Rise Mentoring Screenskills
In July 2021 we announced the launch of our second UK mentoring programme - the ScreenSkills Rise Mentoring Programme.
This programme, supported by ScreenSkills as part of the BFI Future Film Skills programme using funds from the National Lottery, will support our 2021/22 expansion and growth of our Mentoring Schemes within the broadcast technology arena. The partnership with ScreenSkills enables us to deliver another six month Mentoring Programme supporting women in the screen industries (film, television, VFX, animation and games), which will run from September 2021 until February 2022.
Screenskills Application Form
Currently ClosedSuccess Stories
I never imagined how dramatically 6 months could change my career, my outlook, and my goals – now I feel like the sky is the limit!!!
Rise has kept me so motivated and I really look forward to every session. Just wanted you to know how much of a difference all of your hard work has made during such a crazy time for everyone.
I’ve recently been appointed in a new role and I really feel my Mentor has supported me to get me into this mind-set. This, along with the seminars/catch-ups etc, has really helped me feel grounded in an uncertain year. Thank you so much.
Being a part of this mentorship scheme (especially during this strange year of 2020) has been so empowering. We may not have been able to meet in real life (yet!) but we’ve really got to know each other and been a support for each other. A big thank you to everyone involved!
When others comment on how far you have grown and developed in 6 months you know every minute has been worth the time and effort put in.
The last 9 months have been transformative for me. I'm like a butterfly whose wings will never be clipped again! The Rise scheme has been instrumental in boosting my confidence as a woman working in the broadcast sector. I've always known that I'm very employable. What has changed now is the confidence and belief in what I'm worth to an employer. This scheme, meeting all the people involved and what is has done for me has been life changing. I repeat...LIFE CHANGING. I know I'd have been alright without the scheme but I can tell you, without a shadow of a doubt, it will change the trajectory of my career. Thank you for investing in the programme. It has made a difference and it has mattered.
Mentees
Chang Li
Chang Li has over 8 years of experience in commercial roles. With a Masters degree in media technology and film studies, she is passionate about people and innovative technology. Throughout her career so far, Chang has developed diverse skills in both technical and commercial areas. In 2018 Chang joined Blackbird as an Account Manager, where she developed a new partnership program that successfully transferred the production business into a more sustainable and scalable model. Her customers included the UK's leading production companies and top post-production facilities. She is now working in Business Development, EMEA and LatAm, for Accedo. Accedo helps global leading video service providers deliver and grow engaging video experiences. Her key focus is to develop new customer relationships in multiple verticles. A fan of cooking and watching food documentaries in her spare time, she is also a proud dog mum.
Charlotte Pardy
'Hey, I'm Charlotte! A Broadcast Engineer looking after 11 national radio stations. I'm an audio geek and very into collecting the latest trainers! I can't wait to get involved with Rise Mentoring and see what things I can learn and skills I can develop!'
Sneha Varghese
I've been working as a Service Operation Coordinator at Frame 25 since 2018. I manage around 800+ freelancer bookings per month across the Operations, Creative, and with a few Operators across the Tech desk. My interest in the industry grew after starting at Frame, especially since I had no prior knowledge of the broadcast industry. I am very excited to be part of the scheme to understand how everything fits together I'm looking forward to meeting everyone (even if it's only online)!
Hannah Robinson
Hannah is currently a Production Development Producer at Dock10 in Media City. She works within the virtual studios team working alongside the Head of Production Innovation and Virtual Studio Developers to create and develop virtual sets for productions such as Match of the Day, Match of the Day 2, Football Focus, Final Score, ESports events, Quiz Shows, BBC Bitesize and much more. She works closely with clients who come in to use the studios in a creative and technical aspect, to ensure everything is running smoothly for their production and they are happy with the final output. Before this, she worked in sports media for nearly 8 years working her way up from Production Coordinator to Senior Producer. She produced content for professional sports clubs on their matchdays, bespoke promotional films and coordinated their matchday events. The most successful matchday being for Wolves by developing light show, pyro and firework displays before their biggest games. This gained national recognition and left the club with awards nominations for one particular pre-match show against Liverpool.
Emily Dunn
I am currently a technology graduate at ITV, so far I have gained experience in software development, project management and cyber security as well as cycling through various operations roles. I graduated with a degree in Maths in 2019 from University of Sheffield. Prior to joining the grad scheme, I worked in the finance division of a national retailer. My hobbies include reading, open-water swimming and travelling - although I haven’t had much of a chance to do the latter in the past year! I also love cooking and baking, trying out new recipes and going out to sample different cuisines with family and friends.
Laura Wignall
Laura Wignall is the business development manager for production at Gravity Media. Prior to joining Gravity Media, Laura worked at ITN Sport both as a producer and developing new and existing business. She had a key role in the production of the World Athletics Championships in Doha 2019 and the Cricket World Cup of the same year. Laura has worked at over eight different broadcasters in eleven years, producing on major events including two Olympic Games, many years of The Championships, Wimbledon and World Athletics Championships as well as two years on the tennis circuit for WTA media. Laura begun her career at the BBC, spending five years working across both sports and news broadcasting.
Claire Downey
Claire currently works at Aurora Media Worldwide as a Technical Project Manager on Formula E. This involves going to all races around the world, looking after the technical requirements of onsite international rights holders along with many other aspects of the broadcast. Previously she worked as a broadcast & technical manager at DAZN on the WTA project and started her career on the Deltatre graduate scheme. She's a passionate sports fan and enjoys playing cricket.
Gabriella Watkins
“I am a Support Engineer at dock10 – a Television Production Facility based in Manchester. I specialise in audio technology and over the last few years my role has been focused on Post Production support.”
Corinna Mason
Corinna has over 3 years of PR and communications experience in a variety of sectors including Media and Technology. Corinna is currently the Communications Executive for the DPP, the media industry's business network where she supports with all things marketing and comms. She previously worked at creative communications agency, Media Zoo where she managed the external and internal comms for one of the company’s largest client accounts.
Emily Wilford
Emily Wilford is Head of Partner Marketing at base, a managed cloud solution service that provides media companies with centralised cloud storage, integrated with media software tools. Vastly experienced in digital content creation and audience management, Emily’s early career started at the Football Association, working across the wider marketing and commercial function. More recently, Emily has held a senior marketing position at Grabyo, a cloud video production service, where she established her career in cloud technology. As Head of Partner Marketing at base, Emily leads on all partner, vendor, and sponsor marketing activity for the business.
Sarah Essoof
I have been working in the Television Broadcasting industry for 13 years. I started my career whilst visiting New Zealand on a working holiday visa in 2008, working in at Sky NZ operations team. This role acted like an apprentice into the TV world for me. On returning from NZ I got a job in Sky Studios for BSKYB. This is really where I cut my teeth whilst working in Post Production and Studio Production teams during my 4 years there. It was really full on and a complete juggernaut compared to the studios in NZ. I had a short stint at Discovery in their contents operations team upon returning from a year in Australia. After Discovery I got a job a Timeline Television, and have now been with the company 6 years. As it was a small(ish) company at the time I joined, a lot of people wore many hats. I was a mixture of a production manager, resource manager, travel manager…you name it! 2 years ago I wanted to be utilised after being at the company for so long, and observed a gap in the business for an operations analyst/developer. As the company had gone from being relatively small to a medium to large sized company in only a few years, I was aware that it was important to have work flows and business practices in place. So I created my own role from scratch. My current Role is Operations Business Analyst. I work alongside Senior Management, Finance, and the Operational teams, to ensure all Outside Broadcasts are financially tracked, reported, and delivered on time. I am responsible for OB forecasting, forward planning, and streamlining work processes. I also analyse our business practises in order to improve business processes and work flows. I have been creating new workflows that have previously not existed, and I am facilitating to get the new Commercial team up and running, so it is at its most efficient.
Pilar Granados
I’m currently Live Workflow Manager at DAZN, where I am responsible for identifying and defining processes to improve the live delivery. I joined DAZN five years ago, my previous role was Transmission Operations Lead. There, I set up the workflows for multi-regional Properties delivery, as Champions League, NFL, Premier League and Moto GP. During the DAZN journey, I have had an active role in DAZN launch to DACH, Japan, Italy, Spain and Brazil. Previously, I was Transmission Supervisor on CNN+ news channel (Spain) for eight years, and Playout Director in London Olympics 2012. My passion is live delivery, and I enjoy being part of it.
Leanne Tomlin
Leanne Tomlin is the Marketing Manager at Object Matrix. She has over 10 years of experience as a marketing professional predominantly across the energy and utility industry and has held Marketing Manager roles in companies including Utility Partnership Ltd, SMS Plc, and City Energy. With experience in strategic planning and delivering campaigns, Leanne’s background and knowledge spans across campaign management, rebranding, digital, social media and offline marketing (events and direct marketing) with evidenced results in the generation of sales opportunities as well as strengthening brand awareness. Leanne is results driven and enjoys the analytical aspects of marketing.
Isabel Tulloch
Isabel is a Platform Quality Assurance Operator at Sky where she works across Sky & NOW’s priority VOD content. Within her role, Isabel identifies, documents and escalates platform-related issues. She additionally contributes to streaming platform data analysis, and develops programs to assist with analysis deep dives. Isabel started at Sky in January 2021 after graduating from King’s College London with a Distinction in MA Digital Humanities. Prior to this, she worked at a headhunting firm and graduated with an Undergraduate Law degree from Queen Mary University of London.
Melissa Bowen
Melissa joined CVP just over 4 years ago. Initially part of the web team, her role has evolved and she now holds the position of Roadshow Event Coordinator. Her day-to-day responsibilities include managing in-house and tradeshow events - both in-person and online, overseeing CVP’s educational program aimed at university students, and supporting campaigns and marketing initiatives for key suppliers. After gaining a BA (Hons) in Film and Broadcast Production at the London Metropolitan University she travelled across Southeast Asia, Fiji, and Central America working on conservation projects and in disadvantaged schools. Melissa continues to expand her knowledge in this continually changing industry as well as enjoying scuba diving and indoor climbing in her free time.
Evrim Rahsan
Evrim has a degree from Computer Engineering and worked as developer, data architect, solution architect, product owner with deep experience on broadband and broadcasting domain technology. At Digiturk, the pioneer broadband and broadcasting company of Turkey, she was one of them who played leading roles on designing a comprehensive CRM transformation project and also encouraging, leading role to establish OTT Content Management System from scratch. Being the first large scale OTT project in the country, she had been part of the team who achieved high available and high concurrency OTT products on AWS. Evrim’s roles and knowledge in CRM and CMS software development expands a multitude of skills which has led to her being product owner and enterprise architect managing relationships and providing technical support between many teams such as content delivery teams, software architecture teams and backend development, QA and much more. Outside of work Evrim is mother of 2 boys, which keeps women in super active pace with home and professional life. She also enjoys swimming, cooking, volleyball and she is very interested in psychology and communication reading and courses. She would love to explore further experience in AWS services particularly data and media part.
Rachel Dicker
I’m a TV Studio Production Graduate from Southampton Solent University. During Uni I was lucky enough to work for Sky Sports at Royal Ascot. I got to direct on one of the stages at Glastonbury Music Festival. Lastly I had the amazing opportunity to work for BBC South. Whilst working for the BBC I got my first major broadcast credit. Currently I work in a production office in the South"
Rimpal Shah
Rimpal Shah is the global content operations manager and VOD subject matter expert at DAZN. Rimpal architects new and exciting ways of ensuring DAZN is getting its content to where it needs to be. She has built and established content management teams in multiple regions and is key in designing and delivering operationally efficient workflows across several large scale projects supporting the launch of DAZN globally.
Shaunna Beedie
"After working as a researcher in academic, government and private sector roles, Shaunna transitioned to project management, and is now a project manager for the University of Oxford. Outside of this fast paced and challenging role, Shaunna is a theatre fan who enjoys long walks with her corgi."
Louise Seddon
Louise is Head of Global Operations for Access Services at Red Bee Media. She leads teams across six internationally-based operations, providing live and pre recorded subtitling, audio description, translation and signing services to global broadcasters and content producers.
Olga Nevinchana
Hi, I’m Olga, a Senior Research Analyst at IABM. I started my professional journey in 2008 in consumer research and gained professional experience in research agencies and big international companies in Eastern and Western Europe, and was part of a tech start-up responsible for global market research and intelligence before joining IABM in 2020. I am a self-motivated analyst, passionate about the use of market data – particularly quantitative – to reveal industry trends and inform business decisions.
Emily Heath
I can’t remember ever not being a Project Manager. It’s what seems to come most naturally to me. I love it, and I’m good at it – but I feel I can be more than a Project Manager. I have joined this programme with the hope of rediscovering some drive and inspiring me to push further in my career. I have always worked on the digital space – websites and apps - with my current role being at a small OTT company where we have a video SAAS product
Mentors
Ben Davenport
Ben is a B2B marketer with a keen interest and understanding of the technologies that underpin the media and entertainment industry. During the past two decades, Ben has played a key role in some of the most complex and progressive file-based media solutions and projects in the industry while enabling leading media & entertainment technology vendors to differentiate their brands and products. Having previously headed up Portfolio & Marketing Strategy for Vidispine - an Arvato Systems brand, Ben has recently joined Pixotope as VP Global Marketing. Ben holds a Bachelor's degree in Music & Sound Recording (Tonmeister) from the University of Surrey.
Chrissie Collins
Coming soon.
Hannah Chambers
Hannah is a trained broadcast engineer with a first class BSc in Broadcast Technology. She has worked at top level broadcasters such as BBC, QVC, ITV, Formula 1, Formula E, Maidstone Studios and IMG Studios. Hannah’s experience ranges from telecommunications, outside broadcasting through scheduling and playout and right back to studio productions having lead engineers for live primetime ITV shows such as This Morning & Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway, live sports such as Tottenham TV’s home games at Wembley, and the worldwide coverage of F1, MotoGP and Formula E races. Hannah is an experienced technical & non-technical trainer having trained operators, engineers and production staff. She also has specialisms in sound, talkback and projects delivery. Hannah has been running her own company since 2018.
Jason Fiddes
I have been working in technology change and delivery across multiple verticals in the UK for over 25 years. Working at Sky for over 5 years, I am a Senior Strategy Lead, looking at industry and technology advancement to produce insights and recommendations that feed into initiatives to ensure Sky is at the forefront of innovation. Essentially looking at the long-term future to develop sustainable technical capabilities today that support the future of Sky tomorrow. Additionally, using this insight to drive better business performance now, but most importantly making sure products and services are improved, and simplified for our customers. With a passion for technology and data; and using this to improve customer experience and operational efficiency through data driven, technology solutions, I really enjoy converting complex industry and technology advancements into simple business concepts and developing sound business cases to improve service performance and economics. Happy providing strategic and operational direction and leadership, I am comfortable and experienced taking a vision, analysing and mapping processes and developing a strategy underpinned with strategic outcomes. Having been mentored myself and having mentored officially in the past, I appreciate the value to be had and I continue to mentor previous employees and colleagues “unofficially”. I really do enjoy sharing knowledge, experience and ideas and definitely get as much out of mentoring as a mentee. There is something really satisfying if someone can learn something from me and then make it work for them to take it to the next level. I know I get something from every conversation. When I’m not in work you’ll normally find me on the water in a kayak, usually the right way up, but not always.
Katie Colledge
Katie leads PR and communications activity for Blackmagic Design across Central and Southern Europe, as well as the Middle East and Africa region. Working as part of a proactive, in-house PR team, she is responsible for content generation, media relations and internal communication for the manufacturer’s EMEA division. With more than fifteen years’ experience in building effective and engaging communications strategies in broadcast, live event, film and post production sectors, Katie works extensively with high profile customers, key industry media and influencers across Europe. Prior to joining Blackmagic Design, Katie specialised in technology PR, leading teams at Citypress and LEWIS PR, where she devised and delivered PR strategies for a wide range of technology companies; from start ups through to leading international brands.
Lisa Collins IABM
Lisa Collins is head of marketing and membership engagement at IABM. She has a 20 year track record working at a senior level within membership organisations in marketing, events and new acquisition functions. During her career to date Lisa has been involved in various re-brand projects, new product/service launches, implementing CRM systems and delivering and organising some fantastic events involving various celebrities, members of the UK Government and Royal Family. Lisa is currently Head of Marketing and Membership Engagement at IABM, the International Association of Broadcast and Media Technology . Lisa is always exploring creative concepts and innovative, lateral ideas to ensure commercial success.
Louise Wells
Louise is Associate Director at Bubble Agency, the go-to global PR, marketing and events specialist for the media and entertainment technology and services sectors. With 15 years of B2B PR experience, Louise started her career in-house at the global TV production and distribution company, Fremantle, before moving agency- side. At Bubble Agency she oversees the running and development of the company alongside its founder. Louise is responsible for devising and setting the company culture, ensuring the efficient and profitable running of accounts, devising strategic and creative plans for clients, as well as providing senior counsel and support to account teams. Louise’s client experience includes, Atomos, Aspera, Avid, BBC Studioworks, Cinesite, CVP, Deluxe, dock10, IBC, Monterosa, Red Bee Media, Signiant, Supponor, Telstra and Visual Data Media Services.
Lucinda Meek
Lucinda is IABM’s CFO and director and sits on IABM’s Members’ Board. She is a chartered accountant with experience in running SME’s and in auditing companies of all sizes and has worked in the broadcast industry for 15 years.
Morwen Williams
Morwen Williams is Director of UK Operations for BBC News, leading the technical and studio teams of BBC News. She is responsible for creative technical news gathering as well as all news studios in London and Salford at MediaCityUK and editing in London - a team of more than 800 people. She is the bridge between the BBC’s journalism and technology- using technology to its fullest to tell stories better for audiences. Previously she was BBC News’s Deputy UK Editor and led on major special events in the UK, and has worked as an output editor and producer in BBC regions in London and Manchester. She is chair of the WBU (World Broadcasting Union) International Media Connectivity Group, working with other broadcasters to find common solutions in this area. She has recently completed the Media Transformation Challenge at Harvard University’s Kennedy School. Morwen is a keen supporter of the BBC’s apprentice schemes to deliver new and more diverse technical talent in the BBC, as well as working with BBC News’s Women in Technology programme. She’s been a mentor for RISE Women in Broadcasting and the John Schofield Trust for young journalists. She is proud to have been RISE Women in Broadcasting Woman of the Year 2019 at IBC last year. Morwen is married, with two sons at university. A keen road cyclist and loves skiing, she comes from a family of award-winning grocers, who know a thing or two about cheese.
Pav Kudlac
Pav is currently MD at Ovyo, a Professional Services business focused on the video space (more in distribution than production for now), founded in 2019. He oversees all aspects of delivery as well as looking after go-to-market proposition and operations. We have direct relationships with a number of contractors including one-person limited companies. Pav previously held VP positions at Alcatel-Lucent, Nokia and Velocix in roles across PS, Product and Sales. Designed and introduced a company mentorship scheme. His career background as a Programme Director / Project Manager, working at BT and through Accenture for many different European operators and broadcasters. Semi-technical, former Architect and dabbled in some coding but not much. He has strong industry connections including among recruiters, including some industry recruiters who invested in his company! Father to 2 young girls, husband to an Aussie expat, chief toy fixer & hole darner.
Purminder Gandhu
Purminder joined the BBC as a trainee studio manager in the early 1990’s, progressing through to a senior studio director. A varied career, she’s provided audio expertise for 25 years across domestic and World Service BBC radio output. This has included recording, editing and mixing in live studios, operating radio trucks and building broadcast facilities on location domestically and overseas for major events like the Olympics, Royal Weddings, Radio 1 in Ibiza and the Africa Cup of Nations. Purminder currently leads the BBC Edge Group, a pan BBC forum of live contribution and connectivity subject matter experts. The group engages with the wider broadcasting industry and manufacturers; and aims to learn and share through piloting innovation in tech and steering the workflows across the BBC. As part of the 2020 IBC 5G Remote Production accelerator, Purminder was responsible for the user case workstream which informed the successful live proof of concept.
