London, England, United Kingdom
I am proud to be Senior Manager of Production Trainning and Industry Engagement in EMEA. We invest in the training and skills development of our freelance crew in 11 regions in EMEA to support our productions, across film and series, scripted and nonfiction. I also oversee our industry engagement activities across the region. I am lucky enough to work with incredible colleagues and partners to develop the programmes which impact the talent. Previously, I was CEO at the Production Guild of Great Britain. Under my leadership, membership grew from 725 in 2012 to well over 1,000 in 2020, representing a 35% increase of UK production professionals being represented globally. I raised the profile of the organisation and our members and worked with industry bodies both in the UK and internationally to ensure we protected the future success of the UK production industry and as a result protecting future work for our members. I started my career in the film/ TV industry in the 90s at the British Film Commission initially as its events and marketing co-ordinator, and over the years progressed to Senior Executive International Production at the UK Film Council. My work involved attracting international productions to the UK and working with the industry and Government departments to ensure the UK remained competitive and film friendly for both international and domestic UK productions. As a member of BAFTA, the Royal Academy, the Tate, and the Institute of Ideas, combined with a passion for politics and freedom of speech, I am always up for a trip to the theatre, or an argument in the pub.
Access All Areas produces award-winning, disruptive performance by learning disabled and autistic artists, and work across the TV and film industries to support better representation of learning disabled and autistic talent on and off screen.
I work with Netflix production leaders and their teams across 11 regions in EMEA to develop the skills of the crew we need to make our thrilling titles, and oversee our industry engagement activities to ensure we have deep relationships with the individuals and organisations who produce our content. Highlights include running two international summits for EMEA producers on post production and innovation.
I was responsible for all Netflix training of crew in the UK. This included production management, production accouts, VFX, Post, Music, and Writers, plus I worked with productions on their title based training programmes.
The Production Guild of Great Britain represents the professional interests of senior film and television industry practitioners both within the United Kingdom as well as overseas. Working alongside Creative Skillset, the PGGB is also one of the leading film and television industry bodies to provide recognised training courses and seminars, many of which are open to non-members and the wider industry. The Guild also constantly works closely with a wide range of other industry bodies and provides strong support to its membership, taking an active role in negotiations for new industry legislation and agreements and keeping in regular contact with production companies, broadcasters and major US studios regarding the professional availability of its members. I was part of the PACT/ BECTU film agreement negotiations, oversaw training programmes including the first Netflix Assistant Production Accountant Training Programme (NAPATS), took part in a UK delegation to Beijing (led by the BFI), ran seminars and networking events, and grew the membership.
As chair of the board, I was involved in setting the strategy and priorities of the activities of the organisation, designed to celebrate, and support women working in film and TV in the UK. I was also a member of the finance committee, ensuring we remained fiscally healthy.
The Craft and Technical Skills Academy financed training and skills development of below the line crew, demanding I work with freelancers and organisations representing them, understanding where the skills needs were, and developing and funding training to close skills and capacity gaps.