BAFTA/Gabi Torres Luke joins BAFTA from Ukie, the trade body for the UK’s games and interactive entertainment sector.
London, 16 December 2021: BAFTA has announced today the appointment of Luke Hebblethwaite to the role of Head of Games this week.
Reporting into Emma Baehr, BAFTA’s Executive Director of Awards and Content, Luke joins BAFTA at a pivotal moment for the arts charity as it aims to consolidate its position as the foremost global cultural organisation in games.
The appointment comes ahead of the 2022 BAFTA Games Awards on 7 April, whose nominations will be announced on 3 March.
Luke Hebblethwaite said: “It’s fantastic to be joining the excellent team at BAFTA as their new Head of Games and I look forward to supporting and championing our industry across the full remit of BAFTA’s activity. Games play an ever more important role at the heart of culture and I’m determined to build on BAFTA’s excellent work to date in cementing games in their rightful place alongside the best of the creative and screen sectors.”
Emma Baehr, BAFTA’s Executive Director of Awards and Content, said: “I’m delighted to welcome Luke as Head of Games. Luke is highly respected within the industry and he will bring invaluable experience and knowledge to the team as we pursue our ambitions for BAFTA and games. We can’t wait to start working with him.”
Dr Jo Twist OBE, Chair of BAFTA’s Games Committee and CEO of Ukie, said: “As chair of the BAFTA games committee I’m delighted that Luke has chosen the arts charity for the next step in his career. I’ve worked with Luke for five years at Ukie so I know how passionate he is about creators, about our industry and the wonderful games our talent makes. Ukie’s loss is most certainly BAFTA’s gain and I have full confidence he will be an incredible addition to BAFTA. I look forward to seeing what we can achieve together in the coming years.”
Prior to joining BAFTA, Luke was the Insight & Innovation Manager at UK games trade association Ukie, advocating for games on both the national and global stage and leading a series of economic, diversity and tech-focused projects, delivering ground-breaking research for the sector. These include the landmark UK Games Industry Census, the first ever UK Games Map and Ukie’s annual Consumer Games Market Valuation, as well as many others.
At Ukie, Luke’s role was in understanding, supporting and championing the wide range of games businesses and individuals in Ukie’s membership. He represented games across several screen sector and creative industry boards and initiatives, including working closely with partner organisations like the BFI and StoryFutures.
A lifelong games fan, as well as musician, modder, writer and designer, Luke is a strong believer in celebrating the full spectrum of creativity in games, and served as a BAFTA juror in 2020.
Previously to Ukie, he worked across a variety of creative and tech industries, including a major fashion brand, a global PR agency, a 3D printing start-up and eight years in the UK music industry.
In his spare time, he runs the UK Games Composers directory and can usually be found playing Doom.
For enquiries, contact
Nick Williams, Communications Manager
BAFTA Press Office
T 020 7292 5863
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About BAFTA
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) is a world-leading independent arts charity that brings the very best work in film, games and television to public attention and supports the growth of creative talent in the UK and internationally. Through its Awards ceremonies and year-round programme of learning events and initiatives – which includes workshops, masterclasses, scholarships, lectures and mentoring schemes in the UK, USA and Asia – BAFTA identifies and celebrates excellence, discovers, inspires and nurtures new talent, and enables learning and creative collaboration. For advice and inspiration from the best creative minds in working in film, games and television, visit www.bafta.org/guru. For more, visit www.bafta.org.
