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In the recent BAFTA elections five members were elected to Council for the first time: Grant Dean and Martin Freeth from the Interactive Entertainment Committee, film pro- ducer Finola Dwyer and actor/writer Ayub Khan Din, who will serve on the Film Committee and ITV drama chief Nick Elliott. He will join the Television Committee. Hilary Bevan Jones (Deputy Chair Television) and veteran producer Kenith Trodd were also re-elected. All Academy Officers were unopposed. The full council, headed by Chairman Simon Relph, is as follows: Michael Attwell, Deputy Chairman; Officers: Bea Ballard, Hilary Bevan Jones, John Chambers, Jill James, Duncan Kenworthy, John Richmond, Sue Thexton, Stephen Woolley; Members: Dan Chambers, Grant Dean, Finola Dwyer, Nick Elliott, Martin Freeth, Michael Harris, Adam Kemp, Ayub Khan Din, Dianne Nelmes,
David Parfitt, Jamie Roberts, Mark Shivas, Kenith Trodd (re-elected), Ernest Vincze BSC.
NEW TO COUNCIL
Finola Dwyer is the award-winning producer of feature films, televi- sion dramas and documentaries. Born in New Zealand, Finola worked as a film editor before turning to producing, and was a com- missioner of the New Zealand Film Commission prior to moving to the UK in the early 90s.
Her producer credits include Iain Softley’s acclaimed debut Backbeat and Welcome to Woop Woop, an official selection at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival. Finola produced The Lost Son, directed by Chris Menges and has just completed Me Without You, produced in association with her company and Dakota Films.
Directed by Sandra Goldbacher, Me Without You will be released by momentum Pictures in the UK. Projects in development include Martin Amis’s Money and Villa Vittoria with director Roger Donaldson.
Ayub Khan Din began his profes- sional career as an actor working extensively in theatre, film and television. He began writing pro- fessionally in 1996. Last year, his adaptation of his stage-play, East Is East, earned him a BAFTA nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay and Most Promising Newcomer; the film itself won the Alexander Korda Award.
Ayub was co-opted onto the 2001 film committee and was chairman of the Sound jury as well as sitting on the Adapted Screenplay jury. He runs his own production company, Raboon Pictures, and is currently working on projects with Film Four and DNA Films.
“During the past year, as a co- opted Film Committee member, I was disappointed to discover that many industry collegues were unaware that they were even eligible for membership.
“If BAFTA is to grow into a 21st century organisation at the heart of the British film industry I think it impera- tive that membership and participation is encouraged from those sections of the industry who have previously felt marginalised or under represented.
“Fresh talent must be encouraged to join if Bafta wishes to remain a relevant and vibrant institution. I hope my time on the Council goes some way towards enabling this goal.”
Nick Elliott began his career at Granada and then set up LWT’s features department in 1977, launching The South Bank Show with Melvyn Bragg. In 1982 he became Controller of Drama commis- sioning Poirot, London’s Burning, The Charmer and The Knock and films including The Tall Guy and A Handful of Dust.
In 1992, he became Managing Director of LWT Productions and joined the BBC in 1994 as Head of Drama Series, commissioning Ballykissangel, Silent Witness and Dalziel and Pascoe.
In 1995 he was appointed ITV’s Controller of Drama commissioning popular drama; Bad Girls, Where The Heart Is and Midsomer Murders, award- winners; Hillsborough and The Murder of Stephen Lawrence and innovations; Fat Friends, At Home With The Braithwaites, Cor Blimey and Dirty Tricks.
“From the outside I sometimes used to think that BAFTA was rooted too much in a world of about twenty years ago, celebrating old glories and losing touch with today’s television. My hope would be that it could shed its past, reflect today’s world and become a com- mercially successful, forward thinking organisation with a fresh new agenda.”
Ayub Khan Din
Grant Dean is Director of European Product Development for THQ, one of the world’s leading video game publishers. THQ publish interactive Entertainment soft- ware for PlayStation 1 & 2, Nintendo Game Boy, Gameboy Advance and Game Cube, Microsoft Xbox and PC in most interactive software genres, including action, adventure, driving, fighting, puzzle, role-playing, simulations, sports and strategy.
Prior to joining THQ, Dean was Executive Producer for Eidos Interactive, where he managed some of the most successful interactive entertainment brands of recent years, including Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, Commandos, and BAFTA Interactive winner Deus Ex from developers as geographically diverse as Spain, USA and China.
Despite his experience in enter- tainment software, Dean’s roots are in television at BBC Worldwide and BBC Documentaries.
Dean: “I am committed to the development of the Academy’s interac- tive initiatives and now as a member of Council will work more closely with the other areas of the academy.
“All of our industries are merging and working more closely together. Convergence of videogame publishers, television companies, broadcasters and film companies has been strengthening over recent years as we all recognise the importance and value the videogame brings to the television programme or feature film.
“Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, Rugrats, World Wrestling Federation and Chicken Run are just a few exam- ples of the successes of TV/Film meet the videogame. More importantly and more recently, Tomb Raider, shows how a successful videogame is made into a successful feature film.”
“BAFTA has an important role to play in this continuing convergence by not only recognising and rewarding creative talent but by promoting aware- ness and educating within all areas of film, television and interactive media.”
Martin Freeth is a graduate of the RCA and former film editor. He has produced and directed every kind of television show: from film drama, to science documen- taries, studio discussion shows, human stories, two-hour specials, and more.
He was the founder of the BBC Multimedia Centre which pioneered interactive TV projects, delivered new
media training and developed BBC Online. For two years at NESTA he concentrated on educational projects.
Currently he is Executive Director of NESTA Enterprises Ltd, developing major projects including ‘Science Year’ for the DfEE and the ‘NESTA Futurelab’ which is undertaking blue skies research on the potential of entertain- ing learning software in the broadband era. Together with David Puttnam, he initiated BAFTA’s Interactive Entertainment Awards.
“Thinking back to the SFTA days, it is extraordinary how far we have come. As a part of this story of change and development, I am proud to have been able to help the Academy set up the Interactive Entertainment awards over three years ago. The Council made a far sighted move then which has set us up well for the digital future.
“I know that the road BAFTA has taken to reach our current state of health has been somewhat winding - hazardous indeed. But I hope we don’t allow this to make us faint hearted. We need to build on our current services and successful events to take the high ground, to become the place for creative, technical, artistic and political debate about the media. BAFTA might also set up our own ‘First Tuesday’ for media.
“In short, we need to do a good deal more yet to achieve our mission, which in my view should be ‘to celebrate and foster the creativity and talent of the whole of the UK’s media industries’. In this context, don’t imag- ine for a moment that the development of computer games and the internet is a side-show. Two way ‘interactivity’ will radically transform our relationships with our audiences and this is the most important creative ingredient offered by the digital revolution.
“So far it is only the games devel- opers who really understand this. Old style linear film and TV producers (as
I was until recently) need to take notice of this wake-up call before it is too late. At least then we might be ready to enjoy the process of having our whole industry turned upside down!” ■
Martin Freeth
New Council Members Chart The Way Forward
NEW COUNCIL
Finola Dwyer
Nick Elliott
Grant Dean
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