Learning & Events Committee

26 October 07

The Learning and Events Committee is vital to fulfilling the Academy's charitable remit. Through an extensive programme of learning and events throughout the UK the committee aims to inspire practitioners and benefit the public.

Krishnendu Majumdar (Chair)

Producer/Director

Krishnendu has been uniquely trained on both the prestigious BBC Production Trainee scheme and the highly selective ITN News Trainee scheme. At the BBC he worked on a range of output including Watchdog, Newsnight Review, Art That Shook The World and at BBC Films and BBC Radio Drama. At ITN he worked as a producer across all of the output - ITV News, Channel 4 News and Five News. Films produced and directed include: Michael Howard: No More Mr Nasty; Coked Up Britain and the BAFTA-nominated Who you callin' a Nigger?. He is currently developing authored drama with Tony Garnett at World Productions, Ruth Caleb at the BBC and Kate Ogborn at Revolution Films / C4. Described by Screen International as "one of the British film industry's brightest hopes" in their 'Stars of Tomorrow' list.

Farah Abushwesha

Writer/Director

Farah Abushwesha is a writer and director. Her first live action film was the B3/UK Film Council backed Chicken Soup, which was selected for LA International Film Festival, BFI Times London Film Festival, Dublin International Film festival and Galway Film Festival. She also directed and produced the documentary Sir Alan Sugar Challenge with Gryf Rhys Jones. Her previous production work includes several high-profile, award winning short films and the forthcoming feature The Cottage. Farah was deputy head of studies at the London Film Academy for two years. She has participated, organised and chaired panels and events for BAFTA, LFA, Curzon and at various international festivals. She is the founding member of the Rocliffe Forums.

Sarah Baynes

Managing Director, The Creative Garden & The Talent Garden

Sarah heads up The Creative Garden which nurtures creative development by executive producing projects and in a variety of consultancy roles. She also runs The Talent Garden which utilises her NLP Master Practitioner Skills to coach and mentor excellence in both on and off-screen talent. She started her career in television at Channel 4 in the News & Current Affairs department. She worked on the implementation of the channel's early morning service, covering the Channel 4 Daily and weekend programming (including news, arts, sport and children's programming). In 1992, she was part of the team that commissioned The Big Breakfast. She has worked on various other projects, including the launch of the channel's website. In April 1998, she took up the position of working as part of the entertainment department focusing on Children's programmes and T4.

Amy Brown

Festival Director, MediaGuardian Edinburgh International Television Festival

Amy Brown is the Director of the Edinburgh International Television Festival, the essential annual event for anyone working in Television and now in its 33rd year. Amy began her career at BAFTA where she worked for nine years, ultimately as the Head of Membership and Events. After completing her MBA at London Business School, she moved to Deloitte Consulting to join the Human Capital group, specialising in helping organisations through periods of change. She joined the Television Festival in 2007.

Mary Fitzpatrick

Editorial Executive, Diversity, BBC

Mary Fitzpatrick was appointed BBC's Editorial Executive, Diversity in July 2006. Prior to joining the BBC, Mary was Channel 4's Editorial Manager, Cultural Diversity in January 2003. She was a senior member of the commissioning team and was responsible for managing the Channel's focus on diversity both on screen and off. Preceding Channel 4, Mary was a Series Producer in the independent sector having begun her career as a director/producer at the BBC where she worked on award-winning series' such as Trouble at the Top, Horizon and Inside Story.

Lizzie Francke

Executive Producer, Film, EM Media

Lizzie Francke began as a programmer for the Everyman Cinema and Electric Pictures. She was involved in the re-release of La Dolce Vita, Breathless and The Big Heat among many others. At Electric Pictures she was also involved in the launching of the debut films of both Claire Denis (Chocolat) and Jane Campion (Sweetie). Subsequently she enjoyed a career as a critic writing on film for a variety of publications from Sight & Sound through to Premiere, The Observer and The Guardian as well as contributing to radio. In 1994, the bfi published Script Girls, Women Screenwriters in Hollywood. From 1997 - 2001, she was Artistic Director of the Edinburgh International Film Festival. Subsequently she set up the Ministry of Fear label for the production company Little Bird, where she was co-producer on Marc Evans' Trauma. She is currently working as consultant Executive Producer for feature films for EM Media and co-producing for her own company, Fabrice du Welz's Vinyan.

Professor Stephen Heppell

CEO, Heppell.net

In new media and broadcasting Stephen has been at the forefront of the new media revolution since the 80s, currently guiding a range of organisations from BAFTA and the BBC through to the Teachers' TV and the innovative sports channel Cowes.TV. A regular broadcaster himself, he received the Royal Television Society's Judges' Award for lifetime contribition to educational broadcasting in 2006. Stephen pioneered collaborative virtual learning spaces. Past projects range from the Guinness Book of Record's largest internet learning project in the world last century, through a community of 20,000 headteachers to the worldwide Think.com. In Architecture and Design his pioneering research work for CABE and RIBA redefined the scope of learning spaces, largely informed by the emerging pedagogies in his virtual spaces. He is involved in the building, or redevelopment, of a mass of learning spaces worldwide, from community and corporate, through to Higher Education and of course a good number of radical, effective and seductive schools. In 2007 Stephen still does "geeky". Pioneering projects have consistently reached out for the early adoption of people-power technologies, like Hypercard, into learning. (Almost) finally, at the centre of all this, Stephen carries a significant policy portfolio supporting a range of front running nations worldwide. His work ranges from horizon scanning for the DfES/DCSF through to what can only be described as a full policy revolution in the Caribbean. As well as his own policy consultancy heppell.net ltd he sits on a small number of corporate boards and is chair of trustees for the charity "Inclusion Trust" with its remarkable Notschool.net project.

Jago Lee

Head of TV Somethin’ Else

Jago Lee is Head of Television at leading crossplatform production company Somethin Else, where he is responsible for the company’s television output across all platforms. Jago joined Somethin’ Else from Tiger Aspect in 2007 where he was Director of Documentaries responsible for developing and producing authored documentaries, innovative formats and factual drama including Gold Diggers, Men In White, and Nazi Pop Twins.

Jago previously worked as a producer and Head of Development at several leading UK production companies including Diverse and Optomen, where he specialised in science and history programming. His developments include God Is Black, Priest Idol, Superhumans, Fat Plague, French Leave, Feral Children, The Real Fight Club, as well as several films for Secrets of the Dead and The Entity.

Nichola Martin

Development Executive, Ealing Studios

Nic has worked at Fragile Films and now Ealing Studios, with independent producer Barnaby Thompson for six years. She is primarily responsible for managing and assessing all incoming submissions and material, scouting for new projects from producers and agents and tracking and forging relationships with talent. She is particularly active in the area of casting, acting as in-house casting director. She also works closely with Sophie Meyer running the Ealing slate, which currently consists of some 15 or so projects, ranging from contemporary and period comedies, to thrillers and family films. She has worked with a variety of writers and directors including Oliver Parker, Will Davies, Steve Surjik, Mark Herman and Ol Parker. Credited films include St Trinians, I Want Candy, Fade To Black, Imagine Me & You, Alien Autopsy, Valiant, Hope Springs and The Importance of Being Earnest.

Sanjay Mistry

Graphics Training Manager, Electronic Arts

Miguel Mera

Composer

Miguel Mera composes music for film, television and theatre. His work has been screened at film festivals around the world including: London, Edinburgh, Venice, Cannes, Los Angeles and New York. Recent television work includes dramas and documentaries for BBC, Channel 4, Channel 5, the Discovery Channel and the History Channel. Miguel also teaches at the Royal College of Music and writes about music and the moving image. He is author of a monograph on the score for Ang Lee's film The Ice Storm and co-editor of European Film Music.

Kate Ogborn

Development Producer, Revolution Films

Kate is an independent film producer and joined Revolution Films in 2006 to head their Television division. As well as developing a number of Revolution projects, Kate works with The Bureau Film Company, executive producing the short film scheme 'Cinema Extreme' and developing a number of features with Tony Grisoni, Chris Cooke and James Marsh. Prior to Revolution Films, Kate executive produced Brothers of the Head, A Cock and Bull Story and This is England for EM Media, and This Is Not A Love Song. Her previous producing credits include Carine Adler's award-winning Under The Skin, Chris Cooke's One For The Road, and co-producer on Diane Bertrand's L'Annulaire and Christian Carion's Oscar-nominated Merry Christmas. Previously, Kate was also executive producer on over 60 shorts for New Directors Scheme, cultivating a range of emerging talent including Tinge Krishnan, Lynne Ramsay, Simon Beaufoy, Bille Eltringham and Richard Kwietniowski.

Maggie Rodford

Managing Director of the Air-Edel Group

Maggie Rodford is Managing Director of the Air-Edel Group, incorporating one of the world’s leading music publishing and production companies, representing composers worldwide. The company has offices in London and Los Angeles.

Maggie trained as a music engineer and prior to joining Air-Edel worked at both the BBC and EMI. Maggie works closely with Air-Edel’s composers, producing and co-ordinating music recordings. She was the music producer for the French and Flemish cast recording of the musical Tintin – The Temple of the Sun and has also worked as music producer, co-ordinator and supervisor on many prolific films scores including Gosford Park, Bridget Jones’ Diary, Gladiator, The Lion King, Beyond the Sea, Copying Beethoven, Pride & Prejudice, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Eragon and Miss Potter amongst other projects.

Maggie served as a PRS Director for fourteen years (1986-2000) and for many of those years she was an active member of the PRS Executive Committee, she is currently a member of the BAFTA Council film committee.

Peter Rudge

Medici Fellow in Film Production, Staffordshire University

Peter joined Staffordshire University in 2002 after just over 12 years in the film and television industries - firstly as a cinematographer and then as a writer and producer. He spent the early part of his career in Los Angeles working with Universal Television, Columbia Pictures and several small independent producers. Shortly after returning to the UK he took a part time teaching role at Staffordshire University, teaching screenwriting, which developed into the full time post he now holds. Peter has worked with colleagues at UCLA and the Paris Film School and is actively involved in the industry in the midlands region. As a member based in the regions, Peter is passionate about the development of the Academy's activities outside the capital and part of his role on the Education and Events Committee is to develop and co-ordinate these activities in the Midlands.

Clare Wise

Head of International, UK Film Council

As Head of the International department at the UK Film Council, Clare Wise is responsible for International Strategic development, co-production Treaties and export promotion in both existing and new/emerging markets. She works closely with colleagues across the UK Film Council, DCMS, UKTI and FCO and is working on developing relationships with India, China, North Africa, South Africa, the Caribbean, South America and South East Asia. Prior to joining the UK Film Council International in April 2001, Wise was a freelance producer. She produced The Last Seduction II for PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and worked on Stephan Elliott's The Adventures Of Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert and PAWS, both films were for the AFFC/PFE. She sits on BAFTA's Film Committee and the Carl Foreman jury and is on the international advisory Board of FICCI-Frames and Whistling Woods Film school in Mumbai.

Martin Wright

Director of Gamelab London/CEO of Shoreditch Consortium

Martin has over twenty-five years experience as a founder member of UK's multimedia industries. He established the BBC's first interactive media group in 1982 and has been involved in educational and children's interactive gaming ever since. Martin's current role places him on the interface between education and training, production and publishing. He combines the new talent internships at Gamelab London, part of London Metropolitan University, with high-end production activity for Shoreditch Consortium Ltd. His titles include Teddy Bear Disc (OU), Life and Energy (DTI), Sculpture Interactive (Tate Gallery), and Alphabet Soup (Compact Multimedia/Dataworks PTY/2Simple).

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