About Us

The

Team

David has worked as an independent film, TV and theatre producer for over 30 years.  His film credits include Henry V, Peter’s Friends, Much Ado About Nothing, The Madness of King George (BAFTA for Outstanding British Film), Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Twelfth Night, The Wings of the Dove, Shakespeare in Love (winner of Seven Academy Awards including Best Picture and four BAFTA Awards including Best Film), Gangs of New York, (Production Consultant), I Capture the Castle, Chasing Liberty and A Bunch of Amateurs.  In 2010 he produced the BAFTA nominated My Week with Marilyn followed in 2011 by Tom Stoppard’s award-winning adaptation of Parade’s End for BBC and HBO. David also produced The Wipers Times for BBC2 and two BBC4 documentaries: Glyndebourne: The Untold History and Birth of an Opera. Red Joan starring Judi Dench and Sophie Cookson was released in 2019 and most recently, David produced The Father starring Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman.  The Father was nominated for numerous awards, winning two Oscars and two BAFTAs.

David was Chairman of BAFTA 2008-10 and Chairman of Film London 2010-17 and currently serves as a Governor at Dulwich College, London.

Graeme is Pro Vice-Chancellor of External Relations at the University of Sunderland. His external engagement team at the university looks after media, communications, marketing, stakeholder management, alumni, development and cultural assets – such as the internationally renowned National Glass Centre. He is chair of the Royal Television Society Education Group and also chairs The Cultural Spring community arts project. He represents the North East on the national council for Creative UK and is a board member for The Customs House, the Yorkshire and North East Film and Television Archive and the North East Culture Partnership. He is a member of Arts Council England’s northern area council. His background is as a journalist and TV executive. Before joining the university a decade ago, Graeme was managing director of ITV Tyne Tees following a career as a programme maker, commissioner and BBC radio producer.

Experience and background in finance and management.

Lisa Chapman is a senior unscripted TV executive who has produced major TV events, live studio entertainment, reality entertainment, popular documentary, and factual entertainment with more than 25 years of experience in the industry.

Born and raised in Ashington, Northumberland, she left the region to attend the University of Kent and then pursued a media career working first as a production manager followed by researcher, producer and executive producer eventually becoming Managing Director of Whizz Kid Entertainment for 15 years followed by Senior Vice President of eOne UK Non-Scripted.

Lisa now runs Honeybird Studios an independent content creation, consultancy and production company she founded in partnership with Nest Productions with dual sites in Newcastle and London. A champion of socio-economic diversity, she is a member of BAFTA and the Royal Television Society and has been on several industry judging panels and committees over the years.

Siobhan is an experienced Chair, Non-Executive Director and Business Advisor, working across sectors in the UK and internationally.

She has held many senior leadership roles including most recently Chair of the Tees Valley Business Board and is the Founder and Director of The Strategy House, a consultancy supporting businesses with growth, transformation and turnaround strategies.

A passionate advocate for inclusion and social mobility, Siobhan is currently Commissioner for Inclusive Growth with The Purpose Coalition, helping organisations develop strategies that drive measurable social impact.

Alice is a BAFTA and 2x EMMY award-winning executive producer of factual television with over 30 years of experience in developing, selling, and executive producing critically acclaimed shows for the main national and international broadcasters and leading producers including the BBC Natural History Unit and Oxford Scientific Films.

Alice has been a freelance consultant and advisor with North East Screen since 2023 and has worked with a variety of North East-based production companies and individuals, helping them to turn their best factual ideas into great shows across all platforms.

Most recently Alice helped Filmnova (https://www.filmnova.com/) gain an ITV1 prime time documentary commission which delivers in September 2025.

Before starting Wise Owl Films, Mark worked at ITV Studios in Leeds and Newcastle for over 25 years, creating over 200 different series and prime-time specials for ITV, the BBC, Channel 4, Channel 5 and Sky, including May The Best House Win, Super Tiny Animals, David Jason: My Life On Screen, Last Laugh In Vegas and The Nation’s Favourite music documentary series, telling the stories behind the songs of icons such as ABBA and The Beatles.

Mark created Shiver in 2007 – ITV Studios’ first label – and has worked closely with many of Britain’s best-loved television stars including Peter Kay and Sir Trevor McDonald as well as with some of Britain’s biggest institutions and brands, from record companies including Sony, Universal, Warner Music to the casts of series like Coronation Street and Emmerdale, and the families and estates of comedy legends including Tommy Cooper, Les Dawson and Morecambe & Wise. As well as executive producing the majority of Wise Owl’s output, Mark oversaw a number of ITV’s celebrations of the life of the Queen, documentaries which aired in September 2022.

Media MDs was founded by Samantha Lawrence and Jane Atkinson to support the creative industries with purpose and impact. Drawing on decades of experience in global production, strategic leadership, and business growth, they created a company rooted in the belief that the industry thrives when diverse voices are empowered and heard.

Media MDs partners with creative businesses to navigate challenges, unlock growth, and build strong, inclusive cultures. With a blend of global insight and regional heart, the team brings clarity, strategy, and a commitment to meaningful change—moving beyond conversation to action.

Guided by values of honesty, empathy, and collaboration, Media MDs champions progressive thinking and responsible leadership. Their mission is to help shape a future where creativity is driven by talent from all backgrounds and where content creation is both sustainable and inclusive.

Alison is responsible for identifying new sources of revenue and developing the organisation’s programming activity. She works to expand the organisation’s commercial operations and broaden its relationship with potential stakeholders, from local councils and regional businesses, to arts and other media organisations.

Our operations director Gayle is responsible for operational processes and day to day delivery of North East Screens production service, our North East Screen Academy, project monitoring, evaluation and reporting schedules. She has worked promoting the North East to film and TV productions at the agency for over 20 years working with projects such as Dungeons and Dragons, Harry Potter and Atonement.

Lisa is our Development Director. She leads the Development team in working with indies, supply chain companies and above the line talent to build scale, capacity, resilience and infrastructure to grow the regions screen industry.

Finance Director, James, is responsible for the financial business planning and budget management at North East Screen. Together with the Chief Executive and the other members of the Senior Management Team, he develops a programme of activities that align with funding requirements, required outputs and secured funding budgets.

Katie is the first point of contact for North East Screen’s Film Office. Responsible for promoting the region to film and TV companies encouraging them to film in the North East.

Katie also supports productions looking for regional crew, location and facilities and is responsible for maintaining a comprehensive database.

In her role as Skills Manager, Kat grows the existing crew database and leads on the creation of trainee and shadowing opportunities on productions through North East Screen’s Access initiative.

She identifies career pathways as well as considering skills shortages and gaps to help support the growing number of productions.

As Talent and Business Development Coordinator, Emma manages the development initiatives for businesses and above-the-line talent within the North East.

Jo is responsible for planning and delivering all marketing and communication activity, promoting North East Screen to a wide range of audiences, partners and stakeholders.

Working closely with all lines of the business, Jo develops the marketing and communications strategy to promote all aspects of our programmes. She is the first point of contact for press enquiries.

Victoria is responsible for planning and delivering all large scale, special events in that feature in North East Screen’s calendar. She also looks after campaigns for our North East Production Fund projects.

Teresa works closely with funders to measure and report on the impact that North East Screen makes.

Having overall responsibility for monitoring and evaluation across North East Screen, Teresa manages the requirements of each fund, specifically the ERDF Tees Valley Screen Development project.

Finance Manager, Laura, is responsible for the day-to-day finance operation including financial reporting, budgeting, cashflow and payroll.

Holly is the Film Office Coordinator (Locations) and the first point of contact for all enquiries from TV and film production companies looking to film in the North East. She also supports visiting production companies by organising and attending familiarisation and recce trips to the region.

As Skills Coordinator, David organises and is responsible for the smooth running of all Crew Academy events. He monitors the career development of Crew Academy members, offering insights on work opportunities and tactical support such as refining CV’s and interview techniques.

Rebecca is the first point of contact for anyone wanting to speak to Chief Executive, Alison Gwynn. She coordinates Alison’s diary and organises all of our full team events, internal meetings and ensures our office has everything we need to function. She also provides HR administration to the organisation.