Meet the team

The Late Queen Elizabeth II

The Late Queen Elizabeth II was our Patron from 1952. Following the accession of King Charles III, our new Patron will be announced in due course

Chair of Trustees

As Chair of Trustees, Claire brings more than 20 years of experience driving the growth and performance of a wide range of media and digital enterprises. She was previously Global Head of Digital at Fremantle, Managing Director of a multi-channel YouTube network, and CEO of media intervention NGO, Girl Effect. Claire is now a senior media advisor and consultant. She is currently also Chair of Trustees at Charity Digital, an organisation that has helped more than 400,000 charity workers embrace a digital-first approach, and a Trustee of the Institute of Imagination.

Award-winning indie Screenwriter and Director

Joseph is an award-winning indie Screenwriter and Director. He was nominated for the BFI IWC Schaffhausen Filmmakers Bursary Award at the 60th BFI London Film Festival in 2016. In 2017 Joseph was longlisted for BIFA’s Best Debut Screenwriter award for his film WHITE COLOUR BLACK. Joseph’s second feature film FACES had its world premiere at the Durban International Film Festival in 2018. The film stars Terry Pheto from Oscar-winning film Tsotsi. FACES won Best Feature Film at the 2018 Durban LGBT Film Festival and 2019 British Urban Film Festival. As a freelancer, Joseph is active in the LGBTQ and BAME sectors of the industry.

Catherine is Director of Income Generation and Grants at Hospice UK

Catherine is Director of Income Generation and Grants at Hospice UK; and was previously Director of Fundraising for Stonewall. Catherine’s earlier career was in media for the likes of CBS and Mindshare.

Chief Legal Counsel at super-indie All3 Media International

Robin is currently Chief Legal Counsel at super-indie All3 Media International. He trained and practised at law firm Pinsent Masons before moving into the industry to work at BBC Studios, Fremantle, Channel 4 and now All3 Media. Over almost 20 years, Robin has held a variety of roles and gained wide experience covering production, distribution and broadcasting in the UK and internationally.

Part of the Investment Advisory Group of Comic Relief

Peter has spent a career in investment management and sits on the Investment Advisory Group of Comic Relief.

CFO, International, Paramount

Suki is the Chief Financial Officer for the UK, Northern & Eastern Europe for Viacom International Media Networks, leading the finance function for Channel 5, MTV, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central and is passionate about diversity and inclusion. Suki qualified as a chartered accountant with Arthur Andersen and in a career spanning 24 years has held a variety of roles in the media sector including at Sony Music, Capital Radio Group, Channel 7 (Australia) and Sony Pictures International.

Award-winning writer for stage and screen

Juliet Gilkes Romero is Writer in Residence at the National Theatre attached to the New Work Department for 2022/2023. She is an award-winning writer for stage and screen. She is the recipient of the 2020 Alfred Fagon Award for Best New Play with The Whip, the Roland Rees Bursary 2019, (named in honour of the co-founder of the Alfred Fagon Award), the Writer’s Guild of Great Britain Award 2009 for At The Gates of Gaza and also a recipient of the BBC World Service Alexander Onassis Research Bursary. Screen includes Soon Gone; A Windrush Chronicle for BBC co-produced by Sir Lenny Henry’s production company Douglas Road and the Young Vic Theatre. Juliet formerly worked for over 20 years as a Foreign Affairs producer and reporter at BBC World TV news and BBC World Service.

Financial Inclusion and Wellbeing Consultant

Kirsty Good is a Director in Brunswick’s Business & Society team. She focuses on helping businesses understand the profound role they can play in making the world a more diverse, fair, and sustainable place to live for its staff, stakeholders, and customers, while still driving financial value. Before joining Brunswick, Kirsty was Head of Campaigns, Policy, and Communications at the UK’s biggest consumer website, MoneySavingExpert.com, working directly with Martin Lewis OBE. With the organisation’s mission statement – “cutting your costs, fighting your corner” – at heart, Kirsty led, and won, many of MSE’s major national campaigns during her 5-year tenure. Before becoming a campaigner, Kirsty spent more than 15 years working as a business, economics and personal finance news journalist and Editor for BBC News and Sky News.

Chief People Officer at King

Emma is Chief People Officer at King. She previously worked at Paramount, BBC Worldwide, Channel 4 and agency JWT.

Founder and Managing Director of Sara Putt Associates

For 25 years Sara has run Sara Putt Associates, the UK’s leader agency for freelance technicians and production personnel based at Shepperton Studios. Sara Putt Associates also runs an in-house Trainee Scheme supporting the next generation of freelance talent including those entrants from less traditional backgrounds. Sara is a BAFTA Trustee, sits on the Board of BAFTA, is Chair of BAFTA’s Learning & New Talent Committee & Deputy Chair of the BAFTA TV Committee.

Health and Social Care Consultant

Deborah is Head of Policy, Research, and Information at the Social Care Institute for Excellence, where she leads a team supporting improvements in social care. Her expertise spans health and social care policy, strategy, and service design, and she works across the public sector and the NHS. Deborah previously held executive director roles at the Office for Public Management, the Health Foundation and the Royal College of Nursing. Her prior charity experience includes the role of Vice-Chair at Breast Cancer Care. Deborah began her career as a civil servant working for the Medicare and Medicaid healthcare programmes in the USA.

Interim Chief Marketing Officer at Showmax

Cameron has over 25 years of experience in marketing, having started in advertising launching brands such as Orange, 3 Mobile and 118118, before moving to Channel 4 as Head of Marketing. Cameron then moved to 20th Century Fox in 2009 as marketing director for UK theatrical and was rapidly promoted to managing director of one of the UK’s most renowned and successful film and distribution companies with over £1bn in UK box office. Cameron joined Paramount Pictures as Executive Vice President for Europe, Middle East and Africa theatrical in 2018, where he has overseen 40 releases and $900m of box office from across the Region. Cameron as an MBA with distinction from City University Business School.

Chief Executive Officer

Marcus Ryder MBE has more than 25 years’ experience working in the media. Most recently he was Head of External Consultancies at the Sir Lenny Henry Centre for Media Diversity, set up to explore and increase diversity across the media industry. He has worked around the world and previously, was a senior executive at the BBC, winning awards from BAFTA, the Royal Television Society, and the Foreign Press Association. He is also the Chair of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and is currently a trustee of the Press Pad Charitable Foundation. In 2022, he was named one of the 500 most influential people in the global film industry by Variety and has also been awarded the prestigious Percy Qoboza award in the US by the National Association of Black Journalists as one of its Foreign Journalists of the Year in 2023.

Development Director

Louise has been working in the creative industries for her whole career, starting in theatre and then artist management, and then for the last 13 years as a festival director. Festivals under her direction have included Cannes Lions, the Edinburgh Television Festival and the World Architecture Festival.

Louise joined the Charity in April 2021 as Development Director, meaning she oversees Marketing, Communications and Fundraising. She is excited to be contributing to the Charity’s mission by expanding its reach and growing its support and enjoys working closely with the industry.

Louise loves a broad range of culture and watches a lot of films and TV. Her favourite recent film was Nomadland and TV show was Feel Good. Unfortunately for her she is also an Arsenal fan.

Director of Finance & Operations

Alan joined the Charity in 2019 to help the teams maximise the impact of the organisation.
Alan brings 15 years’ experience in charity finance and 20 years’ in the corporate sector. Alan loves travel and has lived or holidayed in more than 50 countries including two years in South Africa running Management Today magazine and a year in Papua New Guinea working in international development.
Alan’s favourite Actor is Tom Hanks, and his favourite film is Big.

Director of Impact and Innovation

Rachel has a diverse background working across media, science, arts and public engagement. Before joining the charity, she spent over ten years at Wellcome, where she set up their successful Broadcast, Games and Film strategy and launched a number of innovative industry schemes such as the Wellcome Screenwriting Fellowship. She loves film and TV that challenges our thinking about ourselves and our futures and, for this reason, her favourite film is Her.

Head of HR

Head of HR

Head of Marketing and Communications

Head of Marketing and Communications

Head of Community and Equity

Head of Community and Equity

Head of Client Services

Head of Client Services

Whole Picture Toolkit Executive

Whole Picture Toolkit Executive

Mental Health Lead

Mental Health Lead

Head of Fundraising

Head of Fundraising