan, Rome, Turin as Dir. for Mktg. & Dev. being in charge for: Communication, Training, Teambuilding, Coaching, Personnel Selection, and as Senior Consultant for main clients: ENI HOLDING, SNAM, 3M, TECHNICOLOR, APPLE COMPUTER, ITALGAS ETC.  

Board member of LA WEBFEST, since 2009 she’s member of jury of DAVID DI DONATELLO award and then of EFA European Film Accademy, she’s member of jury of PREMIO STREGA. 

Director, Italian Trade Agency - London Office

Graduated in Political Science, international address at Cesare Alfieri University in Florence, with a diploma as a conference interpreter for English and French and a Master in International Commerce and Finance organized by ICE of Milan, I started my career at the ITA Agency 30 years ago in 1992. After a four-year activity in Rome where I dealt with the promotion of Italian instrumental mechanics, I carried out my first assignment abroad in Hong Kong from 1996 to 2000 as deputy director, where I was able to attend the historic Hong Kong Handover to China in July 1997. Returning to Italy, following the victory of the competition for executives in August 2000, I was appointed director of the ICE Office in Florence and since 2002 manager of the Consumer Goods Area and of the Special Projects Area of the Rome office. In 2004 I was appointed director of ICE Sofia in Bulgaria and subsequently from 2007 to 2013 I was director of the ICE office in Sao Paulo, responsible for Brazil, in the period of the full economic boom of the South American country. Back in the Head Office from 2013 to 2017 I was director of the Promotion Coordination of Made in Italy, responsible for the planning and organization of over 1000 promotional initiatives annually organized by ICE in over 65 offices around the world. From September 2017 for a four-year period I held the position of director of ICE PARIS, a position that I continued to hold ad interim until May 2, 2022. From 5 September 2021 I assumed the role of director of the ICE Office in London for the four-year period 2021-2025. 

Representative, Italian Association of Executive Producers

Born in Verona, he began his career in Rome in production on the set of Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York, where he trained and was appreciated for his organizational qualities. 

In a few years he became one of the most popular Italian Location Managers, following international commercials and films such as Under the Tuscan Sun, The Last Samurai, Life Aquatic, Ocean's Twelve and many others. 

In 2007 he founded K + Srl, combining services for international films and production of commercials, short films and music videos. Thanks to this double role, K + manages in a few years to form a qualified and reliable work team in the area, supporting the major national and international productions. 

Since 2014 with K + he has produced films for cinema, documentaries and short films 

 Sales & Marketing Director, Cinecittà

Listed in 2020 Variety’s annual salute among the 70 showbiz selected women around the globe who have made their mark locally and beyond, Milazzotto is widely recognised for her recent years’ accomplishments. 

Lucia has been newly appointed Sales & Marketing Director at Cinecittà, the iconic Rome’s studio, which is set for a major overhaul involving many new state-of-the art soundstages, a bigger backlot and ambitions to become continental Europe’s top filming facility. In her recent previous experiences, from its foundation in 2015 till 2021 edition, Milazzotto directed one of Europe’s top markets, Rome’s MIA (Mercato Internazionale Audiovisivo, or Intl. Audiovisual Market), a unique concept mart that spans film and TV, reps “a disruptive best practice” not just for Italy and considered the European 'mini-miracle' of the challenging 2020 and 2021 film & TV business events calendar. 

 For over twenty years, Lucia Milazzotto has consistently worked for private companies, public institutions and foundations, in high level and key positions, to devise, implement and carry out success strategies, large and complex events, specific business development plans, at national and international level, supporting the Film, TV and Media industry and talent go global.  

Milazzotto has been leading ambitious, innovative and high-impact projects, combining a strong business management and marketing background, creative leadership and innovative approach, eventually meeting and exceeding the goals of both private companies and guilds and public institutions. 

Milazzotto values team building, out-of the box lateral thinking, irony and on the field experience. 

Head of Special Projects, Directorate General for Cinema and Audiovisual of the Ministry of Culture (DGCA-MiC) at Cinecittà 

Head of the International Department, ANICA (Italian Film Audiovisual and Digital Industries Association) 

Audiovisual Desks Coordinator , ITA (Italian Trade Agency)

After graduating in Political Science and International Affairs he has dedicated the past 30 years to developing and strengthening relationships with international cinema and tv institutions.   

For ITA, he has set up a network of  information desks on the Italian film industry funding and location services in the major World Markets.. At the moment there are two permanent offices in Los Angeles and Shanghai, and a series of information desks in Seul, Hanoi, Moscow, London, Berlin, Paris, Toronto, New York, Miami, Mexico City, San Paolo and Buenos Aires.  

He is also the Coordinator of the China Project by the DGCA-MiC, with the aim of promoting the dialogue, the cooperation, and increasing business and institutional activities, between Chinese and Italian film industries.  

Since March 2022, he has also become Head of Special Projects of the DGCA-MiC at Cinecittà in order to enhance international cooperation, activities and further develop relationships and business among Italian and foreign film professionals.  

Analyst & Consultant on regulatory changes, Directorate General for Cinema and Audiovisual of the Ministry of Culture (DGCA-MiC)

Rossella Gaudio joined the DGCA (Direzione Generale Cinema e Audiovisivo) of the Italian Ministry of Culture (MiC) as an analyst. She also serves as a member of the technical secretariat of the Directorate, providing support on regulatory changes. 

She represents Italy at EFARN – European Film Agencies Research Network. Rossella is a collaborator of the Film Magazine 8 ½ - numeri visioni e prospettive del cinema italiano, published by Cinecittà in cooperation with DGCA - MiC. 

She has a Ph.D. in Communications Studies from Sapienza University of Rome and holds a Master's degree in Organization and marketing. She previously worked as a researcher in the areas of Media studies and Audiovisual Economics and is the author of several publications on media and film industries. 

Direzione Generale Cinema e Audiovisivo (DGCA) is one of the Directorate-General of the Ministry of Culture (MiC). 

DGCA – MiC supports the creation, production, distribution and circulation of films and audiovisual works, supports cinema theatres and technical industries, professional training and media education, commissions studies and analysis on the film and audiovisual sector.  

DGCA – MiC manages the Fund for the development of investments in the film and audiovisual industry with a minimum annual budget of € 750 million, regularly divided into allocations for specific sub-sectors. 

As well as managing the funds provided for by the Law, DGCA – MiC represents Italy before EU, the Council of Europe, other international bodies and international funds that issue supranational support to the sector (Creative Europe – MEDIA sub-programme, Eurimages, Ibermedia).  

DGCA – MiC also manages bilateral funds with similar institutions in other countries to support the development of international co-productions. 

Director, Hellenic Film Commission

With an impressive career history of almost thirty-five years at Greek Broadcasting Service (ERT), spanning tv shows hosting, documentaries writing, print journalism, script juries and international co-productions, Maria has a rich and differentiated experience in a wide spectrum of the national and international audio-visual landscape.

She is alumna of Documentary Campus 2010 and participated to many international workshops on filmmaking.

For two years she has been the Director of International Relations and the HoD for the ESC2019 following by her position as the Head of the Co-productions Dept at the Public Radio-Television.

She has been member of the T.V. Committee of European Broadcasting Union (EBU) 2020-2022 As a film-maker she made many documentaries. Since August 2022 she is the Director of the Hellenic Film Commission of Greek Film Centre.
She holds a Post graduate Programme in the Department of Cultural
Technologies & Communications, University of Aegean.

Head of Promotion, IR & Communications, National Centre of Audiovisual Media and Communicaton-EKOME, Greece

Vassiliki Diagouma is the head of Promotion, IR and Communications, covering media, marketing, and business development. She leads EKOME’s engagement with national stakeholders and international partners and represents EKOME on the full range of its communication and outreach activities. Graduate of the Greek National School of Public Administration, she holds a degree in Political Science (Faculty of Law, Athens) and an MA in Management of Creative and Media Enterprises (Warwick University). Fluent in 6 languages, she has served a 6-year diplomatic mandate in Greek Embassies in Spain and Serbia, before joining EKOME, and has over 18 years of experience in management positions and private sector.

Director, The Animal Welfare Consultancy Ltd.

Jody Gordon is an independent animal welfare consultant and the sole director of The Animal Welfare Consultancy Ltd. He offers animal welfare advice for the use of animals in entertainment and exhibition including film, television and advertising. He has worked with a variety of well-known productions including All Creatures Great & Small s1-3, Clarkson’s Farm s1&2, The Pet Show, Pooch Perfect and many others.

Prior to this, Jody worked for the RSPCA for over 17 years. From 2007 up until he left in 2019, he worked on a project that developed and introduced the RSPCA’s Guidelines for the Welfare of Performing Animals and worked as the RSPCA’s on-set animal welfare advisor for a number of high-profile productions including the London Olympics opening ceremony. He has worked with the BBC, ITV, C4 and many more production companies, art installations and advertisers to try and implement higher standards and improve animal welfare in the production environment.

Jody is currently working on a project to introduce a new certification for the use of animals in entertainment and exhibition.

Project Manager/ Producer/ MIL Educator

Caillin is a self-motivated and progress-oriented production manager with an extensive background in the industry.With many years of experience in initiative and innovation, she hasimplemented strategies that have greatly benefited the Namibian film industryand the respective organizations she is involved with. Having earned a degree in Law from the University of Namibia, Caillin is able to negotiate and make sound decisions, enabling her to contribute to any film production and efforts towards policy considering filmmaking. Additionally, she completed a fellowship in Public Management at Howard University Washington DC, and she is currently completing her master's degree in Vienna, Austria.Throughouther career, she has honed her skills in budgeting and education. She is an astute problem solver, able to prioritise and manage complex projects tomake each one a success. Her entry into the world of film came at the young age of 15. Caillin has worked on various multinational productions such as Mad Max, The Amazing Race (different franchises) and The Challenge to name a few. She has also worked on local productions, one ofwhich recently won the Silicon Valley African Film Festival Award for Best Feature Film 2020, “#LANDoftheBraveFilm”. As one of Namibia’s most sought-after productionmanagers and producers, Caillin Basson has become a household name. Her name is synonymous with her and her network of trusted collaborators who can work together to meet any production needs. She has communication, collaboration, and compliance skills and consistently contributes to teamwork and organizational improvements. She is open-minded and constantly engaged with new developments in her field.She has proven to be effective, motivating, and able to make decisions and collaborate. Her keen interest in education is evident because she continuously trains youth across Namibia and Africa in media information literacy through MiLLi (an initiative of the Deutsche Welle Academy and Collegeof the Arts). She was also recently appointed chairperson of the Filmmakers Association of Namibia and a valued board member. In June lastyear, Caillin was also appointed by the Minister of ICT to the board of the Namibia Film Commission, followed by board appointments of both the Sister Namibia and Let’s do it Namibia boards. Caillin hopes to be more involved in the policy framework for the film industryin Namibia as she continues to advocate for the introduction of Namibian spending incentives, training incentives and infrastructure incentives that will enable an even greater contribution to the country's GDP than is already the case. It is working on all fronts to contribute to lasting positive change, be it through advocating for environmental awareness, equipping youth with media literacy or making the voices of the unheard heard.

Cinematographer

7 Dec|Filmmakers for Ukraine and ScreenSkills

Cinematographer Diana Olifirova moved to London from Ukraine in 2012 to do a Cinematography Masters at the NFTS, as well as further her knowledge of the craft and ultimately seek greater professional opportunities than were available to her in her home country. Diana went on a run of shooting short films (around 40, she estimates), which included ALL of Me (2017), which earned her a British Society of Cinematographer’s Emerging Cinematographer award. She also shot Lady Parts (2018), the short that led to her working on the BAFTA-winning Channel 4 comedy We Are Lady Parts (2021). Diana followed this up with Netflix series Heartstopper (2022), recently nominated for Children and Family EMMY for which she was selected as BAFTA Breakthrough 2022. 

Head of HETV Mid-Level Career Progression, ScreenSkills

7 Dec|Filmmakers for Ukraine and ScreenSkills

Nicky leads on HETV industry liaison supporting all productions that contribute to the HETV Skills Fund in relation to delivery of placements for Make a Move Plus (career transfer and step up programmes that follow classroom based training) as well as overseeing Trainee Finder, Make a Move and First Break. She provides strategic direction and leadership across the HETV offer internally and externally with industry. 

Previously Nicky ran the national crew database for Creative England for over 6 years, supported crewing and new entrant training at Screen Yorkshire and started her Television career at Yorkshire TV.  

Nicky is based in Leeds. 

Filmmaker

7 Dec|Filmmakers for Ukraine and ScreenSkills

Olga is a second-generation Ukrainian filmmaker and activist. With academic background in language studies, she has worked on service and co-productions with more than 10 countries across Europe and beyond. From music videos to films, her credits include Coldplay, Jorja Smith, The Golem, The Rising Hawk in AD, production, and casting departments. Now in the UK, Olga is focused on helping Ukrainian refugees integrate into the local filmmaking market. 

CEO & Consultant, Film & TV Founder

7 Dec|Filmmakers for Ukraine and ScreenSkills

Phillip is a Film & Television professional with 25+ years of executive management and leadership experience, and currently offers business, technical and creative consultancy to broadcasting corporations, studios, independent productions and camera rental companies. 

He is a co-founder and joint recipient of the IBC 2022 Special Prize for, ‘Support for Ukrainian Media Professionals,’ which networked over 400 individuals, from more than 280 companies and organisations to keep Ukrainian TV on-air, and provide support and aid to refugees. 

Phillip spearheaded AVTN | NewsNet247 the £218M global news start-up, leading presentations to VCs, Corporates, TMT and Sovereign Wealth Funds; built end-to-end business and financial strategy, formulated innovation-focused technical strategy; developed editorial and creative strategy; and established high-level relationships in EU government bodies. 

As founder of LEQ Ltd, Phillip won global clients (BBC, CBS, C4, CNBC, ITN, ITV, NBC, Sky). B2B business strategy delivered production, equipment, personnel contracts and creative roles. He has personally worked on over 300 productions, from features, TV drama, and documentary, to entertainment, news, commercials, music and events globally. 
 

Phillip began his career with Video Film and Grip Co Ltd (VFG PLC), which grew to a multinational business over the course of a decade with leading production clients. During his time with VFG, he established spin-off, The Lightweight Equipment Co, and launched VFG Ireland. 

He is the son of camera rental and industry veteran Tony Covell and as a 2nd generation member of the Film & TV Industry began his professional training very early on with Cinefocus Ltd (Aliens). 

Development and Editing, Crew United Greece

7 Dec|Filmmakers for Ukraine and ScreenSkills

Venia joined the team of Crew United Europe in 2022 in order to develop Crew United Greece.  She has a 20 years’ experience on various positions in the audiovisual sector. She has been the director of the Hellenic Film Commission at the Greek Film during 2017-2021 and member of the Board of directors at the European Film Commissions Network (EUFCN) during 2019-2021. During that period, Venia was responsible for promoting Greece internationally, consulting foreign producers on all aspects of filmmaking in Greece and representing the country at (EUFCN) and at the Association of Film Commissioners International (AFCI). 

Originally a film critic and experienced travel editor at Athinorama magazine (2001-2008), Venia produced Keimena, a weekly film program presented by the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT) on behalf of the acclaimed art exhibition documenta 14 (2016-2017). She has worked at the Greek Film Archive as head of communication and film programmer (2013-2015) and her credits as a co-producer include three films: WILD DUCK (2013), GREAT EASTERN (2015), AMERICA SQUARE (2017).  

Venia studied Communication and Mass Media at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (Greece) and holds an M.A. in Film Studies and European Cinema from the University of the West of England in Bristol (UK). 

Industry Development Officer, Newfoundland and Labrador Film Development Corporation (NLFDC)

Laura Churchill has been working in the Film and TV Industry for over a decade. As the Industry Development Officer for the Newfoundland and Labrador Film Development Corporation (NLFDC), her focus is on connecting producers with the right industry professionals in Newfoundland & Labrador to get their project off the ground. 

CEO, Iskandar Malaysia Studios

Rashid Karim joined as Chief Executive Officer of Iskandar Malaysia Studios (“IMS”) (previously Pinewood Iskandar Malaysia Studios) in March 2019.

Prior to that he was Chief Commercial Officer at Granatum Ventures, the investment holding company for Khazanah’s Creative Media assets, including IMS and Rhizophora Group which was involved in content development, investment and distribution. Prior to that, he was Vice President, Investments at Khazanah Nasional Berhad in the Creative Media team.

Rashid Karim served on the Board of the National Film Development of Malaysia (FINAS) from 2018 to 2020, and is currently on the Industry Development, International Marketing Animation Content Board Sub-Committee.

He completed his Institute of Chartered Accountants England Wales (ICAEW) training at Deloitte London in 2011 and has a Law (LLB Hons) degree from the London School of Economics.

Iskandar Malaysia Studios is the largest filmed entertainment production facility in South East Asia, housing state-of-the-art film stages, TV studios, water filming tanks, and extensive production support facilities.

Its mission is twofold: to serve as a preferred location for film and television productions for international projects, as well as to promote and foster the development of quality Malaysian content as well as the film and TV ecosystem.

Production Executive, Roughcut Television

7 Dec|Filmmakers for Ukraine and ScreenSkills

Zoë joined Roughcut Television as Production Executive in 2021, with twenty years’ experience in scripted and unscripted television on a variety of productions including comedy, comedy drama, children’s drama, factual and documentaries.  

Producer, Biscuit Films

Bill Donovan is half of the producing partnership that makes up the Malaysian based Film production support company Biscuit Films Sdn Bhd.

Bill came to Malaysia via the Vancouver Film Industry where he was active in the production of Documentaries, Films & Television Commercials since the early 90s. In 2006, he relocated to Malaysia and shortly thereafter created Biscuit Films

Since moving to S.E. Asia, Bill has had the honor of working with some of the top film companies in the world such as Warner Brothers, Legendary Pictures, The Weinstein Company, Paramount Pictures, Universal Pictures, Sony Pictures, the BBC, Netflix, UFA Fiction GmbH, New Pictures (UK) and UK Channel 4. Recently you can find Bill’s credits to include Co-producer on the successful Crazy Rich Asians as well as Executive Producer on the soon to be released Bio Pic Rajah.

Bill currently resides with his wife Jacqueline and daughter Shannon in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia and Vancouver Canada. 

Founder, OnBio

Tom Crooke worked as a Location Manager for 19 years, including on feature films such as; Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, Captain America: The First Avenger, Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation and Spectre.

Tom founded OnBio in 2014, to prove to film and television production companies that there were sustainable ways run plant machinery on set.

By running industrial workshop and marquee heaters on Green Heat, as well as supplying GreenD HVO for use in generators and plant machinery, OnBio is able reduce their client’s reliance on fossil fuels and reduce carbon emissions by between 90 to 94%.

Always keen to innovate, in 2020 Tom teamed up with battery expert Dan Horstman from Blue Dolphin to develop a mobile battery unit called the Orb. The Orb-8kWh is specifically designed for the UK Film and TV industry and is being launched at FOCUS this year at the OnBio stand.

Come and visit Tom and the OnBio Team at Stand N22 to find out more.

Director, OnBio

Created specifically to address the demand for environmentally conscious power within the film, television, broadcast and event industries, Green Voltage provides easy access to clean, reliable, silent power.

Completely emission free, the Green Voltage e-generator range include a number of highly capable power units in a selection of sizes, from the ultra-convenient 2kW and 5kW right up to the impressive 20k – 60/80/100kW variants.

With a proven track record powering productions of all size and genre, our fleet is perfectly suited to handling all manner of applications within the lighting, electrical and camera departments. Ideal for use in emissions sensitive areas or noise restrictive locations, our e-gens deliver incredible performance, particularly when paired with the growing number of highly effective, low energy and LED light sources which have become such a prominent feature on sets around the world.

A true alternative to traditional portable generators, Green Voltage e-generators are quite simply the most robust, reliable, battery power stations available today.
www.greenvoltage.co.uk