Malcolm Cockren
Chairman
For many years Malcolm was responsible, as Chairman and MD, for what is today the AON Corp, in the UK, Europe and Australia. He always focused on the entertainment activities of the Group and with clients, Disney, Fox, MGM, Universal, Polygram, UA and many others, gained knowledge and contacts that have proved invaluable throughout his career. He joined the board of John Dark’s Cresswell Productions and its associated music publishing company Sucima Music, UAA Films whose first film was ‘Arthur’ and Hartswood Films, now famous for its production ‘Men Behaving Badly’ and he produced a charity film of 26 minutes directed by Sir Alan Parker.
In conjunction with HRH Prince Edward he formed Ardent Productions, producers of numerous television shows including ‘Crown and Country’, ‘Tales from the Tower’, ‘Windsor Restored’ and the ‘Cater Street Hangman’, Sports shows, and corporate programmes such as ‘Birth of a Legend – Queen Mary 2’. He set up and ran BBC Production Risk Management based at White City and also joined the boards of Aerial Camera Systems, RME Pictures, Komodo Productions and Any Other Business (part of Instrumental Media). He is Chairman of Screen East, the regional screen agency supporting the development of the film, television and media industries in the East of England. Malcolm is also a Trustee of Queen Elizabeth’s Foundation and Wessex Youth Trust.
Alastair Robertson
Deputy Chairman
Managing Director, Watford Borough Council.
He is a Founder Director of Screen East since 2001 and deputy chair from 2002. He was a Founder Director of Herts Film Link Ltd, 1997 – 2002, a predecessor of Screen East, which was established to develop locations and studio filming within Herts as an economic driver. In that capacity, Alastair was instrumental in the creation of Leavesden studios and associated developments. As MD of a local council, he is able to advise on and act as a conduit for the local government and local political perspective.
Keith Bartlett
Keith Bartlett is Deputy Principal of Norwich University College of the Arts (NUCA). He has over 20 years of experience in teaching, course development, and management in Higher Education, and collaboration between HE and the creative industries. He was previously Director of the School of Media at The Arts Institute, Bournemouth, where he built on the established reputation of the Bournemouth Film School. In 1999 the Institute was awarded a Queen’s Anniversary Prize for its contribution to film and animation education.
Keith’s responsibilities at NUCA embrace academic development, learning and teaching, research, and business and community partnerships. A major recent project has been steering the institution through its successful application and scrutiny for Taught Degree-Awarding Powers.
Keith holds an MA in Film Studies from the University of East Anglia. Between 2002 and 2008 he was Chair of the Board of Cinema City, Norwich, working with stakeholders (including Arts Council East, EEDA, City Screen, Screen East and the City and County Councils) to bring to fruition a £4.5million project to redevelop the cinema into a state-of-the-art three-screen venue which is part of the UK Film Council’s Digital Screen Network. The new cinema opened in October 2007. He has also contributed to the development of the Norwich International Animation Festival (now known as Aurora), for which NUCA has been Principal Funder since 2002.
Keith is a member of the Creative Industries Board for Shaping Norfolk’s Future (the County Council’s social and economic development partnership); the Board of Screen East, the Regional Screen Agency for the East of England; the HE Academy’s Pro-Vice Chancellors’ and Deputy Principals’ Network; the Steering Committee of AUEE (the Association of Universities in the East of England; and the advisory board of EPIC (the East of England Production and Innovation Centre).
In his spare time Keith enjoys film, TV drama, reading, cycling, walking, and doing absolutely nothing.
Tim Bishop
Head of Region, BBC East
Tim Bishop is in charge of the six radio stations, BBC local websites and the television news and current affairs output in the East of England. He trained as a newspaper journalist in Hertfordshire before becoming News Editor of the Eastern Daily Press and then Editor of its sister paper, the Eastern Evening News.
He joined the BBC as an Education Correspondent, becoming the Editor of BBC Radio Norfolk and then the editor of BBC Look East, one of the top performing BBC regional news programmes, currently the most watched news programmes in the UK.
Andrea Cornes
Controller of Factual, ITV Productions Anglia
In her current role, based in Norwich, Andrea manages a large commercial television production division of over 120 staff split between the UK and the USA. Her department produces over 100 hours of television every year for a variety of UK and US based broadcasters. Most of the department’s output is in the factual and wildlife genres, and in recent years it has won a number of prestigious awards including three Genesis Awards in the USA, two RTS Awards, a BAFTA nomination and two Creative East Awards. In 2008 Andrea was awarded the ITV Leadership Award in recognition of her department’s success.
Before moving to ITV Anglia in 1996, Andrea spent fifteen years working in London for a variety of broadcasters and production companies including the BBC, C4, Picture Palace Productions and Uden Associates.
Daniel Dark
Managing Director, Studio Consulting
Having a comprehensive general knowledge of all aspects of the film and television industry and specific expertise and experience in the design, development, construction, marketing and operation of studio facilities, Studio Consulting provide a strategic overview for the development and operation of new and existing facilities.
Daniel was responsible for the initial conversion of Leavesden Studios with credits such as James Bond’s Goldeneye, Star Wars and Sleepy Hollow he continues to manage the Studios currently for Warner Bros and the Harry Potter series, as well as continuing to provide consultation to new and existing Studio projects Worldwide.
John Gough
International Format Specialist
John is director of DDI TELEVISION (Canada) the holding company for Distraction Formats (London – Paris – Montreal - Los Angeles - Warsaw) and a director of Fundamental Entertainment Television (UK) as well as holding board membership of the Rose d’Or Festival Switzerland and the Enertainment Master Class Germany.
Over the past 10 years, John has established a broad base of experience in the TV format business. The devising of the hit game show ‘In The Dark’, originally propelled John into entertainment television and the format business. The format was launched in 1996 on ITV in the UK with John as executive producer and has since aired with major broadcasters in 35 territories across the world to date. For five years John travelled the world learning about the formats business by producing his format in the studios of the world’s major broadcasters from Japan throughout Europe to the USA and Latin America. During 2005 John worked in Moscow on the production of ‘In The Dark’ for MY3 where during March the format was the no1 entertainment show prime time in Russia.
Rowena Goldman
Innovation Executive, BBC
Rowena runs the collaborative partnership between BBC Future Media and Technology and the Arts and Humanities Research Council which is currently co-funding 8 joint research projects as part of its knowledge exchange programme. Her background is as a programme maker. She won a BAFTA Interactive Award for The Dark House which she developed/co-produced and was transmitted on BBC Radio 4 in 2006.
During her time at the BBC she has also devised the post of Interactive Writer in Residence at the BBC Writers Room and been development producer of the experimental interactive DVD drama Hotel Lamb. She has traveled widely as a speaker on the future media international conference and festival circuit including the Montreal Film Festival, Rotterdam Film Festival, and SIGGRAPH (Special Interest Graphics) in San Antonio.
She is a member of the Writers Guild of Great Britain and has a screenwriting partnership with Susan Osman and their company Nick O’Tim
e Films. She is co author of the book, ‘The Mediterranean Health Diet’.
John Howkins
John Howkins first published his ideas on creativity and innovation in ‘The Creative Economy’ in 2001. His new book, 'Creative Ecologies: Where Thinking is a Proper Job' will be published in Spring 2009. He is Chairman of BOP Consultants and has advised global corporations, international organisations, governments, and individuals. He has worked in over 30 countries including Australia, Canada, China, France, Greece, India, Italy, Japan, Poland, Singapore, UK and USA. One of his major interests is the use of intellectual property laws to support the creative economy. He is the Director of the Adelphi Charter on Creativity, Innovation and Intellectual Property. He devised the London Intellectual Property Advisory Service now called Own It.
His business career has been spent in TV, film, digital media and publishing. He is a Director of HandMade plc, a films and rights owner listed on London’s AIM market, and Hotbed Media Ltd. He was associated with HBO and Time Warner from 1982 to 1996 with responsibilities for TV and broadcast businesses in Europe. He is Deputy Chairman of the British Screen Advisory Council (BSAC). He is a Member of the United Nations UNDP Advisory Committee on the Creative Economy. He is a former Chairman of the London Film School and is a former Executive Director of the International Institute of Communications (IIC).
He is Visiting Professor, Lincoln University, England, and Vice Dean and Visiting Professor, the Shanghai School of Creativity, Shanghai Theatre Academy, China.
John Howkins is a leading figure in China's creative economy. He visits China frequently to meet government and business. He is Chairman of the John Howkins Research Centre on the Creative Economy, launched in 2006 by the Shanghai Municipal Government at the Shanghai School of Creativity, Shanghai Theatre Academy. He is an adviser to the Shanghai Creative Industries Association and the Shanghai Creative Industry Centre.
He first visited China in 1979 and wrote Mass Communication in China, 1982, a first-hand account of the country's expanding TV, film, publishing and telecoms industries.
Recent keynote speeches include Beijing Olympic Organising Committee; China Beijing International Hi-Tech Expo (CHITEC); Shanghai Intellectual Property Administration (SIPA); Shanghai Design Biennial; Asian Cultural Cooperation Forum.
Pat Holtom
Rural Consultant
Pat started her career in film, mainly in marketing, working amongst others for Karel Reisz and Stanley Kubrick, but on moving to Norfolk, she became involved with Norwich Puppet Theatre and was their Administrator and Programme Manager for over 10 years. She has worked extensively in both the public and private sector in rural areas and was Rural Development Officer for Norfolk County Council for seven years, developing social, environmental, community, training and economic projects in the Norfolk Rural Priority Areas.
A former East of England Regional Development Agency Board Member with a special remit for rural issues, she is currently Vice Chair of the East of England Regional Rural Affairs Forum as well as being Chair of the Norfolk Rural Forum which she helped to set up in 2006. She is currently Vice-Chair of on the ACRE Board (Action with Communities for Rural England) which is the national umbrella organisation for all the Community Councils in the United Kingdom. She is now a freelance rural consultant advising on bid writing, evaluation and monitoring mainly for European funding programmes, researching, delivering training programmes and facilitating at workshops etc.
Tim Johnson
Partner, Media & Communications Group
Tim joined SJ Berwin in June 1994 and was made partner in the firm’s Media & Communications Group in 1995. He advises extensively on all aspects of media and communications law, with a particular emphasis on film and television financing, distribution and production and satellite communications. In recent years, his practice has also grown to encompass digital media and on-line exploitation. His clients include film financiers and producers, satellite operators and broadcasters. He is particularly recognised for the work that he does in relation to complex film financing structures, production and distribution transactions and international co-productions.
Tim is highly regarded throughout the industry. He is listed as a ‘leading individual’ within the specialist area of film and TV productions of Chambers & Partners UK directory, a ‘leading individual’ for Film and TV - finance and production in the Legal 500 UK directory, as well as being listed within Legal Experts as a specialist in the areas of film, film finance, TV and theatre and also telecommunications. Additionally he is listed in Euromoney’s Guide to the World’s Leading Technology, Media & Telecommunications Lawyers.
Mark Kleinman
Director, London City Charter
Mark has more than 25 years' experience as a senior civil servant, strategy adviser, practitioner and academic across a wide range of social and economic policy issues, working in and for central and local government in the UK; for European and International organisations, for the private sector and for non-governmental organisations. He has previous experience as a Director at the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister leading on the Government's urban and regional policy and is an invited expert speaker to strategy, policy and academic conferences in the UK, Europe, USA and Japan.
Maureen Thomas
Creative Director of Cambridge University Moving Image Studio (CUMIS)
Maureen Thomas is a Screenwriter and Interactive Media Director and is a Senior Research Fellow of Churchill College and Screen Media Group, University of Cambridge, where her practice-based research focuses on interactive dramatic narrativity in screen and performance media. She co-founded Cambridge University Digital Studio, and is a core tutor on the interdisciplinary Screen Media and Cultures programme. From 1986 – 1998 Maureen taught screen-writing and supervised the development of creative projects at the National Film and Television School, becoming a Head Tutor in 1993 and leading the NFTS’ successful digital media studio initiative (DTI Technology Foresight Challenge).
Since 1998, as well as writing and directing, Maureen has held a Senior Creative Research Fellowship at the Interactive Institute’s Narrativity Studio, Sweden, been Visiting Artist at the Media Lab, University of Art & Design, Helsinki and Visiting Professor in Dramaturgy, Narrativity and Interactivity at the Norwegian Film School and Goldsmiths Digital Studios, University of London. She has published widely on the relationship between film and game fictions and is a member of the editorial board of the journal ‘Digital Creativity’, and an Expert Advisor to the European Commission’s Framework 7 INFSO.2E ‘Digital Content & Knowledge Technologies’ unit.
Kevin Trehy
Vice President Physical Production, Warner Bros.
Kevin was Production Executive on Following :
Oct ’03 – Present “Batman Begins”; “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”; “Syriana”;
“V For Vendetta”; “10,000 B.C.”; “Fred Claus”; “Sweeney Todd”; "Body of Lies"; "Speed Racer"; "10,000 BC"
“Sherlock Holmes”
Studio Production Representative Feb ’03 – Oct. ’03 “Troy” Warner Bros
Line Producer: July ’02 – January ’03 “Pendragon” HBO
Exec Producers: Steven Spielberg, Tony To
Development & Pre Production
Line Producer: Feb '01 - December '02 "Fire From Heaven" HBO
Exec Producers: Mel Gibson, Tony To
Development & Pre Production
Financial Controller: "Band of Brothers" HBO
Chairman - The Production Guild '03 – Present
Shelagh Smith
Managing Director, Greenwoods Solicitors LLP
She is responsible for the development and implementation of the firm's strategy, building on its acknowledged strengths and developing new areas of expertise.
Shelagh has specialised in Company Commercial Law for the past 20 years dealing with acquisitions, disposals, MBOs, joint ventures and commercial agreements of all kinds including consideration of European and competition law, protecting and exploiting intellectual property rights.
Andrew Sunnucks
Founder and Creative Director, Audio Network Plc
Andrew has 20 years’ experience as a music producer. He set up his own Soho based production company, Big Picture Music in 1992 and sold it to Boosey & Hawkes in 1998, becoming their Media Director in the process. In 2001 he set up Audio Network with Robert Hurst. Audio Network is a revolutionary concept in the supply of music and the company has grown rapidly to become the market leader in the provision of high quality music to the film and television industries. The company has offices in the Screen East region as well as Central London, Los Angeles, New York and Sydney.
Andrew is also on the Board of the 2012 Media Development Council, which has been formed to develop media related training for the 2012 Olympic Games. He hopes to bring his particular interest in the development of the region’s television industry to the Screen East board.
Screen East Board Observers
David Moore
Director of Corporate Development
East of England Development Agency
Triston Wallace
London Regional Manager
Skillset
Dee Davidson
Partnership Development Manager
UK Film Council
Nitin Dahad
Board Member
East of England Development Agency