Speakers who joined us at CCC 2025

A. A. Dhand was raised in Bradford and spent his youth observing the city from behind the counter of a small convenience store. After qualifying as a pharmacist, he worked in London and travelled extensively before returning to Bradford to start his own business and begin writing. The history, diversity and darkness of the city have inspired his Harry Virdee novels, which has recently been turned into a six-part BBC drama - the first novel by a British Asian to do so.

As Managing Director, YouTube UK & Ireland, Alison is responsible for working with Government & Policy Makers and partnering with creators, brands and the music industry to ensure that YouTube remains at the forefront of the creator economy.

Alison has spent her career at the intersection of technology and creativity, both in the public sector working for Government departments including MI5 and Foreign office and in advertising agencies before joining Google in 2011 where she led various commercial & creative teams.  In January 2023 Alison joined YouTube as Managing Director, UK & Ireland. Inside and outside of Google, she is a diversity champion, a member of WACL (Women in Advertising & Communications, Leadership), Director of Trans in the City and has played an integral role in the acceleration of women’s football.

Anita Rani is an RTS Award winning broadcaster with a career spanning nearly 20 years. She is currently one of the lead presenters of BBC One’s Countryfile and she also presents Woman's Hour on BBC Radio 4. She recently led the second series of Aldi’s Next Big Thing for Channel 4 and is a regular appearance on shows such as Pointless, The Wheel and The One Show. Adding bestselling author to her list of achievements, she published her memoir The Right Sort of Girl in 2015, following by debut novel Baby Does a Runner in 2023.

Anita was made a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Goodwill Ambassador in 2021 and recently became Chancellor of the University of Bradford – her hometown. She has since implemented the Rani Scholarship helping those from underrepresented backgrounds into higher education.

Anna has been making films for nearly 30 years! She is a BAFTA winner, having been nominated for 7 in total, and is the only woman ever to be nominated two consecutive years for the BAFTA CRAFT Best Factual Director Award. She won a BAFTA in 2023 for ‘Libby are you home yet?’ (Sky) and in 2024 won Best Doc Series at the Griersons for ‘The Push.’ She's well known for her 17-year enquiry into gang grooming and broke the story in 2004 with her first feature length doc 'Edge of the City' for Channel 4. Since then, she has directed a huge variety of content, both current affairs and documentary, and many of Anna’s films have gone on to create change in legislation. She execs pretty much all of Candour’s output and sees Candour as fulfilling her life-long dream of providing a home for filmmakers in the North.

As Chief Executive of Screen Yorkshire, Caroline champions the film, TV and wider screen industries in Yorkshire & 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.

Caroline specialises in gaining sensitive access both with individuals and large organisations, and has developed a mixed Factual slate of premium docs, singles, formats and observational series across all UK Channels and Streamers since joining ITN in 2020. Prior to ITN, she was an Exec Producer for the BBC working in Current Affairs and Docs Unit based in Salford, across brands like The One Show, Dragons Den and Rip Off Britain. She's passionate about developing talent in the regions, and providing support to those just starting out their careers in factual television.

Channique is an actor and creative from the North West. Graduating in 2018, from UCLAN with an BA hons in Acting, she now calls Manchester home.

She is currently playing Dee-Dee Bailey in Coronation Street but has worked as a director and writer for theatre, prior to this. In her first year in Coronation Street Channique won the British Soap Award for Best Newcomer and was nominated in the Rising Star category at the 28th National Television Awards.She is passionate about the arts and telling important stories and has been keen to advocate for representation and accessibility in the industry. She’s delighted to be speaking in Bradford just down the road from her home town!

Claire Collins is a Midlands-based costume designer working within television. Graduating from The Arts University Bournemouth in 2003 she went on to win the BBC Vision Design Prize, launching her into the world of Film and Television. Working mainly within Period drama, Claire has built up a knowledge and passion for costume design, fabric and print. Her design approach integrates her understanding of period silhouette and textiles with her aim to convey a story through character, colour, and composition within a set. In recognition of her outstanding contribution to the series "Sister Boniface Mysteries" for BritBox/BBC Studios, Claire received the RTS Midlands Craft Award in 2022. Claire has worked for over a decade helping young people gain experience and opportunities in the industry. In 2023 Claire was made an Honorary Fellow of costume for the Arts University Bournemouth. Working mainly in the Midlands as she raises her family, Claire is passionate about contributing to the regions industry.

David Smyth is a Commissioner in the Entertainment team at ITV, a role he's held for 5 years. He's responsible for shows such as The Assembly, In For a Penny and The Royal Variety Performance. He's also commissioned a series of documentaries such as John & Joe Bishop: Life After Deaf, Adam Lambert: Out, Loud and Proud and will i am: The Blackprint.

Part of the role also involves receiving pitches for new formats and ideas in the Entertainment genre. Prior to Commissioning, David produced shows such as The Voice, Love Island, Strictly Come Dancing, Come Dine With Me and Children in Need.

Dhivya is a Liverpool-based filmmaker whose interests and screen work span documentary and fiction. Her directing credits include Glasgow, Love & Apartheid (BBC Scotland/Screen Scotland); When Tina Turner Came to Britain (Wise Owl Films, BBC2); The Barber (Moquette Films, BFI Network, Film4) Bee Whisperer (Netflix Doc Talent Fund) and The Brontës by Anita Rani: Sisters of Disruption (Wise Owl Films, Sky Arts) - a moving and intersectional look at the ground-breaking Brontë Sisters and their impact on writer and broadcaster, Anita Rani. Dhivya currently has a diverse slate of documentary and fiction projects in early development and was selected as one of the 2025 / 2026 BAFTA Elevate cohort.

Eden Taylor-Draper was born in Selby, Yorkshire. She has portrayed Belle Dingle in ITV's popular soap opera Emmerdale since she was eight years old, making her one of the show's long-standing cast members.Throughout her career, Eden has tackled numerous challenging storylines, with her portrayal of a domestic abuse victim being particularly notable. This powerful performance earned her the prestigious Inside Soap Award for Best Actor. Over her years on Emmerdale, she has received numerous other awards recognising her talent and dedication to the role.Beyond her acting career, Eden is passionate about cooking, all things food and travel. She is constantly seeking to develop her skills and broaden her horizons through new experiences.

Eleanor Neale is a leading voice in the true crime space, best known for her in-depth storytelling on her YouTube channel, recently re-branded as OUTLORE Podcast. With hundreds of millions of views, her signature long-form content blends meticulous research with empathy and psychological insight. Eleanor has built a loyal global following, making complex cases accessible while championing mental health and survivor awareness.

Fran Baker is a Manchester-based BBC Documentaries commissioning editor who has commissioned and looked after a range of singles and series including Ambulance, Freddie Flintoff’s Field of Dreams On Tour, Louis Theroux: The Settlers, The Plymouth Shootings and Zara McDermott: Stalked. Before commissioning, Fran spent most of her career in Manchester and Exec Produced for 10years in-house at Blakeway North, as a freelance Exec and running her own production company. Winning commissions as well as looking after multiple singles and series including Killed by a Rich Kid, Manchester Bomb: Our Story, Can Sex Offenders Change, Death on the Common and Soldier: Made in Yorkshire, Fran has championed new documentary making talent in the north throughout her career and looked after a number of new directors’ films.

Gwen is an executive producer at Warp Films where she has worked for the last four years most recently producing Reunion, a bilingual English and BSL drama for BBC One. Gwen started off her career in film and TV production before moving over to script development where she has worked at a number of production companies including World Productions, Bad Wolf and Mainstreet Pictures as well as some time in drama commissioning at Channel 4.

Gwyneth Hughes is a Bafta-nominated screenwriter, whose most recent work is the multiple award winning ITV serial Mr Bates vs The Post Office.

She was born in London, the daughter of a police constable from North Wales, and studied Russian at Sussex University, before moving to the north of England to train as a newspaper reporter on the Sheffield Morning Telegraph. Gwyn’s first job in broadcasting was on the Yorkshire Television regional newsdesk. From there she became a Bafta-nominated documentary director specializing in history and true crime, and began her move from factual TV into drama on cop shows like The Bill and Silent Witness. Her original thriller miniseries Five Days, and her Tippi Hedren biopic The Girl, were both nominated for the Baftas and the Golden Globes. Her classic dramatizations include The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Vanity Fair, and Miss Austen Regrets.

Hannah Cheers is Executive Producer of Hollyoaks, which this year celebrates its 30th anniversary as C4’s flagship soap. Since returning to Hollyoaks, she has successfully overseen the move from five to three episodes a week, increasing viewership and youth engagement. Hannah began her love affair with soap production on Hollyoaks, where she began her career in the story office in 2009. She story-produced, produced and series-produced the show across 2012-2021. During this period Hollyoaks was BAFTA nominated, won two Best British Soap Awards, two Broadcast awards and two Royal Television Society Awards. Hannah also worked as Story Producer on Coronation Street from 2015-2017 worked as a producer on Emmerdale.

Harjeet Chhokar is a Unscripted Development Executive in the UK Originals Team, at Amazon MGM Studios. He works across the unscripted slate, primarily on documentaries. Prior to joining Amazon MGM Studios, Harjeet was a Documentaries and Specialist Factual Commissioner at Channel 4 and also spent 17 years working in production, across a wide range of Factual programming.

Helen is a Commissioner for BBC Daytime and Early Peak looking after scripted titles such as Father Brown and Shakespeare and Hathaway and unscripted formats Robson Green’s Weekend Escapes and upcoming Doorbell Detectives among others. She is based in the North East and is focused on the BBC’s Across the UK strategy to create business and opportunity in the region.

Helen is Head of Factual and Factual Entertainment at UKTV, home of channels including Dave, W, Gold and Yesterday. Since joining the multi-channel broadcaster in 2015 as Commissioning Editor, Helen has executive produced shows across the network and has commissioned the award-winning Emma Willis: Delivering Babies and Women On The Force for W, French and Saunders: Funny Women for Gold and Hornby A Model World for Yesterday.

Prior to joining UKTV, Helen was Head of Factual at Gogglebox Entertainment where she executive produced Singing In The Rainforest for Watch and Young War Widows for ITV. Before that, she was Head of Popular Factual at IWC Media executive producing shows such as Location, Location, Location for Channel 4, Extreme Fishing with Robson Green and Rory and Paddy's Great British Adventure for Channel 5.

Helen Perry leads UKTV’s original drama slate, which includes The Marlow Murder Club, the reimagining of Bergerac, and Outrageous - the story of the Mitford sisters. Since joining UKTV Helen has also commissioned Mark Gatiss’ Bookish, S4C co-pro, Mudtown, and overseen Chris Lang’s I, Jack Wright. Previously, Helen was a Commissioning Editor for Drama at ITV working on titles including Mr Bates vs The Post Office and Playing Nice, and returning series such as DI Ray, Professor T, The Bay and Grantchester. Before ITV, Helen was an Assistant Commissioner for BBC Drama working across development and production, and exec-ing Steeltown Murders and The Pact. Prior to that Helen was Script Executive at Bad Wolf on acclaimed drama, Industry. Helen has also worked as a Development Producer for BBC Writers’ Room and began her career as an award-winning audio drama producer/director for BBC Radio/Sounds.

Iain moved to Manchester from his hometown in Warwickshire to study for a psychology degree. 28 years later he is still here and now considers himself an honorary Mancunian.

Iain started work for ITV in 2006, where he got his first foot on the continuing drama ladder as an assistant researcher at Coronation Street. Since then he has worked in various roles including story editor at Coronation Street (highlights included overseeing the storylines for the 50th anniversary tram crash), Series Producer at Emmerdale (during which time the show won two NTAs for best soap and a BAFTA) and Series Producer at Coronation Street.

Iain is now the Executive Producer for Continuing Drama, working across both Emmerdale and Coronation Street, and considers himself to have the best job in the world. Iain describes his job as making up stories for a living and seeing them brought to life by a team of immensely talented colleagues.

Born and raised in Oldham, left school at 16 and worked as a joiner on building sites before training as an actor and finding his way into writing.

Coronation Street team member since 2018, episodes include the Continuing Drama Series BAFTA winners 2022. He has also written on Cold Feet (ITV), Medici (Netflix), Beyond Paradise, Castles in the Sky, EastEnders, Death in Paradise, The Dumping Ground (RTS NE Best Drama), Holby City, Doctors, and Casualty (BBC) The Mill and Shameless (C4).

Stage includes The Greatest Play in the History of the World… (Royal Exchange Manchester, Traverse Theatre Edinburgh, Trafalgar Studios), Candyland (Bruntwood / Royal Exchange regional winner) and Starcross’d (Manchester Theatre Award winner). He also has many plays, original series and book adaptations on BBC R4.

James is a Gen-Ai lead at BBC Content along with working across major innovation projects in social and gaming to unlock new forms of storytelling. Previously, he was Executive Launch Producer for the BBC Three TV Channel.

Jane Turton became Chief Executive Officer of All3Media in 2015 and has built the Group, acquired by RedBird IMI in 2024, into a fast-growing, world-class content business. All3Media comprises 40 award-winning independent TV production, digital, theatre, and film companies producing around 4,000 hours of programming across all genres for broadcast and OTT platforms around the world.

All3Media International, the Group’s distribution division, sells a catalogue of 35,000 hours of content across all genres to more than 1,000 broadcasters and platforms worldwide, and has consistently been voted the UK’s best distributor in an annual peer poll. Little Dot Studios, All3Media’s award winning digital content agency and media network, is one of the world’s largest distributors of premium content on social video platforms.

With a deep understanding and experience of broadcasting and production, combining business acumen and creativity, Jane is focused on driving continued growth at All3Media, ensuring that its companies have the very best talent working in a business that has creative and commercial excellence at its core.Jane joined All3Media in 2008 as Deputy Chief Operating Officer, rising to COO in 2011 and CEO in 2015. She played a key role on the executive team at ITV where she was Director of Commercial and Business Affairs and Director of Business Affairs at ITV Studios and then ITV Network, the largest commercial broadcaster and streamer in the UK. Jane was also a senior executive at UK broadcasters Granada Television, United Productions, and Meridian Broadcasting.

Jane holds an MA and MBA and is a Fellow of the Royal Television Society, where she Chairs the Board of Trustees. In June 2022, Jane was awarded an OBE for her services to the television production industry by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

Jennifer Metcalfe’s Hollyoaks character, Mercedes McQueen has remained at the heart of the Channel 4 soap since her arrival in 2006. Balancing issue-led storylines, such as baby loss and Bowel Cancer, to heightened storytelling such as the ‘Who Shot Mercedes?’ campaign. Jennifer won Best Actress in a TV Series at the National Film Awards in 2023 for her Hollyoaks performance. Jennifer is set to star in the new BBC thriller ‘Just Act Normal’ and has previously appeared in ‘Emmerdale’ and ‘Where the Heart Is’.

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.

Jo Street is the Director of Commissioning, Nations and Regions & Head of Lifestyle at Channel 4 where she oversees a huge slate of some of the most popular returning series on the channel, like Great Pottery Throwdown, Location, Location, Location, Extraordinary Extensions, Kirstie & Phil’s Love it or List it, Come Dine With Me, Renovation Rescue, Countdown… Based out of the Glasgow Hub of C4, she manages a commissioning team that is spread across the UK and is a passionate advocate for commissioning Out of London & a champion of Nations & Regions production companies. Prior to joining C4 she had 25 years at the BBC where, amongst other things she directed Countryfile, Exec’d the Weakest Link and commissioned the long running returning series The Hit List, Antiques Road Trip & Money For Nothing.

Joss Agnew directs UK and international prime time screen drama. Joss’ credits include The Split, Vigil and Poldark for the BBC, Outlander, The Man Who Fell To Earth, Deep State and more titles for other networks. Outrageous, the dramatic true-to-life story of the remarkable Mitford family, is due out in June 2025.

Julian Bellamy is Managing Director of ITV Studios, one of the leading independent producers and distributors in the world; the largest commercial production company in the UK and one of the largest independent producer of non scripted shows in America. ITV Studios is part of ITV PLC.

The Studios Group has production bases in 13 countries, with over 60 production labels making around 7,000 hours of original programming every year.

In the UK, this includes Coronation Street, Emmerdale, Good Morning Britain, This Morning, Love Island and The Voice for ITV; Countdown and 24 Hours in Police Custody for Channel 4, Line of Duty, University Challenge, Ludwig for the BBC; Fool Me Once, MIssing You, Queer Eye, Squid Game: The Challenge for Netflix and Rivals for Disney+.

Julian joined ITV from Discovery Networks International where, as Creative Director and Head of Commissioning, he ran production and development across 200 countries, with commissioning teams in five international bases. He was previously Head of Channel 4 managing over 2,000 hours of original programming a year including Undercover Boss, One Born Every Minute and This is England.

Julian is also a former Head of E4 and BBC3 Channel Controller.

He began his career as a current affairs producer/director working on ITV’s World in Action and The Big Story and Channel 4’s Dispatches.

Kit Morey (they/them) joined the Paramount UK commissioning team in 2019 and is responsible for commissioning fresh, exciting content in the Popular Factual space. They have ordered hundreds of hours of prime time shows, including Toy Hospital, The Hospital: Life on The Line, Motorhoming with Merton & Webster, Million Pound Motorhomes, Lost Dogs with Clare Balding and Sally Lindsay’s Posh Sleepover, as well as the channel’s RTS nominated Air Fryer shows. Kit has also ordered a range of returnable formats, including Ben Fogle’s Make a New Life in The Country, Dogs Behaving (Very) Badly, Rich Kids Go Skint and The Hotel Inspector.

Kit’s executive producer credits include ITV’s Real Full Monty while at Spun Gold and Channel 4’s Meat The Family as Head of Popular Factual at Rise Films. They have also held Executive Producer roles at betty, Shine, Lambent and twenty twenty, overseeing 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.

Lisa began her career in journalism at Time Out Amsterdam, going on to work in reporting and editing roles on a range of specialist media titles spanning PR, music, marketing and advertising. After working as a freelance writer for national newspapers and magazines, Lisa joined TV industry bible Broadcast magazine where she enjoyed a ten year career in a variety of roles, including editor, a post she held for 7 years. Lisa was then appointed as Festival Director for the Edinburgh International Television Festival, boosting the Festival’s global profile, attendees and reputation as the biggest and most prestigious media event in the UK. She joined ITN in January 2020 and is director of communications, responsible for managing internal and external branding and messaging, alongside strategy, policy and public affairs.

Lucy Smith is founder of Fawkes Digital - a Leeds-based disruptor production studio specialising in developing and producing original format IP for brands and digital broadcasters. Hosted by the world’s hottest online creators, our entertainment formats are devised to transform brands into broadcasters and consumers into audiences, allowing us to test and iterate distinct content IP and exploit it in pioneering ways. Our original formats include Baddest in the World (Channel 4.0), CEOs Go Wild (LinkedIn), Korea Ladder (Korean Tourism Board x Richard Sales), Texture Talks (L’Oreal x Paige Lewin), with yet-to-be-announced formats in the worlds of dance, fetish wear, football, true crime and travel.

Marcus Ryder is the CEO of the Film and TV Charity – looking after the physical, financial and mental wellbeing of people working in the film , television and cinema industries and seeking to addressing issues of inequality and discrimination in the industry. In 2021 Marcus was appointed the Chair of RADA (the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art). In 2020 he established the Sir Lenny Henry Centre for Media Diversity and has worked in the media industry for over thirty years. He is the co-author of Access All Areas - The Diversity Manifesto for TV and Beyond, and the co-editor of Black British Lives Matter with Sir Lenny Henry. In 2022 he was awarded an MBE for his services to the UK media industry and was awarded an honorary doctorate by Bournemouth University in 2024.

Matt Risley is the MD of 4Studio, Channel 4’s in-house digital agency responsible for the broadcaster’s social strategy at a channel, show and platform level, as well as production of thousands of pieces of digital content every month for social and digital platforms. The department is at the heart of the channel’s Fast Forward strategy to reach and engage young UK audiences, and grow new revenue streams through social platform partnerships and innovative social-first branded content solutions. He has previously worked for MTV, FuturePlc and Sky, leading digital strategy, content and publishing teams.

Matty is an award-winning actor, best known for his lead role as Brennan in the BBC drama Reunion, which earned him the Best Actor award at Series Mania. His recent credits include Name Me Lawand and the comedy short Coffee Morning Club. He is also an award-winning writer, having written Coffee Morning Club, which received recognition for its sharp humour and originality.

Matthew is an Executive Producer at Firebird Pictures, most recently of Outrageous for UKTV and BritBox. Prior to this he was Head of Development at Firebird, building shows with some of the industry’s brightest new voices alongside established stars. He also worked in-house at the BBC as script editor and development executive; his credits include Emmy-nominated Luther, MotherFatherSon, Thirteen and Silent Witness.

Mike Benson is co-founder and managing director of non-scripted and scripted indies Chalkboard and Clapperboard, which are partner companies of Glasgow-based Storyboard, headed by Natalie Humphreys. These three companies form the UK arm of iZen Group, an independent, producer-owned content group with production companies in the Middle East and Spain.

Since launch, Clapperboard has produced over 25 scripted series and 100 hours of television,including critically acclaimed ratings winners The Teacher, The Holiday, The Ex Wife, The Cuckoo, and Maxine for Channel 5 and The Castaways and The Serial Killer's Wife for Paramount+. It was shortlisted for Best Production Company in the Edinburgh TV Awards 2022 and Best Independent Production Company at the Broadcast Awards 2024.

Non-scripted label Chalkboard won the prestigious Edinburgh TV Festival’s Small Indie of the Year award in 2020 in recognition of its diverse range of commissions across regions and broadcasters. Chalkboard also won a Broadcast Award for BBC factual series Murder, Mystery and My Family and a BAFTA nomination for Channel 4’s Life Behind Bars: Visiting Hour.

Benson began his career as a development executive at the BBC and Shine TV, now part of the Banijay group of companies.

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.

Nick Ahad is a multiple award-winning writer and broadcaster working across TV, theatre and radio.

Plays include: The Boy at the Back of the Class (Rose Theatre, Kingston, Children’s Touring Partnership, national tour 2024), Redcoats (national tour 2019, Mikron Theatre Company), Glory (national tour, 2019, Dukes Theatre, Red Ladder, Tamasha) Partition (2017, 2018, Leeds Playhouse/BBC Radio), The Chef Show (national tour 2016, 2018, 2019, Ragged Edge Productions, Stage Performance of the Year Rural Touring Awards 2018, Best Live Performance Cumbria Life Culture Awards), Coming Home Together (BBC Radio Leeds, Second Gen (DepArts, 2014), Muslamic Love Story (DepArts, 2013) A Muslim, A Jew and A Christian Walk into A Room; My Mum the Racist; Inner Voices (JB Shorts 2015 - 2017) ; Muslamic Love Story (Theatre in the Mill, Bradford 2012) and Nor Any Drop (Northern Tour Red Ladder/Peshkar, 2011).

His TV writing includes an episode of Better, a BBC primetime drama made by Sister Pictures, several episodes of Emmerdale and an original series developed by BBC Drama and Avatar Productions. He has an original series in development with SISTER Pictures and was the runner up in the Red Planet Prize in 2020.

Radio work includes four-part comedy Umbreen’s Junction for BBC Sounds (2021), starring Reece Dinsdale and co-written and co-directed with Yasmeen Khan. Partition (2017) was broadcast on BBC radio stations across the country at midnight on 14 August, 2017, marking 70 years since the exact moment of Indian independence from Britain. He also wrote the opening episode of a five-episode audio drama produced by Claybody Theatre (2020).

As a broadcaster he has presented hundreds of hours of live radio for the BBC. Nick is an award-nominated broadcaster for BBC Radio Leeds where he has presented his own weekend shows since 2014. In November 2020 he joined the leading Radio 4 arts programme Front Row as a presenter. Nick has appeared on BBC Breakfast as a cultural commentator and hosted dozens of live events for festivals and arts organisations.

Former Arts Editor of the Yorkshire Post, he is currently the Yorkshire Post theatre correspondent and chief critic and his feature writing has appeared in the Guardian and The Independent. He regularly reviews theatre for the Guardian.

Website: www.nickahad.com

Paul Heaney is the founder and CEO of BossaNova, a company that brings together the producers and buyers of unscripted TV in an integrated hub, creating a community that enables all of the stake-holders in the content chain to meet, create and do business. Heaney has a strong track record in helping producers to establish successful factual franchises. Over the last 20 years, as CEO of two previous distribution operations, he has built up a huge network of producer and commissioner/buyer relationships. In August 2021, Night Train Media got on board as partners, providing BossaNova with a content fund to invest in projects from an early stage highlighted by the Development Days occurring every October.

Previously Heaney founded factual distribution company TCB Media Rights, which started trading in 2012. Having grown into one of the UK’s most successful independent distributors, TCB was acquired by the Kew Media Group in October 2017.

Prior to launching TCB, Heaney served as president and managing director of Cineflix Rights, which he started in 2002 and also built from a boutique operation into a major distribution force. Heaney’s CV also includes stints at BSkyB, where he served as commercial director, and Southern Star, he worked as head of sales. Prior to entering the television industry, he worked in advertising and media sales for 15 years.

Peter is the Commercial Director at Warp Films, an acclaimed Film and TV production company that has been crafting award-winning dramas for Film and TV for over 20 years. The company is dedicated to collaborating with and supporting top creative talent, having launched the feature debuts of directors such as Paul King, Chris Morris, Idris Elba, and Paddy Considine.

Peter oversees the company’s commercial strategy, project financing and deal-making. His credits include films such as Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, Ghost Stories and Yardie - and celebrated TV series such as This is England 90 (Channel 4), The Virtues (Channel 4), Little Birds (Sky), Reunion (BBC), and Adolescence (Netflix).

Before joining Warp, Peter started his career working at independent production companies Magic Light Pictures and Corona Pictures.

Phil Edgar-Jones is responsible for driving the vision and strategy of the UK's only dedicated arts channel, and he presides over Sky's immensely popular entertainment slate. He joined Sky as Head of Entertainment in 2012 and was appointed Director of Sky Arts in 2014, commissioning a wealth of successful programmes on all the arts genres: literature, music, dance and the visual arts. He also oversaw Sky Arts' move to Freeview in 2020. For Sky Max he's commissioned shows from A League of their Own and Rob & Rom Vs to Dynamo is Dead and Never Mind the Buzzcocks.

Prior to that, Edgar-Jones was Creative Director of Remarkable Pictures (part of Endemol UK) where he oversaw Big Brother during its Channel 4 years and entertainment projects including the first constructed reality show in the UK, The Salon.

Edgar-Jones has also worked at Ginger TV (Exec Producer, The Priory); Absolutely (exec Producing The Jack Docherty Show); and on The Big Breakfast, The Word and The Sunday Show.

Rebecca Cooney is the Insight Editor of 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 three 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.

Ruth has led ITV Studios’ Global Partnerships business for more than a decade, transforming it from a predominantly factual specialist to a truly global distributor of world-class drama, alongside blue chip natural history and high quality non-scripted titles. It boasts the second largest catalogue of its kind in the world, selling more than 90,000 hours of prestigious content to over 3,000 broadcasters and platforms worldwide.

As President Global Partnerships & Zoo 55, ITV Studios, Ruth Berry has spearheaded the launch of the recently announced digital label Zoo 55, dedicated to evolving and expanding ITV Studios’ digital business on a global scale. Zoo 55 takes ITV Studios’ brands onto new platforms, in front of new audiences and builds on the existing portfolio of 150 owned and operated YouTube & social channels, 18 FAST channels in 17 territories and broader global immersive gaming activity.

Saima has written for The Times, the Guardian and the Independent. Her debut novel, The Khan, was a Times Bestseller, a Guardian best crime and thriller and a Waterstones Thriller of the Month. Her essay for It's Not About The Burqa (Picador) appeared in Guardian Weekend and received over 250,000 hits online in two days. She contributed to the anthology The Best, Most Awful Job: Twenty Writers Talk Honestly About Motherhood. Saima grew up in Bradford, where she worked as a rookie crime reporter and now lives in London. Her second novel, Vengeance, was published in 2024.

Sandhiya Sophie Argent is one of the founding members of Creators Counsel. She has worked in Ofcom’s Content Standards Team and as a programme lawyer in the award-winning Channel 4 Legal and Compliance Department. Sophie was also senior compliance lawyer at ITN, where she advised on live news. Now she works as a consultant advising, primarily, production companies on both scripted and unscripted content, that is broadcast in the UK and internationally. Sophie’s advice ranges from; viewings for legal and Ofcom compliance issues, script reviews and clearance advice, drafting in-depth protocols covering Ofcom compliance, legal and ethical issues such as defamation, privacy, duty of care and welfare considerations, hostile environment filming protocols and legal opinions for Errors and Omissions Insurance.

Sarah Rose is President of 5 and UK Regional Lead. Based in London, she reports to Pam Kaufmann, President & CEO, International Markets, at Paramount. She oversees 5’s linear and streaming business in the UK, as well as maintaining commercial oversight of Paramount’s Pay TV brands – MTV, comedy Central and Nickelodeon – in the region.

Rose joined Paramount’s senior leadership team in 2020 and has been a driving force behind the commercial success of the company’s free-to-air portfolio in the UK, as well as the launch of Paramount’s streaming business in Canada.

In her previous role as Paramount’s Chief Operating & Commercial Officer for Broadcast UK & International Studios, Rose was responsible for key UK business functions and played a key role in devising and implementing strategy across Paramount’s free-to-air, BVOD and pay TV brands. For Paramount’s International Studio business, Rose also led all commercial and operational activity across its network of creative hubs.

Rose joined Paramount from Channel 4, where she was Chief Consumer and Strategy Officer on the Executive Team, responsible for Corporate Strategy, Consumer Insight and Data Science. She originally joined to helm the launch of Channel 4’s VOD service (All4) before moving to lead Commercial and Business Development.

Rose started her career as a graduate on ITV’s fast-track management scheme, eventually assuming the role of General Manager of ITV’s Digital Channels.

Shanaz is known for her skillset as an artist, producer and for her creative vision. With a commitment to the arts and to creating work that pushes boundaries of cultural expression, Shanaz has emerged as a prominent leader in the UK cultural sector.

Her career spans film, visual arts, theatre, public art and media, and she has delivered ground-breaking projects nationally and internationally, most recently as a producer at Manchester International Festival.

Shanaz has several TV credits, most notably working with the BBC to present the documentary film ‘Hidden Histories: The Lost Portraits of Bradford’ and bringing a contemporary artist’s perspective to the Yorkshire landscape in ‘Yorkshire Walks’.

In her capacity as Creative Director at Bradford 2025, UK City of Culture, Shanaz is co-leading a transformative cultural renaissance, with initiatives that celebrate diversity, artistic innovation, and community engagement. Shanaz oversees the leadership and direction of Bradford 2025 alongside Executive Director, Dan Bates.

Stephanie Ronan-Chlond has over 15 years of experience in traditional television, working as a Producer and Director on acclaimed documentaries including Ambulance (BBC One), 24 Hours in A&E (Channel 4), The Savoy (ITV1), Inside the American Embassy (Channel 4) and First Ladies of Hip Hop (BBC Two).

In 2023, she transitioned to AI filmmaking full-time, launching theaifilmmaker.com. Since then, she’s been at the forefront of AI adoption in the screen industries - leading training for senior professionals and emerging talent on how AI can support development, production and creative storytelling.

Her work spans AI-driven content creation, corporate films, TV development and collaborations integrating AI into documentary storytelling. She is passionate about helping creatives harness AI to streamline workflows, unlock new creative possibilities and navigate the rapidly evolving media landscape in a responsible way.

Tim Davie became Director-General of the BBC on 1 September 2020. He is the 17th Director-General of the Corporation.

Prior to this, Tim was Chief Executive of BBC Studios, the BBC’s principal commercial subsidiary. Responsible for creating and distributing leading British content globally, Tim led BBC Studios from April 2013. Whilst in the role, he oversaw the merger between the BBC’s production arm and BBC Worldwide, the Corporation’s distribution company, and was responsible for an annual turnover of over £1.4bn.

Tim was acting BBC Director-General between November 2012 and April 2013. He previously held the role of Director of Audio and Music, with overall responsibility for the BBC’s national radio output, its digital services and performing groups, and was also Director of the Marketing, Communications and Audiences division.

Before joining the BBC, Tim was Vice President of Marketing and Franchise at PepsiCo Europe. He began his career at Procter and Gamble after leaving Cambridge University where he read English.

Tim is an Executive Board member of the European Broadcasting Union, the world’s leading alliance of public service media organizations. He is a former Trustee of both the Tate and the Royal Television Society; a former co-chair of the Creative Industries Council; and a former chair of Comic Relief.

Tim was appointed CBE in 2018 for services to International Trade.

Tracy Brabin is a British Labour and Co-operative politician who was elected as the first Mayor of West Yorkshire, and the first ever woman Metro Mayor in May 2021. She was the Member of Parliament for Batley and Spen from 2016 until 2021.

As MP, she held appointments as Shadow Early Years Minister, Shadow Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and Shadow Minister for Cultural Industries.

Born in Batley, Tracy was an actor and television writer prior to entering politics.

Will Rowson is the creative director of Dragonfly North, responsible for Ambulance, the most watched returning documentary series on British television.

Prior to joining Dragonfly, Will was commissioning editor for documentary at Channel 4, th broadcaster’s first docs commissioner outside of London. Here he was behind commissions such as “Top Guns: Inside the RAF”, “Night Coppers”, “Killed by a Rich Kid” and “George Michael: Outed”.

He has lived in Leeds for 25 years.