Rise Mentors

UK Programme Mentors

Allison Coucher 2020 mentor

Allison Coucher

Allison has worked in the Telecommunications Industry for 25 years and is currently enjoying working in Sky Technology as a Service Strategy Manager, focusing on customer experience in the connected home. As part of her role she focuses on ensuring Sky customers are able to enjoy all of the great content that they love, understanding their future requirements and defining a strategy to accommodate our customers growing needs in their connected life, work, health and home. Having had a fantastic mentor who has coached her, Allison is very keen to “pay it forward” and to share her learnings and experiences with a mentee, along with learning and growing herself, and is excited to be working with Rise. In her spare time Allison is mum to a 9 year old daughter and loves to spend time with her friends and family, ride her horses and go out on family bike rides.

Anna Lockwood 2020 mentor

Anna Lockwood

Anna Lockwood is an experienced media industry executive and is currently the Head of Global Sales at Telstra Broadcast Services. Anna and her team work at the convergence of the traditional broadcast industry with leading-edge telecommunications and digital platforms, and focus on bringing innovative solutions and services to the media and sports industry. In addition to her role at Telstra, Anna is a board member of the EGAA (Esports Games Association Australia), represents Telstra on the Board of Directors of IABM, and is active in industry initiatives around sports, innovation and women in technology.

Abigail Hughes

My focus and happiest place has always been in building and leading teams. I am passionate about supporting people with career development, growth and satisfaction in their roles and how to maximise performance through strong and compassionate leadership. I am a single Mum with three children - now 13, 18 and 20 - and mostly worked full-time throughout their younger years whilst also commuting into London from where I live near Cambridge. Not always easy but it can be done!! Currently VP Growth, EMEA for Premiere Digital and based in the UK to help Premiere grow their International business. We are a Media Services and software solutions partner for content owners, video distributors, digital retailers, broadcasters, subscription video and ad supported platforms. We simplify the complexities of content distribution, supply chain and digital storefront management and provide flexible B2B technical SaaS solutions and managed services for Media Assets. Prior to this role I was a consultant at Redgate Software based in Cambridge - they specialise in compliant Database Dev Ops Solutions for various sectors including Finance, Healthcare and Technology Sectors. I worked at Sony Pictures Entertainment for just over 4 years leading their Sales Planning Function across the EMEA Region. Oversaw a team of 30 staff across 8 offices within the Region. Focus of the role was Team Leadership and cohesion, best practice across our daily Sales Planning functions and ownership of the systems/processes for the Region. Prior to this I had roles at Sony DADC NMS as a consultant, Shine International and a large part of my career at BBC Worldwide (now BBC Studios).

Anne-Louise Buick

Anne-Louise Buick is Vice President, Global Field and Channel Marketing at Avid, responsible for successfully leading Avid’s global field marketing organization, key strategic partner sales and marketing plans to drive revenue as well as worldwide channel engagement. Prior to joining Avid, Anne-Louise was Head of Media Marketing and Communications at Ericsson, overseeing all marcomms activities for their Media Solutions business. Having worked within the broadcast technology space for over 17 years, Anne-Louise has held senior marketing positions; at IP video technology manufacturer Exterity, where she was responsible for its entire global marketing and communications strategy; a specialist Pay TV subscriber management company and consulted on marketing niche digital archive monetization projects.

Belén Arronte 2020

Belén Arronte

Belén is the Head of Marketing Communications for Media Solutions at Sony Professional Solutions Europe. She is accountable for leading the Leading Marketing Communications Team that; with a customer focus approach, exits to keep the media industry up-to-date with Sony’s latest Products, Solutions and Services as well as to bring Industry insight to the Sony team for development of new solutions. Belén is a passionate marketeer, with over 14 years in different Marketing roles in Sony, where she started in Product Marketing in Spain, moving into Iberia Field Marketing and then Pan-European Roles as Communications Manager or Pricing and Promotions Manager. Despite her career in marketing, Belén loves maths and logic, having studied electronic engineering, which makes her enjoy the current marketing landscape, where digital marketing relies so heavily on data analysis.

Caroline Ewerton

Caroline is an experienced and strategic media professional with a comprehensive background in Transformation, Delivery and Operations Management. Currently she’s Head of Operational Delivery at DAZN, where she’s responsible for leading the implementation of operational programmes across all areas of the supply chain from content creation to distribution. Caroline is passionate about enabling process excellence and sustainable transformation. She began her career in post-production and moved onto managing operations across live, post and content services. An avid interest in innovative technology inspired her to transition to supporting media organisations in achieving the most operational benefits through technology implementation. She's committed to empowering people throughout the process of transformational change. A strong advocate for diversity and inclusion, Caroline believes that a proactive inclusive culture is a big driver for success and a key enabler of growth.

Catriona Tate

Catriona Tate is experienced business leader with a strong sales and marketing track record in broadcast, TV Technology, OTT streaming and media companies.  She has held senior business development, key account and marketing strategy roles at Red Bee Media, Simplestream Ltd, Ericsson Broadcast, The Guardian and in Advertising agencies. Her clients have included Disney, Discovery, UKTV, Sky, BBC Studios, Virgin, Eir, OSN, EE, Freeview, Youview, Channel 4, Viacom, Little Dot Studios and BAFTA. She loves working at the forefront of next-generation TV services at Simplestream and is proud to work with innovative and respected key broadcasters, platforms and content owners in the UK and internationally. Her core focus is new business strategy, identifying and pitching new opportunities, growing profitable client relationships and partnerships, networking and presenting, leading teams; pitches and projects. She’s also done her fair share of brand strategy, creative development and B2B marketing.

Deborah Williamson

Deborah has over 20 years experience in the Broadcast Industry; most of this time working alongside or for Discovery. Her roles in the past have varied within teams from Transmission, Support Engineering and Project Engineering. Deborah currently has the role of Director - Global Playout Technology at Discovery, leading a team dedicated to working on integrating new initiatives and providing 2nd line support to maintain the Technical Playout of over 240 Channels within the Discovery Factual Portfolio broadcasting Globally from the Cloud. Deborah was part of the Discovery Engineering Team awarded a Technical Emmy Award for their work on Cloud Linear Playout. Deborah has been fortunate to work on some major projects over her career with talented individuals & Teams. She particularly enjoys the trouble shooting and knowledge sharing that can take place within the world of Broadcast Engineering and working alongside teams across multiple countries and specialisms.

Dee Davison

Dee Davison is Business Operations Director at Deluxe, working horizontally and vertically across all business lines she is currently leading a global initiative to determine how pandemic ways of working will shape the future of the workplace at Deluxe.Dee has worked in cinema and broadcast since 2004. She spent a number of years advising the UK Government on British film support, followed by a period investing public funds in growth strategies for film across the UK. She pivoted into a cinema role in 2011 where she ran industry wide campaigns promoting accessibility of the sector. Dee joined Deluxe in 2013, starting in cinema distribution and moving on into corporate group positions since 2015. Dee is the Founder of Generations Café, an intergenerational initiative in Berkshire and spent many years volunteering with the elderly. She’s a qualified fitness instructor and funk and soul DJ – none of which she currently gets time to enjoy having two young and energetic sons to chase around after! Above all else, Dee loves meeting new people and building relationships. She’s a big believer in self-awareness and proactive development and welcomes the opportunity to learn with and from others on this journey.

Dushi Thangarajah

Dushi is responsible for EMEA Deluxe Fulfilment and Localisation operations and the Global PMO function, with emphasis on service delivery performance, on-boarding product functionality smoothly into new or ongoing service delivery and managing operational teams and clients through change supported by her significant programme management leadership experience. Dushi oversaw Deluxe’s transformation programmes of work over the past 4 years supporting Deluxe leadership through significant change. Prior to joining Deluxe in January 2014, Dushi has worked in transformation led roles in the Broadcast Media, Consultancy and Engineering fields, globally.

Helen Weedon

Helen Weedon is a senior PR professional with more than 15 years experience managing PR and Marketing campaigns. She founded Radical Moves in 2007, a PR and Marketing agency specialising in the broadcast and satellite industries. Helen is also the Managing Director of the Satcoms Innovation Group (SIG), a role she was appointed in January 2020. Having worked with SIG since 2011, Helen was already integral to many of the group’s activities. Helen is a keen linguist with a BA Hons degree in French, German, and European Studies

Kate Wendelboe

Kate Wendelboe is a trained executive coach and Head of Strategy for a portfolio of BT’s smaller businesses. Previously she was Director of BT Media & Broadcast after doing proposition development, business development, and strategy. Before joining BT, Kate was at Reuters working in marketing communications and then journalism. She was one of the team that started Reuters Insider, Reuters’ OTT platform for financial professionals. Kate left Reuters to study for an MBA at Cambridge’s Judge Business School where she specialised in Culture, Arts and Media Management. Kate is married with two sons and, after living in the States, Hong Kong and Switzerland, is now based in London. If she had unlimited free time, she would be training for an Ironman Triathlon, learning to code, and writing a best-selling novel.

Lisa Lavender

Lisa Lavender is a business leader with over 25 years’ experience building and running businesses in the advertising industry at a local and global level. Having worked with numerous global brands, broadcasters, agencies and production companies, she has a deep understanding of business processes and the changes impacting the marketing supply chain. Lisa is the founder of The Traffic Bureau, the UK's largest outsourced specialist supplier of TV admin (Business Affairs) services. After selling TTB to Adstream, Lisa held a number of roles within the advertising distribution company. She is the former CEO of Adstream UK where she managed operations, account management and sales teams for Adstream's largest operating market outside of the USA.

Lorna Garrett

Lorna is a graduate of the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST), with a 2:1 degree in Electrical Engineering and Electronics. After working with Marconi Underwater Weapons as a design engineer on torpedo test equipment, Lorna left the pure design side to move into technical sales. She spent 10 years at Hitachi managing the company’s key microprocessor semiconductor accounts. In 2004, she co-founded Garland Partners Limited — the forerunner to Zest Technologies —with fellow Hitachi colleague Malcolm Harland. As a video technology provider, Garland operated predominantly in the broadcast, sport, event and media sectors, providing solutions for delivering live video from the field to studio (contribution/acquisition) and from the studio out to viewers (distribution). Garland expanded rapidly as its reputation for providing the best digital video solutions and service grew amongst many of the UK’s largest organisations. Following Garland’s successful acquisition by LiveU, Lorna formed Zest Technologies Limited to continue to support the market with best-of-breed broadcast solutions and offer continuity of service. “The formation of Zest Technologies was the culmination of years of working with the best solution providers around and helping some of the biggest players in the market solve their video contribution needs,” says Lorna. “Establishing Zest Technologies has allowed us to continue to focus our expertise and innovative offerings to enthusiastically meet the needs of our customers. From a personal perspective, it has allowed me to continue to grow by facing and resolving new challenges, and by providing me with the opportunity to work more closely with my customers and partners.”

Marina Kalkanis 2020 mentor

Marina Kalkanis

Marina Kalkanis is CEO of M2A Media. Marina established M2A Media in 2016 with co-founder Marcus Box. M2A has fast become a market-leader in cloud-based video technology and the company’s world leading live streaming services are now the chosen products for customers such as ITV, Channel 4, DAZN, BBC Worldwide and Sony Crackle. Prior to M2A, Marina was the BBC's Director of Platform & Common Services, where she built the online video platform for iPlayer, expanded it for the 2012 Olympics, and in 2013 migrated the complete online media workflow to AWS cloud. She also led the team that migrated the BBC’s tape-based linear playout workflow to file-based IP delivery. Marina also holds the position of SMPTE Governor, UK Region for the 2019-2020 term.

Nicki Fisher

Nicki Fisher is the EMEA Sales Director for Clear-Com, an HME Company. In this role, she is responsible for sales and pre-sales teams, selling and supporting Clear-Com and Trilogy Communications products and solutions across the entire EMEA region. Prior to joining Clear-Com in April 2014, Nicki was the Sales Director for the Tektronix EMEA Video Business for 8 years, where she was responsible for sales of Video Analysis and Monitoring equipment into the Broadcasting, Post Production and Telecoms markets. Nicki spent 11 years working for Agilent (formerly Hewlett Packard) in a variety of senior management and individual contributor sales roles, where she was the first Female Account manager for the UK Aerospace and Defence business and also European Regional Sales Manager for the Communications Test Business. Nicki gained a B.Sc. Hons in Physics from Liverpool University in 1989 and began her career as a Product Training Engineer at Marconi Instruments.

Paola Hobson

Paola Hobson has 34 years experience in the broadcast and mobile industries. She joined InSync Technology in 2014 and has been Managing Director since 2016. Her focus is on continuing InSync's growth as a major supplier of conversion hardware and software, delivering new and innovative solutions to long-standing and recent customers. In addition to company management, Paola contributes to professional development initiatives within the broadcast industry through regular publications, presentations and blogs, as well as support for local student projects, and is a member of the IABM UK Member Council. Paola holds numerous patents in image processing, content personalization, and mobile video, as well as BSc, Ph.D and MBA degrees

Paula Bargary

I have spent upwards of 30 years in the broadcasting industry, predominantly in a sales capacity. I started out in my early twenties selling airtime to Advertisers and Agencies for ITV and then subsequently switched over to the supplier side in the early 2000's. During the last 15 years, I have led UK, EMEA and APAC sales teams supplying software, hardware and services to Broadcasters and Media companies across the region. I am currently working for Vizrt as Sales Director for EMEA, leading a team of 12 Account Managers with responsibility for developing and growing the business we have with our existing customer base.

Rich Welsh

Rich Welsh is Senior Vice President of Innovation at Deluxe, where he works to bring next generation technologies and workflows to mastering, distribution and localization services for studios, OTT platforms and content creators worldwide. Rich has over two decades experience in movie and television post production, mastering and delivery. Prior to his role at Deluxe, Rich was founder and CEO at Sundog Media Toolkit which pioneered cloud based automated mastering for movies and TV for Hollywood studios. Sundog was acquired by Deluxe in 2020. Rich has also held positions as Head of Operations at Technicolor as well as Director of Digital Cinema at Dolby. Rich currently serves on the board of SMPTE and chairs its Media in the Cloud initiative. He has also previously held the role of SMPTE Vice President of Education. Rich holds a Doctor of Technology (HC) and BSc(hons) Media Technology from Southampton Solent University.

Stephen Stewart

A television and radio professional with over 40 years in the industry, Stephen has enjoyed roles as varied as commercial producer, gallery director for tv programmes ranging from Formula 1 to UK Parliament. As well as TV production, Stephen is experienced in TV playout and media services having worked for the BBC, Channel 4, Thames Television and Deluxe. More recently the lure of AI and machine learning has seen Stephen move into the advertising technology space with Mirriad Advertising before becoming COO at Take 1 Script Services where he is responsible for the Operations, Product and Media Technology teams, delivering thousands of hours of transcription, translation and access services to some of the world’s largest production companies and networks. As well as TV production, Stephen is experienced in TV playout and media services having worked for the BBC, Channel 4, Thames Television and Deluxe. More recently the lure of AI and machine learning has seen Stephen move into the advertising technology space with Mirriad Advertising before becoming COO at Take 1 Script Services where he is responsible for the Operations, Product and Media Technology teams, delivering thousands of hours of transcription, translation and access services to some of the world’s largest production companies and networks.

Sadie Groom

Sadie founded Bubble, a global PR, marketing and events company focusing on the entertainment technology, sports and AV business, in 1999 and is still very much the driving force. With 23 years of marketing experience Sadie not only looks after the business side of Bubble and client strategy but also promotes the role of women in the industries she works in. In 2017 she founded the Rise – Women in Broadcast group and in 2018 was awarded the Women in Business Champion of Change award for her work on gender diversity. A keen traveller, Sadie is trying to go to 50 countries before she is 50 and would like to spend more time on the golf course.

Seema Talwar

With a career spanning more than 20 years in the Film Industry, Seema started her career, with a degree in Languages and Business in hand, at Twentieth Century Fox Film Company. Motivated by a driving force to prove that a woman from a diverse background can make it to the top, she continued to progress through the ranks at Twentieth Century Fox , where most recently she was Senior Vice President of International Operations. As well as leading International business operations & strategy, she has many years of experience in leading diverse teams globally. Juggling this with motherhood hasn’t always been easy but Seema is a passionate executive with a bias towards people leadership and sharing her experience to help others identify and achieve their career aspirations.

Jackie Howes

Recently winning the 2020 IABM Award for Technology Leader of the year, Jackie is recognised as a person who is at the forefront of disruption and innovation within the broadcast and media industry. Through inspired leadership she has helped to deliver ground-breaking technology and business benefits. Jackie has over 20 years of experience working in the broadcast industry and has worked for a number of different companies, always working in a role that bridges the gap between traditional IT and broadcast engineers. Today, as the Director of Media Infrastructure Architecture at Discovery, Jackie is directly responsible for scoping, defining and coordinating both large and small Infrastructure systems that have a direct impact on the company’s technical capabilities and profitability. She works alongside global teams and external suppliers to architect infrastructure ecosystems that supports the technical and operational aspects of production and broadcast systems.

Kerry Shreeve

Ian Wagdin

APAC Programme Mentors

Divya Jain

Divya Jain, a Senior Broadcast Engineer with an experience of 7 years in the industry. Roles and responsibilities include News station solution/workflow design, broadcast technical support and implementation. Certified in Octopus8 Newsroom Computer System and AutoDesk AutoCAD. Enthusiast learner and adaptive to change.

Leena Singarajah

Leena Singarajah is a senior executive with 26 years of commercial results and leadership and the sports, broadcast, media, and content industry. Her extensive experience covers commercial and growth strategy, securing and managing key client relationships, financial performance and profitability. She is also well versed and thirves in global mindset and cultures. She has previously worked for ESPN, ESPN STAR Sports, IMG, Scripps Networks and A+E Networks. A major focus in all of Leena's roles have been to develop business strategies to grow distribution, audience and ultimately monetisation. She has launched television channels, created digital content platforms, built local and regional advertising sales franchises and led businesses through digital transformation. She has also helped companies enter new geographical territories, diversify product portfolios, and convert strategies from B2B to B2C. During her sports career, Leena was responsible for content acquisition and programming for the ESPN and ESPN STAR Sports channels where she managed a multi-million dollar regional budget and acquired over 10,000 hours of programming negotiating with over 100 global sports rights holders and distributors. Specifically during her 15-year sports agency career at IMG, she was responsible for overseeing content and channel distribution of the world’s largest sports catalogue into Asia, as well as responsible for business development and other media-related activities for IMG Media across Asia Pacific. She has worked closely to help global sports federations like the IOC, ATP, European Tour, MotoGP, Wimbledon, Tennis Australia, and the FIVB expand their footprint into Asia Pacific, as well as working with Asian-based sports federations grow their footprint globally. She helped to launch Golf Channels across South East Asia in the 2000s as well as IMG’s first and fully-owned 24-hour sports channel, EDGESport.

Marc Bruce

Marc has over two decades of experience in the media industry, currently holding the position of Managing Director, APAC for Encompass Digital Media. Starting as a runner at Todd-AO, Marc then spent the first decade of his career in various operational and project based roles before moving into the commercial side of the business at Encompass Digital Media in 2010. Over the following eight years, Marc was central to the transformation of the Encompass EMEA business via the on-boarding of multiple new regional and international clients in both the linear TV and digital space. In 2018, Marc took on the role of Managing Director, APAC, relocating from London to Singapore in the process.

Mark Cooke

Mark is Director of Sales, Asia for Ross Video having worked with Ross Video for 7 years in various Technical Sales and Sales roles across Europe, Africa and now Asia in the Live Production industry. Mark is responsible for sales and marketing strategy and execution in the Asia, headquartered in Singapore with teams across the region. Mark is passionate about supporting performance improvement and excellence as Ross continues to grow internationally. Having lived in UK, Netherland’s and Singapore the opportunity to work with new regions and personalities in Asia continues to develop his personal understanding of different cultures and perspectives. Outside of Live Production, Mark is passionate about sports, especially football. A qualified football coach with experience developing both youth and adult teams in the UK and Netherlands.

Mellissa Soobratty

Senior Media Director at World Table Tennis (WTT) and oversees all areas related to content to drive forward and further professionalise the organisation’s vastly expanding media operations. This includes overseeing commercial broadcast deals, live production plus social and digital media. She has accrued a wealth of experience in the fields of sports media, OTT, business development, strategy, and production over the years both in Europe and Asia. Her previous roles include Vice President, Media at Football Marketing Asia (FMA), Business Development Director, APAC at Endeavor Streaming plus commercial roles at StarHub, Setanta Africa, Fox Sports, and BBC Worldwide.

Nancy Curiel Diaz

Nancy Diaz Curiel is managing director at Digigram Asia Pte Ltd. She has been working for Digigram for more than 10 years, in the audio broadcasting industry. She oversees the company's strategy and sales across the APAC region with her local team based in Singapore. Passionate about people and new technologies, she has been dedicating her efforts in increasing her company's market share in the region, while developing a trustworthy network of partners and resellers. This third culture kid loves sharing and communicating with others, and is currently involved in a mentorship programme with a reputable French university, sharing her experience, network and guidance with young graduates. She is looking forward to learning from new inspirational personalities and contributing in empowering women in her side of the world.

Peter Bruce

Peter Bruce is a 30+ year veteran of the broadcast and media industry. He started his career in a production studio at Digital Visions, Austria. Peter has worked with the innovative pioneering companies such as AMPEX, Sony Broadcast and BTS / Philips Broadcast/ Grass Valley in the APAC region. Establishing the IABM APAC regional office in Singapore of which he ran for 6 years. Peter is now the Director of Business Development for Elevate Broadcast in Singapore. Developing business from their range of eCommerce, eLearning Platform, Systems and Production Services.

Pip Warren

Pip Warren has been employed variously in television and predominantly international News and Current Affairs, all her working life. Born in London, England where she started her broadcast career, Pip then went on to live in Hong Kong for 7 years before emigrating to Australia in 2003. Pip now lives in Melbourne, is an Australian citizen and works for Avid, a broadcast hardware, software, and solutions provider, headquartered in the USA. Originally trained as a Video Editor and then a Director, she worked for a London production company followed by Sky TV in the UK, and then Star TV in Hong Kong as the News Operations Manager, overseeing News and Current Affairs, and the complete startup of Star News India. Pip moved to Australia to take up a senior managerial position with the ABC. She now works as a Broadcast Consultant for Avid managing and delivering services worldwide. Pip is pleased to still find that she still very much enjoys what she does and the company of likeminded professionals. Still motivated by innovation and always finds great satisfaction working with her clients who she also considers her colleagues (mostly). Pip is a Life Member of the Hong Kong Foreign Correspondents’ Club, and a member of the Brighton Yacht Club, a PADI – Dive Master and qualified as a Prince2 Production Manager Practitioner. If there’s time, Pip chooses to go travelling, sailing, diving, cycling, swimming, eating out or cooking, and as many new things that she can find to do.

Shad Hashmi

Shad Hashmi is a digitally-focused broadcast executive with broad T.M.T. expertise. His previous role at BBC Studios saw him launching digital products across the Global Distribution division, leading on partnership initiatives with Telcos and running broadcast operations. Prior to this he held commercial and engineering roles at Encompass Digital Media and CNBC. Shad also tries to give back to the broadcast community by spending his time mentoring as well as working on his Linked In vlog: T.M.T. 10 Cents focused on digital transitions and the Media, Telco and Technology.

Sharifah Ahmad

As the CMO and Head of Global Projects for Torque Video Systems, Sharifah orchestrates all aspects of publicity and driving brand growth in line with the overall business strategy, while supporting operational execution. She also oversees project management, from initiation to implementation. In between business travels and demanding project schedules, thanks to a supportive work environment, Sharifah lives the spirit of volunteerism through various community services, as well as academic programmes with the youth.