TIME & LOCATION
About
Chair
SPONSOR
Panel
CEO, PACT
John has been Chief Executive of Pact since 2000. He contributes to many UK government and international policy fora on the creative industries, broadcasting, trade and investment. John has extensive experience of policy development across all aspects of broadcasting and television production and leads on all Pact policy development in the UK and Europe. John also maintains excellent relationships with all of the UK’s major political parties and the devolved assemblies and parliaments. He is currently; a Board member of the Creative Diversity Network, a member of the Creative Industries Council (CIC), an industry advisor to the AHRC Creative Industries programme, Industry board member of the British Film Commission and a board member of the Creative Cities Convention.
Channel 4 Nations and Regions Managing Director, Channel 4
Sinead Rocks is Channel 4’s Managing Director, Nations & Regions at Channel 4. Under her leadership the broadcaster has opened three regional centres – its National HQ in Leeds and Creative Hubs in Bristol and Glasgow. These bases are at the heart of Channel 4’s plan to attract and develop talent from across the UK, both on and off-screen. Prior to joining Channel 4, Sinéad was the BBC’s Director of Education, responsible for a range of content across TV, radio and online and she also played a key role in the BBC’s move to Salford – migrating the BBC’s Learning department to the Northwest site. She started her career as a journalist at BBC Northern Ireland and is a former editor of Newsround as well as an Executive Producer for BBC Current Affairs
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Chief Executive, Northern Ireland Screen
Richard is Chief Executive of Northern Ireland Screen which has taken the lead role in developing the screen industry in Northern Ireland. Under Richard’s leadership, Northern Ireland Screen developed the Paint Hall at Titanic Quarter as a film studio which was the home of HBO’s GAME OF THRONES for eight seasons. And more recently partnered with Belfast Harbour Commission in the development of Belfast Harbour Studios, a new purpose-built studio complex. During his time, Northern Ireland Screen has expanded its support to cover large-scale production, TV drama, independent film, factual/entertainment, animation and interactive content, including the development and production of many independent films, all genres of television and a growing number of digital content projects, including HUNGER for which Steve McQueen won the Camera D’Or, Terry and Oorlagh George’s Oscar winner THE SHORE, Michael Lennox’s BAFTA winner and Oscar nominated BOOGALOO AND GRAHAM and the multi-award winning DERRY GIRLS. Richard previously worked for Waddell Media, during that time representing Northern Ireland on PACT, the Producers Alliance for Cinema & Television. He also previously worked in newspaper management and was a commercial solicitor. He was awarded an OBE in 2019.
Controller, Youth Audience, BBC
Fiona Campbell is Controller, Youth Audience, BBC iPlayer & BBC Three. As well as holding overall responsibility for content commissioning aimed at 16-35s, Fiona works across BBC Content to amplify the impact of key BBC iPlayer programmes on gaming platforms such as Roblox and Fortnite. Fiona is also the BBC Content Lead for the application of Gen AI in audience facing content. Earlier in her career Fiona worked as a producer on Panorama and spent time reporting in conflict zones Iraq, Afghanistan and Kosovo. She also spent five years as a Commissioning Editor at Channel 4 News. Fiona is a Trustee of Comic Relief and the Burberry Foundation which supports projects to encourage young people’s creativity as a source of progression and mental wellbeing. Fiona also works with Speakers for Schools visiting colleges in Northern Ireland to meet students and encourage their consideration of media as a career path.