Riz Ahmed
Actor
SWF '08 

Riz was educated at Merchant Taylors School, a Public School in Middlesex. He graduated from Oxford University with a degree in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics.

He was a member of the Confidential Collective, but he received a scholarship for drama school and left in May 2005. 

Has since starred in the conspiracy thriller Path to 9/11, Michael Winterbottom's The Road to Guantanamo, Peter Kosminsky's Britz and Charlie Brooker's Dead Set.

Will be seen later this year as the lead in Shifty and Rage.  

Appeared with writer/director Peter Kosminsky onstage at SWF' 08 to talk about 'Documenting Drama'. 

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Jack Arbuthnott
Development Executive, UK Film Council
SWF '07

Jack is a development executive within the UK Film Council's Development Fund. He joined from New Line Cinema in March 2006.

Jack took part in the spec Scriptmarket at SWF' 07. 

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Paul Ashton
Development Manager, BBC Writersroom
SWF '7

As part of the BBC's Writersroom Paul finds, nurtures and promotes new writing talent for drama and comedy across all BBC platforms and networks. He oversees the BBC unsolicited script system, writing competitions, development and promotion of new writers, professional training schemes, partnerships with the wider creative industries and the writersroom website.

Paul previously freelanced in script and writer development, including work for various BBC departments, FilmFour, Spice Factory, Arts Council, Lighthouse Media/UKFC, and was Literary Associate at Theatre & Beyond. He has taught scriptwriting for University of Sussex, NAW and Pier Playwrights, and directed new work for Liverpool Everyman, Paines Plough and Theatre & Beyond. His short film, Hard Hat, has recently been produced, he has a feature film in development, and has been produced by Half Moon Theatre and Warehouse Croydon.

Paul came to SWF' 07 to promote the Writersroom. 

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Matthew Bates
Literary Agent, Sayles Screen
SWF '06, '07 & '08

Matthew's clients are mainly writers of film and television drama but he also represents drama directors and writer/directors and handle film rights in books on behalf of various literary agents.

Clients include: Oscar winner Andrea Arnold, Wasp & Red Road; Paul Morrison, Wondrous Oblivion; Martin Stellman, For Queen and Country and actress Emily Woof, The Woodlanders and Wondrous Oblivion.

Is a member of the Festival's Advisory Board and a regular contributor in the Festival's line-up.

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Mia Bays
Producer, MIA Films
SWF '06

Mia is an  Producer, for Martin McDonagh's Oscar winning short Six Shooter for her company Missing in Action Films.  More recently Mia has run the micro-budget feature film scheme MICROWAVE for Film London and the BBC as Production Executive. For Microwave, Mia is overseeing the production and marketing/distribution of 10 features, the first two being Mum and Dad and Shifty, and the upcoming are Freestyle, British Guide to Showing Off, Foxglove and Strawberry Fields.

Appeared at SWF' 06 to give advice about Pitching projects.

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Edward Blum
Director, Tin Pan Films
SWF '07

Edward is both a BAFTA nominated drama director and a critically-acclaimed documentary director / producer.

He started his career theatre writing and directing plays through his own theatre company.  ‘Burning Prayers’.  His first short, The Last Post, was nominated for a BAFTA in 1996 and has since directed on the award-winning ITV drama series The Bill as well as produceing and directing numerous documentaries and drama documentaries for the BBC and Channel 4 before going onto direct Ash Ditta's Scenes of a Sexual Nature.

Edward  has also developed the crime caper Crimebusters which won the Big Pitch Competition at the Cannes Film Festival and the comedy The Laughter Clinic.

Was part of the Low Micro Budget session at SWF '07.

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David Bishop
Editor/Writer/Screenwriter
SWF '08

David is a former editor of iconic British comic 2000 AD.

He's had nearly 20 novels published; written comic characters and graphic novels for publishers in Britain, the US, Scandinavia and Australia; and scripted radio plays for the BBC. He was awarded a screenwriting MA with distinction from Screen Academy Scotland, and his short film script Danny's Toys won a first prize at the Page International Screenwriting Awards in Los Angeles, both in 2007.

David is currently teaching an MA in Creative Writing at Napier University in Edinburgh.

Came to talk about writing for Comics at SWF '08.

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Elinor Burns
Agent, Casarotto Ramsay
SWF '07 

Elinor Burns studied Drama at Manchester University and after a brief stint in publishing joined Casarotto Ramsay in 1999 as assistant to Jenne Casarotto. She then went on to work with Tracey Hyde and began to build her own client list.

She now represents a varied list of screenwriters, filmmakers and directors working in Film and TV - a mixture of established names and new writing and directing talent.

Joined other Agents on stage to discuss 'What Agents Do..' at SWF '07.

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Peter Carlton
Senior Commissioning Editor, Film4
SWF '06 & '07

As part of the feature film arm of Channel 4, Film4, Peter works alongside Tessa Ross, Controller, Film and Drama. Peter joined Film4 in 2003 as Head of the low-budget Film4 Lab and continues to have special responsibility for low-budget work and new talent. 

While at Film4, Carlton has been responsible for films such as Miranda July’s Me & You & Everyone We Know, Keith Fulton and Lou Pepe’s Brothers of the Head, Gabriel Range's Death of a President, Shane Meadows's Dead Man’s Shoes and This Is England, Martin McDonagh's Oscar winning short Six Shooter, Fabrice du Welz's Vinyan, Gerald MacMorrow's Franklyn, Ollie Blackburn’s Donkey Punch and Chris Waitt’s A Complete History of my Sexual Failures.

Is a member of the Festival's Advisory Board and an avid supporter of the Festival appearing twice on behalf of Film4.

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Gina Carter
Producer, Sprout
SWF '06
 

In 1988 Gina started at Working Title Films where she worked until 1991 to work as Production Assistant on Peter Medak's Let Him Have It.  Progressing to Production Management on The Institute Benjmenta directed by The Brothers Quay and John Henderson's Loch Ness.  

Gina then Line Produced Marc Evan's House of America and Resurrection Man, Sean Matthais's Bent before joining Revolution Films as Head Of Production on Michael Winterbottoms' I Want You, With or Without You, Wonderland and 24 Hour Party People before going on to produce Damien O'Connel's Heartlands and Stephen Fry's Bright Young Things and Marc Evan's Snowcake.

Gina currently runs a production company, Sprout, with actor/writer Stephen Fry and has a slate of projects in production. 

Spoke at SWF '06 about specifically funding difficult projects.

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Ed Clarke
Development Executive, Kudos
SWF '06 & '08

As Head of Development and Acquisitions at Capitol Films Ed acquires projects for internationally renowned sales and finance company Capitol Films. He assesses all projects coming through the company, and acts as liaison for both producers and the US agents.

He also helps to oversee and develop projects for Capitol Films Production, Capitol's UK Film Council lottery funded 'super slate', working alongside BBC Films, Tiger Aspect, Film Four and others. Prior to joining Capitol, Ed worked for Arista Development for four years, where he acted as both a tutor and course director on Arista's feature development and training programmes.

He has also been a script analyst / developer for companies including Intermedia, Film Four, and Sky Pictures; and was trained as a producer at the UK's National Film & TV School where he produced three 16mm shorts. He is also the author of an international study of production and development in New Zealand and Denmark.

Recently he moved to Kudos as their Head of Films Development.

Ed has appeared at SWF '06 and '08 and is part of the Advisory Board.

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Judy Counihan
Producer, Slingshot
SWF '06

Judy is a film and television producer of almost 20 years experience, most recently as an Executive Producer for Drama at IWC Media, part of the RDF group and one of the largest independent production companies in the UK. At Slingshot, she has served as producer on both Faintheart and French Film, and will continue to play a producer or executive producer role across the slingshot slate going forward.

Judy was Director of Film at Skillset, the Sector Skills Council for the Audio Visual Industries. Her career in film and television production spans 18 years, and she has won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Picture twice, No Man's Land and Antonia's Line. She also produced the Oscar nominated Before the Rain.  Other film credits include Me Without You, Janice Beard and Borstal Boy.

Has written a book with Eileen Quinn called The Pitch and came to SWF '06 to talk about the ideas behind it.

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Arvind Ethan David
CEO and Producer, Slingshot Films
SWF '06 & '07

Arvind Ethan David is head producer and CEO at slingshot, the next generation film company which he co-founded in 2005. Arvind leads both business and creative strategy for the company, and has served as a producer on all of the company's films to date - Sugarhouse, French Film, Faintheart and Tormented.

Slingshot have been involved with the Festival since it started with Arvind appearing twice on various panels during SWF '06 & '07.

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Guillermo Del Toro
Director/Producer/Screenwriter
SWF '06

One of the most prolific directors to come from Spanish speaking cinema, Del Toro has forged a name for himself through the fantastic films that he makes, from the skewed vampire film Cronos, to the giant bug movie Mimic, to the period horror The Devil's Backbone and, as he calls it, a five fingers and a six pack film Blade II.

In recent years he's made Hellboy and Hellboy II:The Golden Army, the multi-award winning dark fairytale Pan's Labyrinth as well as executive producing The Orphange and While She Was Out.

Guillermo is currently holed up with Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh in New Zealand writing the prequel to Lord of the Rings; The Hobbit which will be released in two parts in 2011 and 2012.

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Mike Downey
Producer/MD - Film and Music Entertainment
SWF'08

Mike launched his independent UK production company on the Frankfurt DAX 7 years ago. He has produced, since then 30 feature films, with producing partner Sam Taylor and company chairman Stephen Daldry, which include White Lightnin’,  GUY X, Deathwatch, Before The Rain and a slew of international co-productions written by Gunter Grass, Thomas Keneally, James Ellroy and Clifford (HOAX) Irving. 

Serving his fifth year as European Film Academy Board Member, Downey’s books The Film Finance Handbooks - a Guide for European Producers are published by the MEDIA Business School. Educated in Theatre: University of Warwick, with postgraduate studies at the University of Paris III (Sorbonne), and X (Nanterre), he has long taught on the MEGA European Masters programme.

Mike came to SWF '08 and chaired one of the popular Scriptbites sessions.

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