Speakers that joined us at CCC 2026

Ade Shannon is CEO and founder of DiO, a creative-technology platform driving innovation across culture and the creative industries. He has extensive production and development experience having co-founded Mad As Birds Films where his credits included The Vanishing (Gerard Butler), Poms (Diane Keaton), and Six Minutes to Midnight (Judi Dench, Jim Broadbent).‍

DiO captures real-time emotional, physiological, and cognitive responses at scale, revealing the unfiltered truth of audience engagement. We combine skin response (emotional intensity), facial emotion analysis, voice sentiment, and AI synthesis to predict audience behaviour with 93% accuracy. This results in confident, data-driven decisions across the production lifecycle, from concept validation through to post-broadcast analysis. 

DiO supports the full broadcast lifecycle, from concept testing and script validation through to pilot screening, marketing execution, sponsor identification, and franchise development. At every stage, real-time audience intelligence replaces guesswork with evidence, helping broadcasters back winning formats, optimise creative decisions and build deep audience understanding that drives long-term commercial success.

Alex Morris has spent the last 15 years building and running digital first content businesses at the heart of social media and the creator economy. In his current role as Managing Director of Channel 4 ‘s social-first division, 4Studio he plays a central role in developing and steering Channel 4’s over-arching social strategy in close collaboration with peers across the organisation. Prior to this role Morris was Chief Creative Officer at SB Media Group where he helped to grow the business from a Dubai-based Content Creator operation into a global media company.

In addition, Morris has held positions at LADbible Group and Barcroft Studios, where he helped lead the business for over a decade before selling to Future PLC.

‍Alison leads North East Screen, the region’s screen industries development agency, driving economic growth and supporting the sustainable expansion of film and television production across the North East.

Alison has over 25 years’ experience in the cultural and creative industries, from providing marketing leadership at the Centre for Life to being instrumental in the planning and development of Seven Stories, the National Centre for Children’s Books. Her passion is to support the sustainable growth of the creative industry in North East England.

Recent achievements include securing investment of £58 million through a BBC partnership and establishing the North East Screen Industry Partnership (NESIP), involving 3 Combined and 12 Local Authorities. NESIP aims to double the region’s share of UK film and TV production, generating an economic impact of £88m annually. Alison received a Royal Television Society award for Outstanding Contribution to the Screen industry in 2022. 

Andrea Arnold began her career with notable short films like Milk, Dog, and Wasp, the latter earning her an Academy Award in 2005. Her debut feature film Red Road won the BAFTA Award for Outstanding Debut in 2006 as well as five BAFTAs at the BAFTA Scotland Awards ceremony, including Best Director and Best Screenplay. In 2010, her critically acclaimed film Fish Tank won a BAFTA for Outstanding British Film. Red Road, Fish Tank and American Honey all competed at Cannes Film Festival and subsequently won the Jury Prize in 2006, 2009 and 2016. In 2022, her documentary Cow was nominated for a BAFTA and received several awards, including the Green Warsaw Award for Best Ecology Themed Documentary. She has also directed episodes for television series Transparent, I Love Dick, and the second season of Big Little Lies. In 2024 Bird was nominated for a Palme d'Or and a BAFTA for Outstanding British Film. The same year Andrea was awarded the Carrosse d’Or award at Cannes.

Angelo Abela is Joint Head of Scripted, Kids & Family at Lime Pictures. He executive produced last year's award-winning Netflix animation Wolf King and directed CBBC’s Girl Troop vs Aliens, which dropped in Spring.

In 2026, he has expanded into vertical drama, executive producing and directing two upcoming micro-dramas, as Lime enters the genre.

He joined Lime in 2011 as Lead Director and showrunner on BAFTA-nominated House of Anubis for Nickelodeon later developing and produced Free Rein, winning an Emmy, and was Emmy-nominated for directing both Free Rein and Zero Chill. He has also co-executive produced Hollyoaks.

Angelo began as an actor and comedy performer before building a writing and directing career across comedy, drama, entertainment, and children’s television.

Asif Kapadia, director of KENNY DALGLISH, is an Academy Award-winning director, screenwriter, and producer, also recognised with four BAFTA Awards, a Grammy Award, and a European Film Award. He is considered one of the most influential filmmakers of his generation, best known for his acclaimed trilogy AMY, SENNA, and DIEGO MARADONA. Kapadia’s most recent film, 2073, had its world premiere at the 2024 Venice Film Festival, starring Samantha Morton. 2073 is a hard hitting, epic, science-true-fiction thriller which pushed the documentary boundaries by mixing archive, nonfiction and drama, set in a dystopian near-future. The film uses fragments of the past to tell a story of what may be to come in the future, or what may already be our present. 2073 had been the No 1 feature film on HBO MAX in the US.

Ben Zand is a British-Iranian filmmaker, and founder & CEO of Zandland, a documentary studio built for the new era of content. Ben works across premium global documentaries and digital-first original IP, focusing on ambitious, access-driven storytelling that helps audiences understand the forces shaping the modern world, from online movements and belief systems to power, culture, identity, and how people make meaning today.

Zandland sits at the intersection of journalism, entertainment, and internet-native storytelling, combining cinematic production values with the pace, openness and audience expectations of the digital era. The studio develops character-led narratives and globally scalable formats designed to travel across platforms, cultures and communities.Today, Zandland operates in a hybrid model: producing premium commissioned series for the biggest streamers while also building its own original IP and direct audience relationships. Ben sees the next generation of studios not just as content producers, but as cultural sense-makers and story brands, helping audiences navigate a complex world through narrative, access, and trust.

As Chief Executive of Screen Yorkshire, Caroline champions the film, TV and wider screen industries in Yorkshire and the Humber and provides leadership to a talented team of industry experts who deliver skills and talent development, production support and content investment.

Caroline’s 25-year career within the screen industries has evolved from running her first production company with acclaimed music video director Dawn Shadforth to her previous role as Head of Creative at Screen Yorkshire. Along this journey she has spent time as Talent Development Executive for Scottish Film Talent Network, Head of Film at Creative England, Head of Creative Development at Warp X, managed the UK Film Council’s nationwide short film programme through her company Lifesize Pictures and spent a year as Director of the Sheffield International Documentary Festival.

Winner of the Pixielogic Media Director Award for her work on G’WED, Chloe English made her directorial debut on Season 2 of the BAFTA nominated show, which she also co-wrote and starred in. Her work on the show has also earned her a BAFTA nomination in this year’s emerging talent category.

Chloe’s ability to bring out a wide range of outstanding performances from a young and largely inexperienced cast, as well as the more experienced and seasoned actors, is testament to her strength and skill as a director. Through her clear vision and direction, the young cast were able to navigate the sometimes complex issues with trust and confidence while exploring the power of humour and self-awareness in dealing with these issues.

Chloe has recently finished directing Block 2 of Season 3 and has several projects in development.

Claire McColgan CBE is a highly respected cultural leader with over 30 years’ experience delivering transformational culture-led regeneration across local and national government. As Director of Culture, Visitor Economy and Major Events for Liverpool and the wider region, she has produced world-class, award-winning events including Liverpool 2008, Eurovision 2023, and the UK COVID-19 reopening programme, while also leading the bids for and delivering, amongst others  UNESCO City of Music and the UN Accelerator City Programme.

She is an expert in community engagement and invented the groundbreaking creative communities programme, cited as the reason for Liverpool’s European Capital of Culture win. This approach has been emulated internationally.

A sought-after international advisor and speaker, Claire currently serves as Deputy Chair of the UK City of Culture programme, a Non-Executive Director at Carnegie UK and Visit Isle of Man, and has been recognised with an MBE, CBE, and honorary awards from LJMU and Edge Hill University for her outstanding service to culture and the City of Liverpool.

Originally from East Lancashire, David has worked as a TV Freelancer for 20 years based in Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool, Bristol, Cardiff and Leeds. He started as a runner, eventually becoming a shooting PD and then made the leap into development.

His production CV is packed with famous formats including Embarrassing Bodies, Panorama, Snog Marry Avoid, Countryfile, Geordie Shore, and Back in Time for Tea.

In his development career, David has been on the creative teams at some of the UK's leading production companies including True North, Multistory, Boom Productions, BBC Bristol, Plimsoll and Lime Pictures. David is Head of Unscripted at Climate Spring a narrative change organization and development fund with a focus on climate

Award winning actor, Dylan Thomas Smith is best known for his portrayal of Reece Duffy in ITV’s G’WED. The role has earned him outstanding reviews, with Russell T Davies calling him, ‘An absolute star...,” a BAFTA nomination and the award for ‘Best Breakthrough Performance in a Comedy’ at The Edinburgh TV Awards. The show was also nominated for a BAFTA. Dylan recently finished filming season 3 which will be out in June and can also be seen in Keyside’s upcoming music video Lemon and Lime. Dylan currently has two projects in development.

Emma Loach is the BBC's Interim Head of Documentary Commissioning, responsible for all  documentary output across the BBC's channels. 

Recent credits include The Mother of All Cons; Atomic People; Backlash: The Murder of  George Floyd; Forensics; Sarah Everard: The Search for Justice; The Search for Nicola Bulley;  Rose Ayling-Ellis: Old Hands, New Tricks; The Real Mo Farah; Parole; The Met; Christine  McGuinness: Unmasking My Autism; Louis Theroux's Forbidden America; Gods of Snooker; and Black Power. 

Before joining the BBC, Emma worked as an executive producer across a diverse range of  series and singles. She was instrumental in originating and delivering the Ambulance brand  for BBC One and The Trial for Channel 4.

Gemma stars as Mia Louise in ITV comedy G’WED, for which she was nominated for Best Performance in a Comedy at the Northwest RTS Awards in 2025. Gemma recently reprised her role for the second series of BBC drama This City Is Ours and completed filming The Cage for BBC1.

Multi-award-winning, Cannes Lions and BAFTA-nominated creative leader with over fifteen years’ experience in producing engaging multi-platform content for broadcast, commercial and digital sectors.

As a multi-disciplined creative, I have produced content for some of television’s most prominent talent, social media channels, broadcasters, and brands, including Hollyoaks, TOWIE, Celebs Go Dating, Free Rein and Sexy Beasts.

Leader of a team of digital creatives at Digital16 (formerly Lime Digital), our roots go back to the early days of social media for television, we’re building on that experience to help brands, creators and media companies connect with audiences in smarter and more creative ways.

Digital16 are at the intersection of television and digital culture, our focus has always been on creating work that resonates with audiences and develops real impact.

Hannah Cheers is Executive Producer of Hollyoaks. Having begun her career at Hollyoaks in 2009, she returned to showrun C4’s flagship continuing drama in 2023.

Since her return, she has overseen a major transformation of Hollyoaks, including its shift from a five-night broadcast schedule to a three-night, digital-first soap. Under her leadership, the show engineered a lauded ‘time-jump’, boldly moving the narrative forward in time to refresh the show’s pace.

Her tenure has prioritised issue-led storytelling, most notably the Sibling Sexual Abuse storyline, which received critical acclaim and contributed to wins at the British Soap Awards, including Best Storyline, Best Family and Best Newcomer, alongside Royal Television Society nominations.

Hannah led Hollyoaks’ 30th Anniversary last October, including a Brookside crossover and a Hollyoaks Later special, filmed on location across Merseyside. Earlier in her career, Hannah worked on Coronation Street and Emmerdale, with her projects earning BAFTA, Broadcast and RTS recognition.

Harjeet Chhokar is a Sr. Unscripted Creative Executive at Amazon MGM Studios, where he works across the factual slate and on shows such as Clarkson's Farm, The Grand Tour, Kaleb Down Under and the award winning sports documentaries and true crime slate. Prior to joining Amazon MGM Studios, Harjeet was a Commissioning Editor in the Channel 4 Factual department, and commissioned a number of factual shows, including Murder Island, Sex Actually with Alice Levine and 999: On the Frontline. Before entering the world of commissioning, Harjeet worked in unscripted production for over 17 years; starting his career as a BBC Production Trainee and working his way up to Series Producer.

Harjeet is a passionate advocate for the powerful impact television can have on viewers' lives and the cultural fabric of the country; he is committed to mentoring and supporting junior members of the industry. He is currently a Trustee at the Grierson Trust and The TV Foundation, and was the Advisory Chair of the 2024 Edinburgh TV Festival.

Heidi represents the BBC with partners across the North of England, embedding the BBC within the local communities in a transformative way, building new relationships with businesses, political bodies and audiences to drive forward the BBC’s strategy and ambition to grow its impact and investment across the region.  Heidi is based at BBC Salford where she is the Controller of BBC Radio 5 Live, setting the strategy for 5 Live’s network of live radio, online audio streams, podcasts and digital video content.

Heidi’s career began as a freelance TV producer. She joined the BBC with Radio Solent, before working as a journalist at BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 5 Live. Heidi produced live news programmes on 5 Live, before moving to Salford with the BBC and taking on the role of Managing Editor at the station. Working all over the world with the BBC, including Iraq, Israel and at various major sporting events including World Cups and Olympic Games, Heidi has rich and varied experience in news and sports journalism. She has also commissioned a number of award-winning podcasts, from Brexitcast/Newscast to Miss Me? with Lily Allen and Miquita Oliver. Since stepping into the role of 5 Live Controller in 2019, Heidi has overseen continued growth of the network, with radio stations 5 Live and 5 Sports Extra plus audio streams Sports Extra 2 & 3 on BBC Sounds, as well as audio and video podcasts and YouTube content. She has welcomed a number of high profile presenters such as Naga Munchetty, Rick Edwards, Patrick Kielty, Jeanette Kwayke and Matt Chorley to the schedule.

Helen Nightingale is Head of Factual and Factual Entertainment Commissioning at UKTV, where she has played a key role in shaping the unscripted strategy across U&Dave, U&W, U&Yesterday and U&Gold. Since joining in 2015, her commissions have included titles such as Emma Willis: Delivering Babies, Gemma and Gorka: Life Behind The Lens, and more recently, Guy Martin Proper Jobs and the award-winning Pete Wicks for Dogs’ Sake. Helen previously held senior roles at Gogglebox Entertainment and IWC Media.

Hilary Rosen is Director of Commissioning at UKTV, where she leads a team responsible for a growing slate of original scripted and unscripted programming. Her recent commissions include new drama series Bergerac, Bookish and The Marlow Murder Club, alongside unscripted titles such as Pete Wicks: For Dogs’ Sake, Will & Ralf Should Know Better and Guy Martin: Proper Jobs. She was also the original commissioner of Dave’s BAFTA‑winning Taskmaster.

Hilary began her career in BBC News & Current Affairs on Panorama, later moving into the independent sector with senior roles at Lion Television before becoming Creative Director at Silver River Productions.

She is deputy chair of the BAFTA Board of Trustees and will succeed the chair in autumn 2026. Hilary supports mental health and inclusion across the industry, serving on the working group for the Film and TV Charity’s Mentally Healthy Productions initiative, and is a mentor of mid-career women.

‍Holly Graham is Chief Commercial and Strategy Officer at Little Dot Studios, working to shape the company’s long-term growth strategy while overseeing the studio function and all client relationships across Entertainment, Sport and Consumer Brands. One of Little Dot Studios’ earliest employees, Holly joined the business in 2013 and has held several senior roles across audience growth, client services and international expansion. In 2018 she relocated to Los Angeles to launch and lead Little Dot Studios US as Managing Director, establishing the company’s American operations and securing key partnerships with Warner Bros., Disney and NBCUniversal while driving significant growth. Holly returned to the London headquarters in 2020 as Chief Business Officer, was promoted to Chief Commercial Officer in 2024, and now leads both commercial strategy and global partnerships across the group.

Jade Beason swapped her corporate marketing career for life as a full-time creator and multi-business entrepreneur - and hasn’t looked back. After eight years in marketing, she launched her YouTube channel and turned it into a six-figure business within months.

Today, Jade runs multiple ventures: The Creator Project, a digital community helping creators turn passion into profit, and Social People, a social media marketing agency blending cultural insight with data to make content that actually works.

Her work has attracted an audience of over 450,000 creators and entrepreneurs, and she’s hosted events for global giants like Google, Apple, and Meta. Whether she’s on stage, online, or strategising behind the scenes, Jade’s mission is simple: to show creators and brands how they can make social media their superpower & earn an income!

Jameel is a Presenter and Journalist with BBC News Socials, known for bringing sharp storytelling and fresh energy to your social feeds.

He was named Future Presenter at the Edinburgh TV Festival’s New Voices Awards and recently won Best Online/TV Presenter at The Mainstream Ones to Watch Awards 2026.

Specialising in music and entertainment, Jameel has interviewed big names including the likes of RAYE, Munya Chawawa, and Jordan Stephens. If he’s not on a red carpet speaking with artists or backstage at a festival, he’s hosting live events or shaping narratives as a producer behind the camera. 

Drawing on his experience working in social media, TV and audio with major broadcasters, Jameel's passion about supporting emerging talent and championing creatives from diverse communities.

You can find him on all socials @jam_sharifff

Jane Millichip is the CEO of BAFTA, the leading arts charity, awards body and membership organisation that represents the film, games and television industries. BAFTA’s charitable remit is to level the playing field for all creatives and practitioners, regardless of background or life experience; to advocate progressive practices; and to champion the screen arts.

As CEO of BAFTA, Jane also oversees albert, the sustainability organisation for the screen industries dedicated to the reduction of harmful greenhouse emissions and to the provision of research and data to enable creators to tackle climate narratives in storytelling. Prior to BAFTA, Jane was Chief Content Officer of Sky Studios, overseeing editorial and commercial activities in Europe. At Sky she also established Sky’s production portfolio and built its IP and distribution business. She has over 30 years of experience in media, including TV production, distribution, broadcasting and an M&A in Print Journalism.

Liverpool-born Jimmy McGovern has a formidable reputation for writing powerful dramas for the stage and screen, often based on real events or social issues. Jimmy’s writing credits read like a list of classic television. Having honed his skills working on Brookside, his major breakthroughs came with Cracker, Hillsborough and Time. Jimmy received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Royal Television Society in March 2018.

Jimmy was one of the founders of Hat Trick Productions in 1986 and since then has seen it grow into one of the country’s leading producers of comedy, drama and entertainment, regularly bringing to the screen distinctive and popular series. In the US Hat Trick launched ‘Whose Line Is It Anyway’ in 1997 which ran on ABC for seven years and was the very first British series to be recreated for American network television by a British producer. In 1999 he received the BAFTA Award for Outstanding Creative Contribution to Television. Jimmy is a Fellow of the Royal Television Society and recently received an honorary doctorate from the University of Liverpool. Before moving to television in 1982, he produced for BBC Radio, where he developed and produced the award-winning Radio Active.

As ITV Factual Controller Jo's commissions include: BAFTA-winning Long Lost Family/Born Without Trace & Ellie Simmonds Finding My Secret Family. Award winning Kate Garraway: Finding Derek; 7 up (56 & 63); Prince William: We Can End Homelessness; The Queen’s Green Planet; Paul O’Grady: For The Love Of Dogs. Joanna Lumley & Trevor McDonald authored series; TikTok: Murder Gone Viral & The Undercover Police Scandal: Love and Lies Exposed.

At the BBC, Jo was Head of Independent Commissioning & Commissions including Masterchef & Hairy Bikers. Jo Directed & Produced BBC One's 7-part award winning documentary series 'Making Babies' & 'The Shop' about Selfridges, plus single docs for award winning strand 40 Minutes & Inside Story. Cut (long) teeth on Newsnight, Crimewatch etc.

John Whittle is Managing Director of Lime Pictures and Wise Owl Films, having been promoted to the role in 2024 after joining the company as Finance Director in 2016. He leads the businesses’ strategic vision, working closely with the creative and production leadership across scripted, kids & family, animation and premium factual.

2025 marked Hollyoaks’ 30th anniversary as Channel 4’s flagship soap with a nostalgic return to Brookside Close.   Lime also launched its on-site L16 Studios in Liverpool which housed part of the production for CBBC's Girl Troops vs Aliens.  Epic fantasy animation Wolf King also landed on Netflix in 2025 to critical acclaim.

Across Wise Owl Films, John has overseen continued success including the Our Farm Next Door franchise with Amanda Owen and the BBC Two music documentary strand When...Came to Britain.

Before joining Lime, John held senior international finance roles at NBCUniversal across its theatrical and home entertainment divisions.

Since joining BBC Drama in 2018, Jo has worked on many projects including I May Destroy You by Michaela Coel, US by David Nichols, The North Water by Andrew Haigh and returners such as Sherwood, Silent Witness and Waterloo Road. Upcoming projects include Dear England, the new series of Peaky Blinders and Sherwood, Ministry of Time and Michaela Coel's new project. Jo joined BBC Drama from Seven Stories TV where she was Creative Director and Executive Producer on Selection Day for Netflix. Prior to that, she was Executive Producer at Sky, where she oversaw many projects, such as The Tunnel series 1 and 2 and The Last Panthers. Before Sky, Jo spent nine years at Film4 in Development on films such as Submarine by Richard Ayoade and Attack The Block by Joe Cornish and as the New Talent Executive and Executive Producer for short films such as BAFTA-winners Pitch Black Heist and Dog Altogether. 

Jonny set up the Hat Trick Lab in 2023, establishing a team with a focus on cross-medium development and a goal to explore how emerging technologies can be used to tell stories. Working alongside all the fantastic talent at Hat Trick, the team is now developing projects across games, animation, live and digital – looking in particular at the areas where boundaries between these mediums are blurring. Jonny has a masters in Creative Business from the National Film and Television School and leads the new NFTS AI Protocols and Practices for Film and TV course.

Kit Morey has been a (VP) Commissioner Editor in Unscripted at Channel 5/ Paramount since 2019, originating and commissioning hundreds of hours of original prime time content including talent led series: Sam & Ade Go Birding, Barts: Our Hospital Through Time with Prof. Alice Robert, Wonders of The Human Body with Micheal Moseley, Motorhoming with Merton & Webster, Lost Dogs with Clare Balding, Tom Read-Wilson’s Grand Tour, Ben Fogle: Make a New Life in The Country, and Sally Lindsay’s Posh Sleepover. 

Million Pound Motorhomes, Ambulance Code Red, Dogs Behaving (Very) Badly, Rich House Poor House, The Hotel Inspector, The Yorkshire Vet and Springtime on The Farm are a selection of their high-volume, returnable commissions.

They’ve also ordered dozens of access doc series including The Hospital: Life on The Line, Inside The Hilton, Kensington Palace: Behind Closed Doors, Platoon, and poppy one offs: Britain’s Poshest Farm Shop, Britain Best Service Station, Inside Gails: Britain Poshest Bakery, Worlds Most Luxurious Retirement Home…not to mention RTS Winning Best Features series for Air Fryers! 

Before Commissioning at 5, Morey was Head of Popular Factual at Rise Films, developing  Channel 4’s noisy social experience series, Meat The family and have held many Executive Producer roles:  ITV’s Real Full Monty, C4’s One Born Every Minute, Obsessive Compulsive Cleaners and the first series of First Dates.

Laura has extensive industry experience both in production and as a non-executive member of some of the sector’s most influential organisations. Currently a non-executive board director of Elstree Film Studios, Laura was a member of Pact Council between 2012 and 2016, and its Chair from 2014 to 2016. She also served as an advisory board member of the Indie Training Fund (2012-2014).

Prior to her appointment as Chief Executive of ScreenSkills, she enjoyed a successful thirty-year career in television. In 1999, Laura co-founded BAFTA-nominated Outline Productions Ltd and has been responsible for multiple globally successful formats and programmes including Remarkable Places to Eat (BBC and Channel 4), House of Tiny Tearaways (BBC 3 and TLC), and Sarah Beeny’s New Life in the Country (Channel 4). After Outline Productions was acquired by Tin Roof Media in 2017, Laura was appointed as one of the group’s Creative Directors. During her tenure, Laura set up the Outline Wales office and launched a mentoring scheme across the Tin Roof Media Group.

Starting her career at BBC Youth and Entertainment Manchester and BBC Entertainment as well as working at independents Watchmaker and Rapido TV on programmes including Eurotrash, The Clive James Show, The Travel Show, Reportage and Rough Guides.

Laura Marks is Head of Digital Commissioning at Channel 4, leading Original and Branded Digital Content across the channel. She stepped into the role in January 2026 after serving as Senior Digital Commissioner and Business Operations Lead.

She has overseen award-winning digital successes including BAFTA-nominated Kingpin Cribs, The Boy Who Climbed The Shard, Mission Accessible, and Unseen Kingdoms.

Previously, Laura was Nations and Regions Executive Producer at Channel 4, where she supported independent production companies across digital, entertainment, and comedy. Before that, she was Digital Commissioning Editor at BBC Three, commissioning UK indies across multiple genres, including scripted.

With over a decade of senior experience, Laura is recognised for setting editorial strategy, developing successful formats, managing platform partnerships, and leading high-performing teams. She has also built Channel 4’s Digital Commissioning team to champion talent development and strong industry relationships

Laurence Clark is a screenwriter, playwright and award‑winning comedian whose work spans television, theatre and radio. He won the UKTV Triforce Writerslam, leading to his comedy pilot Perfect being broadcast on Dave in 2022. His CBBC screenwriting credits include Odd Squad, Andy and the Band and the sci‑fi series Gifted, for which he adapted Episode 3 and wrote Episode 8. His new play Cured tours nationally in May - June 2026 following support from Unlimited and the National Theatre’s Generate programme.

Laurence is also in demand as a Disability Editorial Advisor, contributing to Half Man (BBC/HBO), Mandy S4 (BBC), Pushers (Merman/Channel 4) and The Responder S2 (BBC). He chaired the BAFTA‑winning organisation TripleC DANC and nowadays works for them. He is a core group member and the Access Roles project co-lead for the TV Access Project, a coalition driving improved access and inclusion across the UK screen industries.

Lizzi Doyle is the Assistant Commissioner for Podcasts at BBC 5 Live and BBC Sounds, specialising in sport. She is a multi-award-winning producer, known for her work on “The Wayne Rooney Show”, “Jill Scott’s Coffee Club,” “The Tooney & Russo Show,” and “Football Daily.” Her journey began at Radio City in Liverpool, where she became the station's first-ever female sport producer. She later joined “The Anfield Wrap,” Liverpool’s iconic fan podcast, which led to appearances on the BBC, Sky Sports, and Premier League.

Louise Donald joined C4 Drama in December 2024 and has editorial oversight over Hollyoaks and a number of original dramas, aswell as leading on Channel 4’s new talent schemes – including 4Screenwriting and the New Writers Scheme. With over fifteen years of script development experience in the UK drama industry Louise is a highly experienced script and story editor. She started her career in Independent Drama Commissioning for the BBC before moving on to script editing. Louise has worked as a story producer and script editor for some of the UK’s biggest drama producers including BBC Studios Drama, Tiger Aspect Productions and Red Planet Pictures. Script editing credits include EastEnders, Holby City, Death in Paradise (series one) and Good Karma Hospital (series 4). With a passion for nurturing new voices, Louise has worked with a number of emerging writers on schemes such as the BBC Writers Academy and Tiger Aspect’s mentorship programme. Louise loves authentic character driven stories with universal themes at their heart.

Lucy Smith is Creative Director and Founder of Fawkes Digital, an IP studio developing, producing and exploiting original digital-first entertainment formats for brands, creators and digital broadcasters.

Hosted by the world’s most ambitious online creators, our formats are devised as IP universes.  This paradigm-shifting approach allows us to test and iterate distinct content IP fast and exploit it in pioneering ways, spawning merchandising empires, transforming brands into broadcasters, and generating format sales across international territories.

Recent original formats include Baddest in the World (4.0), CEOs Go Wild (LinkedIn), Korea Ladder (Korean Tourism Board x Richard Sales), Campus Clash (4.0), Texture Talks (L’Oreal x Paige Lewin), MOVE IT: The Dance Off (Immediate), Spin the Dish (Good Food), Date Me Right Now (MTV).

Highly respected management professional with 35 years' experience developing the UK’s film & TV sector. Has led the strategic development of Liverpool City Council’s Liverpool Film Office since 2000 and is responsible for creating a thriving production hub and making Liverpool the 2nd most filmed city in the UK.  

Also manages the successful LCR Production Fund (with investments into the award winning HETV dramas such as ITV’s ‘G’Wed’ and BBC’s ‘Time', ‘The Responder’, ‘This City is Ours’) in addition to managing The Depot purpose built HETV stages. 

Part of the executive management team of Screen Alliance North and is currently leading initiatives to further evolve the screen eco-system to attract investment, create jobs, build social value and support the development of skills to progress a fair and inclusive screen workforce in Liverpool and across the North of England and UK.

Lynn was the proud recipient of The Mercury Studios Business Award in 2023 at the Women in Film & Television Awards  presented by David Morrissey and recently received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Liverpool City Region Tourism Awards 2025 recognised for her exceptional work in attracting film & TV opportunities to the region and for long-standing service and influence on the Liverpool City Region Visitor Economy.

Mairi Brewis is YouTube’s lead for partnerships in Media and Responsibility for the UK. Her team manage relationships with the lead broadcasters, production companies, sports and news organisations, to help them maximize their YouTube presence.

Mairi has a strong interest in education, learning and children. She is a school governor, and previously served as a Trustee for Polka Theatre.

Multiple series premiered in 2025 with Marc's EP credit, including the soon to be returning MIXTAPE (Foxtel Binge/BBC from Subotica & Aquarius/Boatrocker), THE RIDGE (BBC-SKY NZ with Great Southern/Boatrocker), and LEONARD & HUNGRY PAUL (BBC with Subotica/Avalon), BLUE MURDER MOTEL (TVNZ with Great Southern/APC), and VIDEO NASTY (ARD/BBC/VIRGIN).

Residing in London as a dual citizen, Marc works with diverse media enterprises on a mandate to build upon their content creation/development and/or physical productions, acquisitions, and/or co-production opportunities.

As one of the most experienced international multi-genre creative content and programming executives; a Bafta, Emmy and International Emmy-nominated Executive Producer with oversight of both scripted and unscripted projects; formats and originals in the 20+ non-English speaking countries he has worked or lived in to date.

Golden Path Productions was founded by BAFTA award-winning producer Mario Stylianides. Prior to this he was Head of Comedy at Hat Trick Productions. During his time there he enjoyed enormous success. He developed, sold and Executive Produced the BAFTA award-winning FONEJACKER, FACEJACKER and THE ARMSTRONG AND MILLER SHOW, BAFTA nominated THE WORST WEEK OF MY LIFE , the British Comedy Award winning comedy drama DROP DEAD GORGEOUS and Golden Rose winning sitcom SPY. He was then headhunted by NBC Universal and tasked with setting up a comedy label – Lucky Giant – for the International arm of the business. While he was there he developed and Executive Produced Christopher Guest’s FAMILY TREE for HBO and BBC2 and comedy drama QUACKS for BBC2. After four years running Lucky Giant he decided to form his own production company Golden Path Productions. Golden Path specialises in scripted comedy and drama.

Megan Spanjian is a Senior Executive Producer at Sky Entertainment Group, based in London. Megan works across the development and editorial oversight of premium scripted drama, collaborating closely with writers and producers to shape Sky’s drama slate. Recent projects include the upcoming series WAR from George Kay, the recently released UNDER SALT MARSH, AMADEUS, and ATOMIC.

Prior to joining Sky, Megan spent 15 years in the US as an executive across network and cable programming, with roles at United Talent Agency and The Weinstein Company, where YELLOWSTONE was developed and WACO was executive produced.

Megan began a scripted career in the ICM mailroom before moving on to CBS TV Studios.

Based in Manchester and originally from Taiwan, Michelle Lin is a strategic leader specialising in the intersection of traditional media and the digital-first ecosystem. As K7 Media’s Director of Digital Strategy, she translates complex shifts across streaming, social platforms, AI, and creator-led content into commercially actionable insights.

With nearly nine years of international experience in Asian television, Michelle now oversees K7’s digital editorial direction, including high-level reporting on branded entertainment, microdramas, and global platform trends. She acts as a vital bridge, helping clients navigate the fast-moving digital landscape through data-informed research and expert consultation.

Mobeen has produced and presented across BBC flagship platforms for more than 20 years and is a BAFTA, Grierson, Amnesty International, Broadcast and Royal Television Society award winner.

He has created longform podcast series for BBC Sounds, Spotify and Audible including: Fatwa; Hometown: A Killing; Lives Less Ordinary; The Kanye Story and Catching the Kingpins, which featured on BBC Sounds’ ‘Best of 2024’ list. Mobeen also hosts the BBC World Service strand, Outlook.

Mobeen has produced and presented numerous narrative television documentaries and multi-part series across BBC One, BBC Two and BBC Three including: Predator: The Secret Scandal of J-Pop; Secrets of an ISIS Smartphone; The Battle for Britney: Fans, Cash and a Conservatorship; Hometown: A Killing; A Black and White Killing: The Case That Shook America and The Satanic Verses: 30 Years On, as well as multiple editions of flagship current affairs series Panorama.

In recent years he has also made programmes with BBC Studios, Vice Studios, Expectation, Mentorn and ITN Productions. Mobeen is a regular host on BBC 5Live and the BBC World Service.

As Head of Comedy at ITV, Nana has rejuvenated ITV Comedy with award-winning and award-worthy shows for ITV and ITVX, including Changing Ends, G'wed, The Dry, Transaction, Piglets, Deep Fake Neighbour Wars, Count Abdulla, and Significant Other. Prior to joining ITV, she was Head of Comedy at Talkback Thames and Head of Development at Retort, where she executive produced the award-winning Chewing Gum Series 1 & 2. Nana is a BAFTA, RTS, and Broadcast award-winning comedy executive producer.

Natasha is the Co-Founder of Northern Heart Films, backed by the BBC small indie fund, and the CEO of Doc North CiC. As a Documentary Filmmaker who grew up in a working-class household in the North of England, Natasha is a passionate advocate for developing and platforming working-class documentary talent. This is something that she actively champions through Doc North.

Having represented the UK screen industry at SXSW, the BFI Future Film Festival, and the Creative UK Summit, Natasha uses her experience to mentor others through Creative UK and welcomes opportunity to help influence industry change. 

Nicola Shindler OBE is a prolific, multi award-winning British television producer, and CEO of Quay Street Productions, based in Manchester.   

With over 25 years' experience in television, Nicola has produced some of the UK’s most successful and award-winning dramas, including Years and Years, Happy Valley, Queer As Folk, Fool Me Once, The Stolen Girl, The Guest, After The Flood and Run Away.  Forthcoming series include The Blame starring Michelle Keegan and Douglas Booth for ITV and Tip Toe written by Russell T Davies starring Alan Cumming and David Morrissey for Channel 4.

Renowned for her relationships with writers, Nicola has worked with an array of the UK’s most prolific and exciting writing talent including Russell T Davies, Sally Wainwright, Lenny Henry, Paul Abbott, Dan Sefton, Tony Marchant, Amelia Bullmore, Danny Brocklehurst, Matt Greenhalgh and Sarah Solemani, on series starring some of the world’s leading on-screen names. 

Nigel has extensive experience in both the political and creative sectors, having been Special Advisor (SpAd) to the Rt Hon Mo Mowlam MP at the Northern Ireland Office and Cabinet Office, and also SpAd to the Rt Hon Tessa Jowell MP, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.

Following his time in Government, Nigel became Director of Public Affairs at ITV for four years at a crucial time for the future of the public service broadcaster. He then co-founded Creative Access with a mission for the UK media to become more inclusive, which is now an industry-funded social enterprise. He has also written for the Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR) on policy for the media and creative industries.

More recently Nigel was the UK Policy Consultant for the Motion Picture Association as well as Special Counsel at strategic communications consultancy, Lexington, where he focussed for more than ten years on policy issues of concern to the creative industries providing policy, strategy and political communications advice.

Paula Thomas is a Commissioning Editor at ITV, looking after Daytime and Ad-Funded Entertainment. She is responsible for over 1,300 hours of television a year, nearly 900 of which are broadcast live.

As the lead commissioner for Ad-Funded Entertainment, Paula’s slate continues to grow; with 13 titles and 380 hours of branded content already commissioned for 2026 across the ITV schedule.

Alongside the team, notable credits include Cooking with the Stars (M&S) - ITV’s most successful ad-funded show to date - Tom Kerridge Cooks Britain (M&S), Style the Nation (M&S), Be Your Own Boss (Royal Mail), Sara Davies’ Christmas Craft Off (Amazon) and the ‘Taste of’ brand for weekend mornings.

Paul Testar joined Paramount in January 2022 as 5’s first dedicated drama commissioner and has helped oversee the major expansion of 5’s scripted slate, working alongside Head of Scripted Sebastian Cardwell to establish 5 as a major home of original British drama.

Since joining Paramount, Testar has commissioned over one hundred and fifty hours of drama series including Ellis, Murder Before Evensong, The Crow Girl and 5’s revival of the iconic Play For Today format. 

Before joining Paramount, Testar was a producer for Mammoth Screen with credits including The Serpent (BBC1/Netflix) and The Tower (ITV). He began his career as a script editor on numerous shows for the BBC, ITV, Netflix, Amazon and Channel 4.

PJ is the nearest thing to a modern-day Dickens. His writing swerves between urban magic realism, deadpan tragicomedy and hardboiled psychodrama. Dead dads talk through smart speakers. Gangster mams kick off on the bus. Hard cases go to meditation class in search of salvation. You will laugh out loud and cry inside. Roys stories teem with all the love, astonishment, horror and hilarity that modern life has to offer.

Priya Dogra is the Chief Executive of Channel 4, a publicly owned and commercially funded public service media organisation that creates change through entertainment. 

She brings more than 20 years of global media experience across the US, EMEA and the UK, spanning operations, programming, production, strategy, M&A and business development.  

Priya spent 14 years at Time Warner / WarnerMedia and Warner Bros. Discovery, including as President & Managing Director for Warner Bros. Discovery EMEA, responsible for programming, marketing, advertising and commercial partnerships across the company’s lines of business including TV networks, film and streaming. She also led local original series production for HBO and HBO Max. Earlier in her career, she headed M&A and corporate strategy for Time Warner / WarnerMedia. 

Prior to joining Channel 4, Priya was Chief Advertising, Group Data & New Revenue Officer at Sky, where she oversaw Sky Media, the company’s advertising sales house, the development of non-subscription revenues and its data and analytics capabilities. She spearheaded Universal Ads, a cross-industry initiative between Sky, ITV and Channel 4, alongside Comcast’s FreeWheel, to create a self-serve trading platform that opens up TV advertising to small businesses.

Beth Johnson is Professor of Television and Media Studies at the University of Leeds, based in the School of Media and Communication. Her research explores the intersections of social class, gender, race, and place in the television industry, with a particular focus on how these shape representation, production practices, and public trust.

She is Principal Investigator of the AHRC-funded project What’s On? Rethinking Class in the Television Industry (2023–2026), delivered in collaboration with the BBC, Channel 4, and Candour Productions. The project examines how questions of who produces television, what is made, and how class is represented are interconnected across contemporary UK drama.

Working alongside the Film & TV Charity, she has co-authored (with Anna Theodoulides) a major policy briefing, From Evidence to Action: Class Inequality, Workforce Sustainability and Workforce Wellbeing in UK Television, due for publication in May 2026.

Beth is a member of the DCMS College of Experts and Vice Chair of RTS Yorkshire.

Rebecca Cooney is the insight editor at Broadcast, overseeing the publication’s long-form feature and analysis content – basically, anything that isn’t news. She is responsible for Broadcast’s tent-pole projects including the Indie Survey, the Commissioner Survey, Best Places to Work in TV and the Hot Shots emerging talent scheme.

Before joining the Broadcast team four years ago, she was features and analysis writer at Third Sector, the trade publication for the charity sector, and a reporter at FE Week, which covers further education.

In her other life, she is a published poet and spoken word artist, and has performed at Glastonbury Festival and the Royal Albert Hall.

Rebecca Hodgson is the Executive Producer of This City is Ours. She joined Left Bank Pictures in September 2023, where her credits as EP also include The Lady for ITV and Britbox and Dear England for BBC1.

Rebecca started her career as a journalist at Screen International. She is an award-winning producer with recent credits including ARCHIE for Etta and ITVX, RTS award winning SHERWOOD for House and BBC1, THE IRREGULARS for Drama Republic and Netflix and DEEP WATER for Kudos and ITV. Earlier credits include VINCENT, WIRED and THE GIRLS WHO CAME TO STAY, STOLEN, WE'LL TAKE MANHATTAN, THE ROAD TO CORONATION STREET, BAFTA winner for Best Single Drama, GOOD COP, RTS winner for Best Drama Series, and FREE REIN for Netflix, which won two Emmys.

Rob Page is an accomplished leader in the UK’s creative production sector and currently Managing Director of Space Studios Manchester, The Sharp Project, Arbeta and the Film Office for Manchester City Council, Screen Manchester.

With a strong background in finance and commercial management, he has played a central role in transforming Manchester into a major centre for high-end TV, film and commercial production. Under his leadership these assets and services now collectively deliver £100M+ of annual production spend for national and international clients including Netflix, Amazon, NBC Universal, Sony, BBC and ITV. 

Screen Manchester is also a strategic partner alongside Screen Yorkshire, The Liverpool Film Office and North East Screen in Screen Alliance North. This Alliance is the largest of the BFI Skills Clusters and benefits from £2.3M of funding to tackle screen skills shortages and improve access to quality training provision for diverse talent and communities in the North.

Co-founder and former director of the Creative Cities Convention, Ruth is MD of Under The Moon Ltd, a media consultancy specialising in levelling the industry playing field for people from all backgrounds and advising on the strategic development of the film and TV sector outside London. 

She was previously head of documentaries at Granada Television, creative director of documentaries at the BBC, head of factual at Tiger Aspect Productions, founder of Real Life Productions and Advisory Chair of the Edinburgh International TV Festival. She is an IPC trained print journalist and a former radio and television reporter.

Ruth is also co-founder (with the Poet Laureate Simon Armitage) of the National Poetry Centre, which will be the nation’s first dedicated national cultural centre for poetry.

Saoirse-Monica Jackson is a celebrated Irish actress who gained international acclaim as Erin Quinn in the Channel 4 smash-hit Derry Girls. 

She recently captivated audiences in Lisa McGee’s How to Get to Heaven from Belfast, earning rave reviews for a performance described by The Guardian as "absolutely wild." Other productions include Netflix’s 14th-century comedy The Decameron and the Prime Video rom-com Upgraded, Paramount+ thriller The Doll Factory and BBC series This City is Ours alongside Sean Bean.

This year Saoirse will star in the upcoming Irish-American feature The Body is Water opposite Isiah Whitlock Jr. 

Saoirse  will be reprising her role in the second instalment of This City is Ours.

Sir Phil has always been considered creatively and technically innovative throughout his television career, creating a number of ground breaking drama series including Grange Hill, Brookside and Hollyoaks. He also created Mersey Television, to produce his own work, which became the biggest independent drama producer in the UK and global centre of excellence for lightweight portable digital recording.

He is a great advocate and ambassador for Liverpool and Merseyside and became the face of Liverpool’s European Capital of Culture year in 2008. Liverpool’s success inspired the UK City of Culture programme which he has chaired since 2011, and more recently has also become Chair of the new Town of Culture competition.

He was awarded a CBE in 2004 for services to drama and a Knight Bachelor for services to broadcasting and regional arts in 2020.

Stella is YouTube’s lead for news & podcasting partnerships in the UK. She manages relationships with leading news broadcasters, publishers & podcasting companies to grow engagement & reach. Prior to YouTube, Stella was a civil servant, leading media & creative industries policy at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport.

Stephen Butchard is an award-winning screenwriter and producer, born in Liverpool. Before writing full time, he trained as an engineer and spent a year in Beijing as a British Government secondee, managing upgrades to the city’s underground rail network.

He began writing for theatre and radio before winning the Dennis Potter Award in 1997 for his first screenplay Soft Sand, Blue Sea. His early TV work includes Little Bird and Lie With Me for Granada.

Stephen has created and written numerous acclaimed dramas, including A&E, Vincent, and the BAFTA-nominated House of Saddam for BBC/HBO. His mini-series Five Daughters won Best Drama at the RTS Awards, with Stephen receiving both the RTS and BAFTA for Best Writer.

His credits also include Good Cop, The Child in Time, The Last Kingdom, Baghdad Central, The Good Mothers (Berlinale Series Award), Shardlake, and This City Is Ours, now in its second series for BBC One.

Los Angeles-based Stuart Ford is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of AGC Studios and one of the most experienced and prolific independent film and television producers, financiers and entrepreneurs in the global entertainment industry. UK born and Oxford University educated, Ford is a former entertainment attorney and Miramax Films senior studio executive who in 2007 founded IM Global. Over the following decade, he built IM Global into one of the industry’s leading independent production, financing and international sales platforms with additional talent management and PR businesses across North America, Southeast Asia, India, Latin America and Europe.

In 2018, Ford launched the so-called “super-indie” AGC Studios, an independent content studio with major backing from Silicon Valley, Abu Dhabi and Latin America that develops, finances, produces and sells a diverse slate of feature films and scripted, unscripted and factual television. Since its inception, AGC has been involved in over 50 major productions. Ford’s AGC Television label has quickly become a major player in high-end scripted content, including the recent epic series “Those About to Die,” with a first-season budget of $165 million - one of the largest independently financed TV productions in history.

As a producer and financier Ford has worked with a huge array of leading directors such as Martin Scorsese, Gary Ross, Mel Gibson, Ron Howard, Doug Liman, Neil Burger, James Wan, Scott Derrickson, Roland Emmerich, Tom Ford and Richard Linklater. Across his career, he has produced or executive produced nearly eighty films and television shows and has assembled in excess of $2 billion in independent production financing from North America, India, China, Latin America and the Middle East.

Ford received Variety’s Achievement in International Film Award in 2015 and was named one of The Guardian’s 50 Most Influential People in Global Cinema. In 2023, he was honored at the Cannes Film Festival with Variety’s “Billion Dollar Producer” award. He is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Television Academy, and BAFTA, and has been profiled in the Variety 500 in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024.

Stuart is the former Director of Sky Entertainment Channels, overseeing Sky 1, Sky Arts, Sky Living and Sky Atlantic (which he launched) and Sky’s original programming across Scripted and Unscripted. Under him Sky Arts developed Europe’s biggest on-demand library of arts content, while Sky 1 and Sky Atlantic won Channel of the Year. He commissioned shows including A League of their Own, Patrick Melrose, Pineapple Dance Studios, An Idiot Abroad, Portrait Artist of the Year and Got To Dance, and acquired American shows such as Game of Thrones, Curb Your Enthusiasm and Modern Family.  

Previously he launched and ran BBC THREE, with a brief across Scripted and Unscripted, commissioning shows such as The Week The Women Went, Flashmob The Opera and Torchwood and shows such as Family Guy, Queer as Folk USA and Kath and Kim. Under him BBC THREE went on to win Best Entertainment Channel and Channel of the Year. Throughout his broadcasting career he commissioned over 100 comedies including Early Doors, The Café, Little Britain, Hunderby and Gavin and Stacey.

Most recently Stuart was CEO of English National Opera and London Coliseum. He launched free tickets for Under 21 year olds for all performances and all seats, ensured 20% of performers were from diverse backgrounds, and launched ENO Breathe, a programme for long Covid sufferers which is still available for free in over 90 NHS healthcare settings. He partnered with Netflix to launch Tiger King The Opera - which got over 17m views on Tik Tok - and in lockdown staged the world's first fully staged drive-in opera, for which it won a BAFTA.

He has sat on the Boards of Nickelodeon UK, VR company Jaunt, AETN The History Channel, the National Opera Studio and HOLBA and is currently on the Board of University of Leeds and tech company Social Media Check. In 2016 he was made a Fellow of the RTS and in 2004 made a CBE for services to opera.

Tony Schumacher had one dream when he was a kid, and that was to be a writer. Instead of becoming a writer he bombed out of school aged 16 with no qualifications and a sigh of relief.

He worked his way around the world as a roofer, a jeweller, a bouncer, a barman, a binman, and on-board cruise ships selling underpants, before eventually returning to Liverpool to become a response policeman dealing with 999 jobs morning, noon and nights.

Eleven years later, after a breakdown and a period of homelessness, he found himself driving a taxi around the night-time streets of Liverpool. That was when he remembered his dream and finally started to write.

His first three novels were published by HarperCollins in the USA, and since then he has been mentored by Jimmy McGovern as part of the ScreenSkills High End TV Writers Bursary Scheme (2018) and been invited to join the BBC Writersroom Northern Voices Scheme. The Responder series and The Cage are his creations.

Wayne Garvie is President of International Production at Sony Pictures Television (SPT) and oversees SPT’s global network of production companies outside the US, covering Europe, Latin America and Australia. The 14 wholly-owned or joint venture production companies within the business deliver both original and formatted content for local broadcasters in their markets, and create nearly 1,500 hours of entertainment around the world each year. He is also responsible for driving creative development within international production, steering the business to develop locally created properties into global formats and fostering co-developments across the group.

Garvie joined SPT in June 2012 and reports to Keith Le Goy, Chairman, Sony Pictures Television. He joined SPT from All3MEDIA, where he was Managing Director, International Production with special responsibility for the company's growth in the US. Previously, Garvie was Managing Director for Content & Production at BBC Worldwide, responsible for establishing the corporation's global network of production companies and overseeing its international formats business. Prior to that role, he was Head of Entertainment Group for the BBC, where his teams were behind shows like Strictly Come Dancing and Dragons’ Den. Garvie also held senior positions in UK broadcasting, including Director of Broadcasting for Granada.

Garvie holds a First Class Honours degree and Honorary DLitt from the University of Kent and is both a PhD in Economic History and Honorary Doctor of Letters from the University of Sheffield.