People
Kate Gerova
Creative Director
We are delighted to welcome Kate Gerova to the Birds Eye View team in the newly introduced role of Creative Director. Kate is coming to us from one of the UK's leading distribution companies, Soda Pictures, where she was Head of Distribution.
Following her BA in Cultural Studies from the Norwich School of Art & Design, Kate worked in corporate PR before becoming involved in film marketing and distribution. For a time she co-directed Short Circuit Films, where she specialised in the promotion of award winning shorts.
We're extremely excited about the extensive experience and vision that Kate will bring to this role and, through her guidance, the new directions that Birds Eye View will be heading in through our 2013 festival and beyond.
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Rachel Millward
Chief Executive/Founder
Rachel co-founded Birds Eye View as a touring short film event in 2002, motivated by the statistic that fewer than 10% filmmakers are women. She since led the organisation to become the high profile national arts charity it is today, directing and producing all festivals from 2005 to 2011.
Rachel graduated in Theology from Oxford University in 1999 and then took postgraduate studies at the African Gender Institute at the University of Cape Town. Before focussing solely on Birds Eye View, she worked as a researcher for independent television & radio production companies.
Rachel was nominated a "world changing woman" by the Guardian in August 2006 and a Media Award nominee at the 2010 Women of the Future Awards. She was also named as one of the 50 "Women to Watch" in 2010 by Arts Council England and Cultural Leadership Programme, and was a Clore cultural leadership fellow 2010-2012.
After ten happy years, Rachel has stepped back from her role as Creative Director in 2012, but remains as part-time Chief Executive, helping with fundraising and organisational strategy, with a focus on talent development and cross arts commissions. She is also Exec-Producing BEV's celebration of Arab Women Filmmakers in 2013, which is programmed and produced by a freelance team.
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Emily Vermont
Programme Co-ordinator
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The Board
___________________________________________________________________Lizzie Broadbent (Acting Chair)
Lizzie Broadbent brings international business experience from her work in investment management, business consultancy and marketing. She has particular experience in the areas of strategy development, operating model design, performance evaluation and operational effectiveness. She currently works for Shell, with global responsibility for Marketing Operations in Lubricants. She has always been an avid film-goer, reads widely about film and is a useful addition to any pub quiz team.
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Sally El Hosaini
Writer/Director
Sally El Hosaini is a Welsh Egyptian screenwriter and director who first crossed BEV's path back in 2009, at our She Writes screenwriter's lab. After her short The Fifth Bowl won a BAFTA for best regional film in 2008, Sally went on to take cinemas by storm in 2012 with her debut feature My Brother the Devil. Developed through Sundance Institute's Directors and Screenwriters Labs, My Brother the Devil has seen Sally pick up awards from BFI London Film Festival, Sundance, Berlinale, Women in Film & Television and The Evening Standard. Sally has truly lived up to the 'UK Star of Tomorrow' title given her by Screen International back in 2009, and we're thrilled to now welcome her to our board in 2013._______________________________________________________________________
Briony Hanson
Head of Film, British Council
Briony began her career working in cultural exhibition as Director/Programmer of Tyneside Cinema before heading the BFI Programme Unit. She also acted as Consultant for Channel 4's Independent Film & Video Dept and co-programmed the London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival from 1996-2000. She joined filmmaker training organisation, The Script Factory, in 2000 and was its Director for over 10 years before becoming Director of Film at the British Council in July 2011, where she is responsible for overseeing its promotion of UK films and filmmakers internationally._______________________________________________________________________
Sandra Hebron (Advisory)
Ex-Artistic Director, London Film Festival
Sandra began her career as an academic before moving on to independent film distribution and becoming Cinemas Director at Manchester Cornerhouse; the city's major centre for film and the visual arts. Sandra then moved to the British Film Institute in 1997 and in 2003 she was made Artistic Director of the BFI London Film Festival. Her innovation, creativity and curatorial stance has helped to foster a new generation of culturally engaged UK cinema. Sandra is currently on the selection committee for the Rome International Film Festival, selecting for the International Competition and Cinemaxxi Competition.
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Anna Higgs (Advisory)
Commissioning Executive, Film 4.0
Anna is a creative producer, entrepreneur and commissioner with a background in the world of BAFTA-award winning interactive 'edutainment.' In 2008 Anna completed her MA in Producing at the NFTS and founded Quark Films with producer Gavin Humphries. Most recently Anna has been appointed to head up Film4's groundbreaking new digital banner, Film4.0, and in 2012 was named as one of Time Out's 'Culture 100' alongside Danny Boyle, Barbara Broccoli and Steve McQueen._______________________________________________________________________
Jacqueline Hurt
Jackie is a Partner in the Media, Communications and Technology Group at Olswang LLP. She specialises in the financing, production and distribution of films and television programmes with particular experience in film financing in connection with the structuring of co-productions with any combination of government subsidies, tax-based finance, distribution pre-sales and banking finance. Having acted for financiers and producers both in the UK and Europe, Jacqueline has knowledge of the legal and practical requirements of both.
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Geraldine Kelly
After a short stint in New York, Geraldine has spent the rest of her professional career in London working first for a U.S. investment bank and more recently for a major European financial institution in various positions. She is currently a Managing Director focussing on Credit Risk Management at ING Bank N.V. She has a keen interest in the arts including film, theatre and music, and joined the Board in 2008.