Cultural Cinema Exhibition 2021 - online

Adrian Wootton is the Chief Executive of Film London, the agency charged with developing the screen industries in the capital, and the British Film Commission, the unit responsible for promoting the UK as the best place to produce feature films and high end television. Prior to becoming the Chief Executive of Film London in 2003, Adrian was Acting Director of the British Film Institute (BFI), in addition to having been the Director of the London Film Festival (LFF), the National Film Theatre (NFT), Head of BFI Exhibition and Director of the crime and mystery film festival, Crime Scene. Before his appointment to the BFI, he was founding Director of Broadway Media Centre in Nottingham and Director of the Bradford Playhouse & Film Theatre. Adrian is a Programme Advisor to the BFI London Film Festival, Venice Film Festival and Noir in Fest, Milan. In 2012, Adrian received an Honorary Doctorate in the Arts and was appointed Visiting Professor of Film & Media and Norwich University of the Arts. In 2014 he received an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from The University of East Anglia. Adrian is also a member of the London Mayor's Cultural Strategy Board, the British Academy of Film & Television Arts (BAFTA), the European Film Academy (EFA), the British Screen Advisory Council (BSAC), and a Board member of Creative Skillset's Crafts & Technical Skills Academy.

Allison Gardner is CEO at Glasgow Film. What began as a single screen cinema over 40 years ago has become Scotland’s most diverse and best publicly attended independent cinema in Scotland, with Glasgow Film Festival one of the top three film festivals in the UK. Glasgow Film is a national centre for film and moving image media where audiences and filmmakers experience and debate cultural practice and ideas through diverse, unique and quality programmes that transform the way people see the world, through film. Glasgow Film is: GFT (Glasgow Film Theatre), Glasgow’s year-round centre for film-lovers; Glasgow Film Festival (GFF) the launching pad for the best of international and Scottish cinema; Glasgow Youth Film Festival (GYFF) one of the most innovative youth film festivals in Europe; Film Hub Scotland, supporting a network of over 200 film exhibitors serving Scotland's diverse population; Glasgow Film’s Learning and Engagement programme integrated across all areas of Glasgow Film’s work. Allison joined Glasgow Film in 1993 as a Duty Manager and then began to work in the programme team eventually becoming Programme Director and Co-director of Glasgow Film Festival. She became the CEO in April. Additionally, Allison is a director of CinéFile a distribution company that releases widely different titles ranging from classic thriller, costume drama, youthful escapism, family comedy, to documentary films.

Andrew Woodyatt is a multi award winning film marketeer, having spent fifteen years in exhibition running multiplex cinemas, and then programming them for the UCI chain, then as Marketing Director at Picturehouse Cinemas, then spending twelve years in film distribution at Lionsgate creating campaigns for BAFTA winning titles like The Lives Of Others and I've Loved You So Long, to Head of Marketing at Revolver and Metrodome winning seven Screen Marketing Awards for innovative and ground breaking campaigns for titles like Frances Ha, The Imposter and Iron Sky. Andrew now works as a consultant with film producers, he also works as a film lecturer for MA students at the Met Film School, London Film School and Birmingham University. Andrews is also the marketing and development manager of the legendary Rio cinema in Dalston.

Anthony Andrews is an award winning co-founder and creative director of We Are Parable, a film exhibition company that provide audiences with opportunities to experience Black Cinema in culturally relevant, unique and memorable ways. Anthony has collaborated with film studios such as Altitude, StudioCanal and eOne as well as working closely with the BFI and the Film and TV Charity to create events and screenings that support films that feature and are made by Black creatives. Since co-founding the business in 2013, he has worked with Oscar winners Spike Lee and Steve McQueen, Black Panther director Ryan Coogler and and actor Idris Elba on the release of their respective films. In 2019, alongside The British Blacklist, The New Black Film Collective and SOUL Celebrate Connect, he co-founded SOUL Fest, a film festival which was designed to celebrate Back talent in front of and behind the lens. In 2020, Anthony co-curated Who We Are, a week long online takeover of the BFI which celebrated the artistry of Black British Film over the last 50 years. In 2021, Anthony was included in the main jury for the British Independent Film Awards and the longlisting jury for the EE BAFTA Awards.

Dom has worked as a technical specialist in the cinema exhibition sector for approaching 20 years. He is currently Head of Technical Services at BFI Southbank, where he is responsible for the delivery of the cinemas programme, managing the team that brings to the screen formats ranging from nitrate to 4K digital cinema. Dom has technical oversight for the London Film Festival and its 17 venues and recently designed and specified the 2016 Embankment Garden Cinema. One of Dom’s challenges is to ensure that the BFI remains at the cutting edge of cinema technology whilst also securing heritage formats.

Eve Gabereau is an award-winning film distributor and producer, with a further background in journalism, communications and cultural affairs. Originally from Canada, she also holds a French passport and has lived in the UK since 1998. Prior to that she spent three years living and working in Japan and China where she fully ensconced herself and began her career in media. She has a BA in Political Science from McGill University and an MA in Communications and East Asian Studies from Simon Fraser University with further graduate studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies. She is a published writer with bylines in The Guardian, Independent, Time Out and Sight & Sound, amongst other publications.

Iain McLeod has 20 years experience working in the UK film Industry. He has worked in film exhibition for Virgin Cinemas, UGC Cinemas, Cineworld, and VUE, and in film distribution for Icon Films working on titles including Drive, A Single Man, Nowhere Boy and The Road. Iain is currently Head of Film at Empire Cinemas.

After graduating from Leeds University with a Degree in Management with Media, Ray began his career in the film industry as a Cinema Manager with the Odeon Cinema chain in London, where he quickly progressed to the role of National Film Buyer for Odeon Cinemas. From there he moved across into Independent Film, with Pathe Distribution, as a Sales Executive, before returning to Exhibition with Odeon to jointly head up the Film Buying team. Following that, the lure of Studio life proved too tempting and he moved to a new role as Deputy Sales Director at United International Pictures (UIP), the then joint International Distribution Operation handling films for Universal, Paramount, MGM, DreamWorks and DreamWorks Animation. When UIP disbanded, he became part of the Paramount UK team, where he has been Sales Director since 2009, and has recently assumed the additional responsibilities of overseeing all of their Exhibitor Marketing and Distribution operations. My responsibilities in my current role include forecasting, budgeting, research and planning, release date selection, commercial terms negotiation, revenue cycle, logistics and Exhibitor and in-theatre marketing.

Simran Hans is a freelance culture writer and broadcaster based in London. She has been a film critic for The Observer since 2017 and is a member of the London Critics Circle. Her bylines include BFI, BuzzFeed, CinemaScope, Crack Magazine, Dazed, Eater, Empire, The FADER, The Guardian, Huck, Interview, i-D, Little White Lies, Lenny Letter, Mubi, Munchies, New Statesman, Noisey, No Man’s Land, Nylon, The Observer, Pitchfork, Refinery 29, Reverse Shot, Sight & Sound, SSENSE, Stereogum, Variety and VICE among others.

Simon began working in independent film as the administrator of London Electronic Art's Pandemonium Film Festival in 1995 before moving on the following year to join the BFI London Film Festival (LFF) and the London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival (now BFI Flare). He was Industry Events Officer for the LFF, organising masterclasses with such luminaries as Paul Schrader and Jerry Goldsmith. He subsequently took up the position of Deputy Director of Cinema at the ICA in London where he spent three years programming new international cinema, much of which was not in UK distribution. Subsequently, Simon has produced documentaries on various filmmakers, from François Ozon to Wong Kar-Wai and has also contributed to books on UK and US cinema for academic publisher Routledge. Simon joined the Independent Cinema Office at its very beginning in 2003, first as Head of Programming and then as Deputy Director. In 2016, he took over The Palace Cinema in Broadstairs, Kent with his wife Corinna and left the ICO to run it.

Catharine has spent over 20 years working in the exhibition sector for a variety of organisations including the BFI and Arts Council England. She has worked as a freelance programmer and arts consultant, and programmed for festivals and cinemas both in the UK and internationally. She has lectured on film at a number of UK universities and is a regular contributor to industry events and a frequent filmmaker Q&A host. Catharine founded the ICO in 2003 and has been its Director ever since.

Over the past 25 years, David has worked as a Programmer, Consultant and Distributor, on occasions two or three of these at the same time. From 1998-2002, he was Director of Cinema at London’s Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) where he programmed an award winning season of Japanese experimental film, increased admissions by 100% and also made a success of the ICA’s cutting edge distribution company; releasing over 40 films including Ring, A One and a Two and Kandahar. Whilst Head of Content at the British Film Institute, he co-produced a screening of Borderline staged at the Tate Modern Turbine Hall; and A Throw of Dice with a live orchestra in Trafalgar Square.

Duncan Carson is the ICO Projects and Business Manager, working on (among other things) distribution and venue consultancy. He joined the ICO as Marketing and Communications Manager having worked as an editor and marketer in the publishing industry. He runs the itinerant screening programme Nobody Ordered Wolves, which shows neglected films across London. He’s taken his love of film in a lot of different directions including running a university film society, working with an independent distributor, running a pop-up screen in Hackney and lecturing on film. He has spoken at international events about social media, audience development and cinema marketing. After a year’s secondment at Curzon Cinemas, working on cinema marketing, CRM and audience development, Duncan re-joined the ICO in 2020 as Projects and Business Manager.