Krishnendu Majumdar - Chair of BAFTA

Krishnendu Majumdar - Chair of BAFTA

The redevelopment will double the capacity of our home at 195 Piccadilly, install new technology and increase revenues – all of which will enable us to grow our charitable work to find and support new and existing talent. It will also give us our first ever dedicated learning space. This is why our work to expand and renovate 195 Piccadilly is so important.

Our learning and new talent programme is at the very heart of BAFTA – the reason BAFTA exists. BAFTA for me is about two things – Excellence and Inspiration. People know about our brilliant awards where we celebrate excellence – but less about the hugely important inspirational work we do year-round to support and promote creativity.

This work is more important than ever post-Covid – we know that our industries desperately need to be more representative of the society we live in. We also know that young people, and people from under-represented groups, have been the hardest hit by this crisis. 

Without support, and the expanded programmes and talent initiatives that our redevelopment will make possible, large numbers may leave the industry and this will have a devastating impact on the future talent pipeline, as well as our ongoing work to make our industries more inclusive. 

I’d like to share some thoughts on my personal journey, and how I come to be writing to you as chair of BAFTA today. I was never the likeliest candidate. My father was an Indian immigrant who moved to Britain in the 1960s and settled in the South Wales valleys as a GP who worked for the NHS for over 40 years. Growing up, there was no-one from the Bengali community with connections in the film or television industries. I started in 2000 as a trainee at ITN and then at the BBC before becoming a Television Producer. I was elected to the BAFTA TV Committee in 2006, became chair of the committee in 2015, then deputy chair of BAFTA and now chair.

I have never been more hopeful that we can make positive change to BAFTA, the industry and wider society by being a beacon of excellence and inspiring the next generation. The redevelopment of 195 Piccadilly, and the opportunities it will provide, is absolutely central to this. We are so grateful to everyone who has supported our campaign and I am optimistic that together we can make a real difference. I look forward to embarking on this journey with you.