Staff
Jennifer Granville : Director of the Northern Film School
Jennifer Granville is Director of the Northern Film School at Leeds Metropolitan University in the UK. Before coming to Leeds she taught at Ohio University School of Film, among the USA's top ten graduate film schools.
Her film script, MSI: A MATH SCIENCE INVESTIGATION, was given a performed readings at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton and MSRI in Berkeley and is now being developed as a graphic novel which will be published by Princeton University Press in 2012. She produced WINESBURG, OHIO adapted from Sherwood Anderson, and LOST IN WINESBURG, a feature length documentary. Her screenplays, MIRROR CALLED MEXICO and THE HUNTSMAN have won numerous screenplay competitions including La Femme, 21st Century and Latino Screenplay Competitions.
With a diverse background as playwright, script editor, producer and actor, she was Script Editor for the BBC series GRANGE HILL and developed scripts for Granada TV and Principal Pictures. She produced a 16mm short THE SECRET SONGS OF BUTTERFISH, which aired on television internationally and won the Gold Plaque in Chicago and the Special Jury Award at New York Expo, ON THE ROOF, a Fuji Film Award-winning short, THE REAL FAWLTY TOWERS for Anglia Television and she directed and produced the documentary, STEPHEN BURROWS' WORLD.
Listed Theatre toured UK Lidos with Jennifer's script of LISTED LIDO, a site specific, site responsive work that looks at the history of lidos and their importance to the fabric of British life. Her play, THE RULE OF THREE, based on a screenplay written with Lucy Walker (director of Oscar nominated 'Wasteland'),has been performed in the US and London's fringe.
Jennifer has also enjoyed a successful acting career. From the age
of 17 she appeared in UK theatres from Edinburgh to London’s West End - where a favourite role was in WOMEN BEHIND BARS, co-starring with Divine!
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Nick Wright : Visiting Lecturer : Cinematography
Nick Wright completed his first degree in Graphic Design before gaining his Masters in Film at The Royal College of Art in London. His original specialism was in Cinematography, and subsequent professional broadcast and cinema credits include Director of Photography as well as Producer, Director and Screenwriter. Over the years the portfolio has included feature, drama and documentary, corporate, commercial and experimental work. Recent work included directing a 3-part National Geographic Channel documentary series. Currently he is filming a British wildlife series, creating a stock library of wildlife images, and shooting two documentaries - one on “Gamekeeping” and the other on an internationally respected Sculptor of bird bronzes.
Alongside this professional career in production, film education has always figured strongly in Nick’s interests. He originally formed and then for over twenty years headed up the emergent Bournemouth Film School, which gained a global reputation for international success and broadcast achievement.
Nick maintains a firm belief in the value of practice-based education, in empowering students through opportunity and informed choice, and in the interlinked realities of authority, responsibility and accountability. A growing spread of NFS drama and documentary productions includes work shot in Italy, Greece, Hungary, India, China, Kuwait, Scotland – and Yorkshire. top
David Smith : Senior Lecturer : Editing & Sound
David specialises in editing, colour grading and picture finishing for both television and film productions. During his career he has worked with all the major broadcasters including the BBC, ITV, CH4 and Sky - feature editing, promotions, title sequences and on-air graphics. He has also worked on a wide variety of commercials, pop promos and corporate programming. Recent credits include colour grading and online finishing for two feature length documentaries - 'We Are Poets' (winner of the Youth Jury Award at the Sheffield Docfest) and another film documenting the turbulent history of East Timor. David also supplies training and consultancy services for production companies, educational institutions and manufactures including Apple and Quantel.top
Cheryl is a Senior Lecturer at the film school speciliasing in Producing. She works across all levels of the course and also coordinates the international student exchanges.
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Samantha Babrovskie : Senior Lecturer : Production Design
Samantha Babrovskie originally trained in Theatre Design and has worked at a number of theatres (including The Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, The Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, Greenwich Theatre and The Kings Head, Islington) creating scenery and props. More recently she has been designing for stop motion animation (Cosgrove Hall Films and Hot Animation, Manchester) which includes “Pingu”,” Bob The Builder” and “Rotten Ralph.” As well as designing for children’s productions she was also responsible for the original set design concept and visualisation of “Rick and Steve The Happiest Gay Couple In All The World.
Sam says "I love working with students especially the practical aspects of production design. Building or dressing a set, making props and sourcing locations and costume is one of the best parts of my job - it is a lot more about working alongside students in a collaborative way, than a traditional lecturer/student relationship." top
Dan Weldon : Senior Lecturer : Screenwriting
Dan Weldon is a writer, producer and director. For 20 years he co-owned and headed development for the independent production company Tall Stories. Tall Stories produced award winning, critically acclaimed independent feature films, shorts and documentaries including: Andrew Kötting’s ‘Gallivant’ (Best Film Edinburgh 1996) Jasmin Dizdar’s ‘Beautiful People’ (best film Un Certain Regard – Cannes 2000), and Ntshavheni Wa Luruli’s ‘The Wooden Camera’ (Winner of a Crystal Bear Berlin 2004). He has also written a number of commissioned and spec screen plays; made short films and directed the award winning documentary (My Macondo). Most recently he wrote and produced Nicolas Roeg’s ‘Puffball’ starring Kelly Reilly, Miranda Richardson, Rita Tushingham and Donald Sutherland – released all over the place in 2008 (just out on DVD in the UK). Dan is currently writing two new screenplays (one spec, one commissioned) and is raising finance for a feature length documentary. Dan is a senior lecturer and Joint Course Leader for the new Filmmakers' MA at the Northern Film School. top
Larra Anderson : Senior Lecturer : Cinematography
Larra Anderson is Head of Production at the Northern Film School, a cinematographer and multi-talented filmmaker who worked in Los Angeles for more than a decade. In addition to her work as a Director of Photography, she has also produced, directed and written for films and television. Her award winning work has been done for Showtime, 20th Century Fox, VH1, AMC and The Hallmark Network. Filmmaker Magazine described her cinematography in the feature film ‘The New Women’ as "one of the best looking dv films yet… fresh and exciting"; Res Magazine described it as "a sumptuous, rural noir road trip… the film's look is a rhapsody of texture". Larra has worked as the Screen Education Specialist for the American Film Institute and as an Adjunct Professor at Chapman University’s Dodge College of film and Media Arts in California, and currently serves as the Senior Lecturer – Cinematography and joint course leader for the new Filmmakers' MA. top
Keith Dando : Senior Lecturer : Producing, Directing & Festivals
Keith began his career as a production manager in the computer games industry working on live action footage for games such as ‘Realms of the Haunting’ and ‘Judge Dredd’. In order to progress he undertook the MA at the Northern Film School as a producer and his films were shown by Yorkshire TV and in film festivals. He then worked freelance for some time, on projects for Channel Four, BBC and lots of independent production companies, whilst setting up his own company to develop projects. He worked throughout the United Kingdom and in Zambia, Africa before taking up a teaching post at the school. Concurrently with teaching, he was a co-director and organiser for the first Liverpool Lesbian and Gay Film Festival and continued to make shorts. One of these, Spaceboy, was shown at over 30 film festivals worldwide and attracted commercial distribution deals. He now develops and writes feature screenplays. top
Lisa Mcknight : Senior Lecturer : Producing
I am currently the course leader for the Foundation Degree in FIlm & Television Production. I manage all the productions on the FdA, from the ‘taster shoots’ during the first fortnight through to the level 1 End of Year productions and onto the graduation films made as part of The Production Project in level 2. I am with students all the way from that first embryonic idea, through the agony and ecstasy of scripting, the slog of scheduling, budgeting and location hunting, the buzz of the shoot, and finally the putting together of the puzzle in the edit. The films I have supervised have ranged from social documentary through 16mm sci-fi to puppet animations. I have done this for eight years now and I still find great joy in watching students’ work on a cinema screen and seeing the big fat smiles on their faces from a job well done.
My own creative outlet for the last few years has been writing a gritty-supernatural novel, Feral. Happily, this has just been optioned by Warp and is beginning feature film development. I’m also a part-time student myself at present, on the MA in TV Scriptwriting at De Montfort University, where I’m developing a TV series about dark faeries and benefiting hugely from being reminded of how it feels like to be a student on the receiving end of script feedback!
Before Leedsmet I wrote and produced various short dramas and documentaries, such as Jam Sarnie Day, Moving On and Sex An Tings, which have been screened at film festivals internationally. Many of my projects have involved working with communities and young people, but I’ve also produced for corporate clients such as Relate, and has recently production managed the animation film, The Lear Settings, in partnership with the Hull Sinfonietta. top
Laura Taylor MIBS : Senior Lecturer : Sound
Laura is currently the Course Leader for BA Film and Moving Image Production at the Northern Film School. She teaches across the Faculty specialising in Sound, Professional Practice and Work Based Learning. Her background is In Location Sound Recording, having trained professionally through the Screen Yorkshire Fast Track scheme where she went on to get Skillset NVQ, BBC Training and Granada Camera and sound Health and safety certificates. She has numerous Broadcast credits and has worked for BBC/Channel 5/ITV Yorkshire and Discovery channel. Laura specialises in factual television programmes. She has also worked professionally in live television, post-production sound and commercial and community radio, and has vast experience working within the educational and community sector. Laura has very close links with ELFM, a community Radio Station in East Leeds and the Soundmill Studios in Kirkstall Leeds, which she feeds back into her teaching practice.
This year she has contributed to an academic text book outlining the Movie Industry for the North American Market and is currently writing another contribution to a book outlining good practice in WBL. For the past 2 years Laura has worked with the BBC alongside staff and students at Latitiude and Leeds Festivals as part of the Festival Republic partnership within the University. She is currently working alongside colleagues from Leeds Met and The Univesrity of Leeds as a Filmmaker for the AHRC funded scheme 'Beyond Text'. top
Martin John Harris : Senior Lecturer : Editing & Documentary
Martin Harris is a film editor and documentary collaborator. Many of the films Martin has worked on have won awards. In 2011 under Martin’s role as executive producer, the feature length documentary, ‘WE ARE POETS’ won the Youth Jury Prize at the Sheffield International Documentary Festival. The ever popular series ‘BOMBAY RAILWAY’ (3Di Productions & BBC 4) won an Royal Television Society Award for Best Documentary. ‘GOD’s WAITING ROOM’ (Century Films & Channel 4) won the same award the following year. ‘GOD’s WAITING ROOM’ was also in competition at the prestigious PRIX EUROPA in Berlin and won the prize for Best Multicultural Film, competing against 18 other films from across Europe.
After graduating from Sheffield College of Art – Fine Art / Filmmaking, Martin trained with and worked as a film editor with the BBC for seven years. After leaving the BBC he became a freelance film editor working on drama and documentaries for the major broadcasters in the UK and the USA. His credits as film editor also include ‘All Creatures Great & Small’ (BBC), ‘Rescue’ (ITV), ‘The Nick’ (Channel 4), ‘Priest Idol’ (Channel 4). Martin has been involved in teaching at graduate and post graduate level since the mid 1990s – at the Northern Film School, Leeds, at Salford University on the MA Documentary Production and also as visiting editing tutor at Escuela Internacional de Cine y Television in Cuba.
In the last couple of years Martin has been developing the Alumni Production Scheme at the Northern Film School. As a producer and executive producer for the Scheme Martin has worked with Film School graduates on a number of successful productions. ‘THE NORTHERN ART PRIZE 2012’ has been screened daily as part of the contemporary art exhibition at Leeds City Gallery and last year’s ‘NAP-2011’ film was broadcast by Sky Arts.
Martin’s most recent work as film editor and documentarian has been with award winning producer Peter A. Gordon. ‘BLOODSHOT: THE DREAMS & NIGHTMARES OF EAST TIMOR’ is a feature length documentary that looks back over the last 20 years at East Timor’s struggle to become independent. In 1992 Peter made an undercover film in East Timor. José Ramos Horta, President and Nobel Peace Prize winner, said that the film of the Santa Cruz massacre was instrumental in leading the country to independence. In the new film Peter returns to East Timor to find out what happened to his crew, the guerilla army leader and the Timorese people affected by the Santa Cruz massacre. top
Lewis Paul : Senior Lecturer : Experimental Film & Critical Studies
Working with film, video and photography, Lewis Paul’s work engages questions of identity, narrative and filmic illusion, constructing work around hidden creative practices (No Ball Games 2007) or unexpected viewpoints (‘Documentary Evidence - we are not your audience’ 2004). Examples of exhibitions and commissions, European media art festival Osnabruck. (film work) Selected program. 2000, ‘Millennial Minutes’ Miniature Film and video. (Film work) Touring show. Scotland and UK. Scottish arts council / Millennium festival. 1999. ‘Documentary Evidence, (we are not your audience)’ Babel digital arts project, commissioned by Lighthouse Brighton, and Southeast Arts. 35mm film portraits, screened before main features on 4 screens at the Odeon Hastings July to August 2002. (2001-2002). top
Sarah Bowen : Senior Lecturer : Animation
Sarah became a filmmaker through an interest in photography that developed into stop-frame moving image and a degree in animation. She graduated from the NFTS Animation Direction course in 1998 and has since worked as a freelance director and animator on range of independent and commercial productions for film and TV. Her personal films have played at major festivals and exhibitions around the world and have been broadcast in the UK and Europe.
Currently engaged in practice-based doctoral research Sarah is particularly interested in the debates surrounding the theory/practice nexus. Her research areas include cinematic landscape motifs and travelling themes in European cinema, trans-national cinema, and experimental film & digital techniques. top
Andrew du Feu : Senior Lecturer : Animation
Andrew first became interested in film making through his undergraduate Fine Art study at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, where he experimented with time-lapse photography, film projection and installation. This lead to numerous exhibitions throughout the British Isles. Postgraduate study in Interactive Multimedia Production further nurtured moving image and animation projects distinctly centered around digital tools and processes.
Having worked at the University for 14 years across a variety of Art and Design courses, Andrew is now pursuing his interest in animation by co-developing undergraduate provision in the subject. Through application of his broad skill base in the education environment he is interested in creating connections between disciplines. This is demonstrated through his course leadership role for the BA (Hons) Design course in addition to his role within the Northern FIlm School. top
Chris Clarkson : Senior Lecturer : Sound
Chris has over 35 years experience in the Film & TV industry and has logged an impressive number of credits and awards including the coveted International Emmy. After a period of training with the BBC, Chris worked the freelance market before joining Yorkshire Television in Leeds. He has worked on a vast number of major network documentaries and dramas – various Whickers, dramas such as ‘Emmerdale’, ‘Heartbeat’, ‘The Royal’, ‘Airline’ and ‘Romance on the Orient Express’, as well as specialist programmes from the Falklands, Lebanon, the North Pole and the depths of the Arctic Ocean. Chris is a Senior Lecturer and teaches Film, Video and TV Production. top
Ann Tobin : Visiting Lecturer : Screenwriting
Ann Tobin’s experience in media, both film and TV and theatre goes back to working as a secretary for 20th Century-Fox Film Studios in London and Los Angeles and as Stage Manager for the alternative socialist New Theatre based in Sydney, Australia. She has worked in Current Affairs and Factual Programming, including Producer on “Heart of the Matter” and in drama, including Script and Story Editor for YTV’s “Emmerdale”. In 1995 she helped establish the Yorkshire Media Production Agency where as Development Director she Executive Produced the first series of the UK Film Council’s Digital Shorts. Since then Ann has worked as Script Consultant and Developer for North West Vision and Screen Yorkshire and continues as Film Lottery Assessor for the Northern Ireland Film Commission as well as working for Producers based in Demmark, Switzerland and Italy. She is currently lecturing in screenwriting on the BA in Film and Moving Image Production course. top
Joe Hepworth : Visiting Lecturer : Writing and Directing
Joe is a Leeds based screenwriter and director His recent commissions include the family film, The Journey of Bosko Basic; a horror project The Clan developed as part of Screen Yorkshire’s SPARK scheme. He has also received a commission from the Eon Screenwriters Workshop, a spin-off company from the producers of James Bond. Joe is currently developing two spec feature films. Simply Sid, a children’s film and Sirroco, a teen thriller set in Morocco. Joe’s UKFC financed short film script Soul Flowers is shooting later this year. Joe’s first film, Night Fishing, which was funded with lottery money from the UK Film Council and Screen Yorkshire, was recently screened at the Los Angeles Children’s Film Festival and is currently being sent to film festivals around the world. Joe was recently named in a list of top “100 Bright Young Things” naming new talent in the region, sponsored by Yorkshire Forward. He is also taking part in the Guiding Lights scheme and is being mentored by Frank Cottrell Boyce (Slumdog Millionaire). top
Jayne Kirkham : Visiting Lecturer : Producing and writing
A writer-producer who brings warmth and heart to tough thematic content. Versatile and collaborative, Jayne’s forensic analytical skills and understanding of the creative process combine with expedition, teaching and leadership experience to elicit the best in both a team, a script and a budget. Jayne is currently writing Forever Friends short film and picture book for Christmas 2009 for Hallmark as well as producing a slate of animation for Brown & Sticky Productions. Jayne is a Save Kids’ TV Executive Committee member, submitting evidence to Ofcom, CMS Select Committee and Lord Carter’s Digital Britain Review on UK children’s television. She is a member of the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain TV, Children’s and Editorial committees. Jane is also a youth activity worker and can often be found with young people in kayaks or up mountains. Sometimes at the same time. top
Klemens Czyzydlo : Critical & Theoretical Studies
A graduate of the Northern Film School, Klemens also holds a degree in social and cultural studies. He is currently a PhD candidate and part-time tutor at the University of Leeds, Department of German and the Centre for World Cinemas, teaching at undergraduate and postgraduate level. His research is on the concept of authorship in contemporary German and Austrian film discourse.
Klemens has experience in various aspects of film and video production, including writing, directing, producing and editing. His short films were screened and won awards at several festivals. top
As Single Camera Director for the Entertainment Department at Granada Television, Ricardo Barker has worked on a variety of light entertainment, arts and documentary programmes. Most recently, he has worked on ‘Shameless’ (Series 6) directing, filming and editing inserts for the series. He has created a slate of ‘Behind the Scenes’ documentary films for the BBC and Channel 4 dramas. He has directed a number of short films, a handful of which have gone on to win awards.top
Bill Bartlett : Sound Recording
Bill Bartlett is a freelance sound recordist with 18 years experience of location sound recording. He has recently worked on ‘The Politics Show’, ‘Gardeners World’, ‘Panorama’, ‘The One Show’ and ‘Secret Life of the Airport’ for the BBC and many other credits for the Independents and on Commercials. Bill specialises in factual and documentary programmes.top
Suzy Catliff went to Bretton Hall College and later trained as a director at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. Suzy currently works as a casting director, theatre director and lecturer in film schools and drama schools both internationally and nationally. Suzy’s recent casting credits include the feature film ‘A Bunch of Amateurs’ starring Burt Reynolds; television series include: ‘Lifeline’ and ‘Empathy’, 2 series of ‘Silent Witness’ and 3 series of ‘Casualty’ as well as numerous one-off dramas. She cast the award winning documentary drama ‘D-Day’ for the BBC. Casting associate film work includes Francois Ozon’s ‘Swimming Pool’ and ‘Stormbreaker’. Other casting work includes BBC 1’s ‘D-Day’ and ‘Ny-Lon’ for Channel 4. Casting Assistant work includes the feature films ‘Sense and Sensibility’, ‘Hackers’ and ‘The English Patient’. Suzy is a member of the Casting Directors Guild of Great Britain, has twice been on the Olivier Award judging panel. She also runs her own production company, Lucky Stuff Productions.top
John Dower was a drummer in various bands, completed a degree in Media Studies and then worked as an actor before concentrating fully on film directing. After working up from runner to first assistant director, he studied directing at the Northern Film School in Leeds and the Polish National Film School in Lodz. His graduation films won several awards and appeared at film festivals worldwide.
Back in Britain, he directed several short films for the BBC, which added to his awards collection & festival list and then plunged into a decade in television, directing many episodes of drama series for BBC1, CBBC, ITV, C4 & Nickelodeon among others, both on single and multi-camera formats.
His recent work has seen him immersed in the world of digital technology, directing the entire internet based interactive drama series ‘Signs of Life’ for the BBC and currently directing motion capture & voice performance and working on character development at Lionhead studios, as part of a team creating a radical new computer game for the Xbox 360.
He also continues to develop several feature film projects including teen drama ‘Behemoth’ set in Tennessee USA, a documentary on immigration in Norway & a psychological family drama set in the UK.top
Susan Everett worked as an illustrator before completing a screenwriting MA at the Northern Film School in Leeds. In 1993 she won the Carl Foreman Screenwriting Award, in association with BAFTA, and spent 18 months at California State University, Long Beach, where she wrote scripts and directed her first short film. While in LA, she gained experience in the script department at Jersey Films (whose films include ‘Pulp Fiction’, ‘Get Shorty’, ‘Gattaca’ and ‘Erin Brokovich’). Susan has worked as a script editor, script consultant and screenwriting tutor, and been involved in the development of short films for over 10 years. She is script development executive/script editor for Screen Yorkshire’s Digital Shorts scheme, where she works with the selected writers, directors and producers. Susan first taught on the Screenwriting MA at the Northern Film School in 1998, and has since continued working on various aspects of both the MA and the BA courses. An award winning short story writer and novelist, Susan’s writing credits include a 2 hour TV thriller for the ‘A Mind to Kill’ series. She is currently adapting the Janni Visman novel ‘Yellow’. She has directed four short films, including the multi award winning short, ‘Mother, Mine’.top
Rozi Fuller’s interest in animation began whilst studying a BA in Fine Art, specialising in Time-Based Media. This was followed with an MA in Film Production, at the Northern Film School. Her graduation film was spotted at a student festival by Cuppa Coffee Animation, and she began her freelance career by working with them in Toronto, on children’s shows for HBO and Nick Jr.
Rozi has made several more short films which continue to screen at festivals across the world. Through her involvement with Liquid Studios media collective she provides animation for commercials and title sequences, including productions for Ch4 and BBC.
The latest part of her work in educational projects, with community groups and schools, is a commission to provide three animated films, two of which created through workshops, to be projected during performances by Hull Sinfonietta.
Rozi has recently completed a collaboration piece with Mary Oliver of VIP Productions, as part of an academic research project into combining animation and live-performance. Rozi is also an active member of Ayup – the Animated Yorkshire Network. top
Frederick Lewis has been a producer, writer and director for more than 25 years. He has received numerous awards, nominations and production grants for his work, which has aired on PBS stations across the United States. These independent productions have taken him to Greenland, Russia, Denmark, Ireland, Argentina and Chile (Cape Horn).
A professor in the School of Media Arts & Studies at Ohio University in Athens, Lewis has also taught at Boston University, the Rhode Island School of Design, the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy in Ukraine, the Northern Film School in Yorkshire, UK and the University of Leipzig, Germany.
He received his BA from the University of Massachusetts and his MA in creative writing from Brown University. Lewis’ current projects in progress are documentaries on illustrator Maxfield Parrish and painter George Bellow.top
Dominic Moore is a composer and music educator. After studying Drama and Film Studies at Kent University, Dominic moved to London where he trained as a music facilitator, going on to work as a workshop leader, performer, composer and technician across a range of arts disciplines, including theatre, film and multimedia installation.
Following a commission from Corridor Arts (orkestra 2004), Dominic was awarded a grant from Arts Council England to develop audio-visual compositions using live music performance in a process that combines his passion for improvised music forms with post-production and sound design techniques. He currently teaches and performs in the Yorkshire region. top
Faisal A. Qureshi teaches editing on the Foundation year course. He has worked as a editor since graduating from film school in 2002 using Adobe Premiere, Avid Composer and Final Cut Pro. Faisal has worked on corporates and documentaries but his main interest is in cutting dramas for clients such as Film Four to the UK Film Council. As a writer Faisal has worked with BBC Comedy, BBC Drama, Channel 4, DNA Films, Dan Films and filmmakers such as Alex Cox (Repo Man), Rudy Wurlitzer (Pat Garret & Billy the Kid), Barry Hanson (The Long Good Friday) and Mark Peploe (The Last Emperor). His work as a director has been featured in the BAFTA journal Academy and New York Magazine and was distributed by Atom Films. Faisal is a visiting editing lecturer at the Escula Internacional Cine y TV in Cuba where he teaches on the editing and production course. Faisal has developed and supervised short film productions for the British Council alongside local filmmakers in Bangladesh, Bulgaria, Pakistan, Syria and Uzbekistan. More recently, he was Associate Producer on Four Lions (Film Four/Warp Films), the BAFTA award winning directing debut of Chris Morris and produced the experimental short film Khalil The Great (FACT Films/UK Film Council/Vision & Media). top
Garance Rawinsky spent thirty years working in the Film and Television Industry, employed in the UK and overseas, as staff and on a freelance basis, by the BBC as well as Independent Television and Film companies. Her experience has been developed across many diverse departments including, Architecture, News, Marketing and Distribution, Technical Operations, Equal Opportunities, Animation and Design. The last two decades were focussed on producing main stream drama and feature films as Production/Location Manager.
Garance has three post graduate qualifications and continues to expand her knowledge and interests. She is a member of the Higher Education Academy, teaching Television and Film 'Production' - with its many transferable skills, and supporting students in Leeds. She is also an art historian. Her commitment to community is wide-ranging and most significant when co-ordinating arts projects that highlight possibilities for creative use of space and place both locally and globally.
Sharing her knowledge and expertise is Garance's passion. She strives to encourage the awareness and enhancement of students' own skills and abilities, allowing them to gain the confidence that will place them in the creative melting pot we call work.
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Barbara Shaw has worked in broadcast television for many years, and has been associated with the Northern Film School’s FdA in Film and Television Production course since 2004. Originally she trained as a theatre designer at Wimbledon School of Art, London but soon after graduating and some shows later, chose to work at the Yorkshire Television Studios, Leeds; at first as a set design assistant and then later as a designer.
Barbara has experience of all the range of programme making, but has always preferred the involvement of working on drama productions, both period and present day, film and video. As a freelance designer Barbara has filmed in Prague on a short period film, and has also worked in Spain. She enjoys the experience of working with a production team, and when necessary will get involved in the making and painting of props for the production.
More recently she formed a theatre company, Rocking Cradle Productions, with a writer/ director colleague and took their first production to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Barbara is currently working on ITV Yorkshire’s ‘Emmerdale’. top
A graduate of the NFTS and Binger Film Institute, Simon has worked in theatre, TV and film as a writer, director, producer, actor and teacher since 1984. He consults on feature scripts worldwide; produced projects include Noel Clarke’s ‘Kidulthood’ and Justin Kerrigan’s ‘I Know You Know’, and he has devised and taught screenwriting programmes for Screen Yorkshire, North West Vision and Scottish Screen, and in Italy, Denmark, Slovenia, Lithuania, Czech Republic, Cyprus, Australia and New Zealand. In 2008 he directed a series of rehearsed readings of 10 screenplays at Ealing Studios for Met Films’ Writers’ Training Scheme.
Simon has written twelve screenplays and a theatre play. ‘The Alchemist of Happiness’, directed by Ovidio Salazar, won awards at the Trento and Dubai Film Festivals, and Simon’s spec script ‘Boney and Betsy’ was developed with support from the UK Film Council. His screenplay of ‘In Tranzit’, starring John Malkovich and Vera Farmiga, was filmed in Russia in 2006. Other commissions include a draft of ‘The Children of Huang Shi’ and feature scripts for Odusseia Films, Thema, Warp Films and Met Films.
A member of the advisory board of the Screenwriters’ Festival, Simon is represented by Emily Hayward at The Rod Hall Agency and by Emma Woolley at Stacey Testro International. Current screenplays include ‘Shadow of the Witch’ for director Curtis Radclyffe, and ‘Blood Oath’, a ghost story set in Australia and optioned by Tomori Films, which Simon is also attached to direct. top
Born in 1943 in a small city in the north of Iran, Reza worked as a teacher in Tehran before quitting to study directing at ‘Tehran Academy of Film and Television’ in 1966. Before his political arrest in 1973, he made several films including ‘The Trap’ which won Grand Prix at 12th International Film Festival for Children and Youth in Gijon, Spain.
He was freed from prison during the 1979 Islamic Revolution but after making critical documentaries, he was forced to leave Iran illegally taking refuge in The Netherlands (1983). He made his first film in Holland (‘A Few Simple Sentences’ sponsored by The VPRO television) in 1986, which was awarded best children film in several film festivals, amongst them International Film Festival for Children and Youth, Tomar, Portugal and Moscow International Film Festival.
His feature film ‘The Guests of Hotel Astoria’ was well received in many film festivals such as Venice, Moscow, Chicago and Montreal (1989). He has also made many documentaries for NOS and for RVU and writes and publishes novels and short stories in Farsi, his native language. Two have been chosen as best books by the Children’s Book Council. Reza teaches directing
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Nick Finnis is a producer and director of documentaries of over 25 years experience. He has made numerous observational documentaries for broadcast on British television - working for ITV, the BBC and many independent producers – and received a Royal Television Society award early in his career. He has also worked abroad in America, Asia and Australia. In 2001 he was made Executive Producer of Documentaries at Yorkshire Television. He has experience of drama, producing an award-winning special on Dr Harold Shipman, the serial murderer who killed over 200 of his patients. More recently he has worked on reality television programmes, historical documentaries and biographical films. Nick has worked as a visiting lecturer at the University of Central Lancashire, the Northern Film School and at the International Film and Television School in Cuba. top
Chris is the creative driving force behind and director of the Rolling Snowballs production company. As a specialist documentary filmmaker and Avid editor whose work spans cinema, broadcast, and the corporate sector, Chris began his career working as a freelance cameraman for independent films and television before moving in to post production. Since establishing Rolling Snowballs he has expanded the company’s client base to include Yorkshire Forward, The National Museum of Science and Industry, Screen Yorkshire, The Applied Centre for Human Rights, Welcome to Yorkshire, University of York, The Media Trust, Community Channel, Really Good Productions and Revolution Software. He has directed two theatrically released feature docs, From York to Palestine (2006) and Spoke on the Water (2008), the latter of which was nominated for two awards at the UK International Filmmaker Festival; Best Documentary and Best Music. top
Emma has been a tourist guide, a dinner lady and a musician; she is now a writer. She studied Drama and Theatre Studies at Liverpool Hope University and gained an MA in Screenwriting at the Northern Film School in 2003. She has written and directed several short films, which have been shown in the UK as well as Internationally. She was a Talent at the Berlinale Talent Campus (2008) and her feature film script ‘The Big Bad’ (a comedic fantasy for children) is under option to Afan Films. Emma also writes for the stage. Her play 'Forgotten Things' for Red Ladder Theatre company was shortlisted for the 2009 Meyer-Whitworth Award and acclaimed at the Edinburgh Fringe 2009 receiving 4/5 star reviews.
Emma has also given guest lectures at Leeds University and delivered projects for organisations such as Common Purpose and Creative Partnerships, supporting participants to develop their creative thinking. Emma also script edits. Credits include: ‘Surveillance 24 /7’ - Official Selection at the Berlin Film Festival 2007 and ‘Private Life’, winner of the Yorkshire Film Award 2006 & Planet Out Short Movie Award 2007.
Emma is interested in politics, comics, satire, left field music, collaboration, writing for children and dark comedy. She is currently working on a new play 'Ugly' for Red Ladder Theatre Company (touring in autumn 2010). She is also developing a TV comedy series ‘Northern Souls’ in collaboration with writer Caroline Mitchell and working on her new feature script ‘Getting A Life’.
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Gill began her professional career as a director at The Bill when she was head-hunted whilst still at film school. Since then she has worked continuously in the British TV industry. Some of her credits include Casualty, Peak Practice, Grange Hill, Hollyoaks and The Golden Collar.
Experienced in both Film and Television formats including single and multi camera, Gill was awarded the BAFTA/PO Scholarship to study Direction at the National Film and Television School. Her short films Ellie and Horses for Courses screened at numerous festivals, scooping awards at Tokyo and Chicago amongst others.
Recently she has directed a viral book trailer for Frances Lincoln Publishers, and directed her first cabaret show which ran at Edinburgh this year. Gill is due to start work this Autumn on a pilot for a live action interactive internet game commissioned by the BBC.
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