Our Board of Trustees

Multi-Award Winning Producer and First Female Chair of Bafta

Hilary has chaired Watersprite since its inception in 2008. As a TV and Film Producer she is known for her award-winning international drama. As founder of Endor Productions she is currently producing Neil Gaiman’s best-selling novel Anansi Boys for Amazon Studios; returning series Vienna Blood and But When We Dance, a romantic comedy film for BBC One. Previous productions include Matthew Parkhill’s Deep State for Fox; Restless, written by William Boyd and starring Hayley Atwell, Rufus Sewell and Charlotte Rampling; That Day We Sang written and directed by Victoria Wood, multiple Emmy award winning The Girl in the Café and Roald Dahl’s Esio Trot starring Dame Judi Dench, Dustin Hoffman, and James Corden. Films include gothic drama Gwen and Richard Curtis’s The Boat That Rocked. Hilary was the first female Chair of BAFTA and still sits on its Leaning and New Talent Committee.

Head of Creative at Film4, one of the Student Founders of Watersprite

In January 2022 Farhana Bhula joined Film4 as a Senior Commissioner. Prior to Film4 she was a Senior Development and Production Executive in the BFI’s Film Fund. At the BFI she worked on projects with a particular focus on emerging filmmakers, including those supported through the iFeatures programme. Recent credits include Pirates by Reggie Yates, Boxing Day by Aml Ameen and ear for eye by debbie tucker green. Projects she is working on currently in post-production include features from Dionne Edwards and Charlotte Regan. She also worked on Ben Sharrock’s Limbo and Aleem Khan’s After Love. Prior to the BFI, she was Head of Development at Wildgaze Films and a Development Executive at Hilary Bevan Jones’ Endor Productions. She was a Screen International Star of Tomorrow in 2015.

Multi-BAFTA Winning Documentary Maker and Founder of True Vision

Brian Woods set up documentary production company, True Vision in 1996, and since then the company has gone on to be one of the leading producers of high quality single documentaries in the UK. Described by The Guardian as “the country’s best, most committed documentary maker” True Vision films have been nominated for over a hundred international awards, including over 30 BAFTAs. Brian has been involved with Watersprite almost from the start, focussing on the factual side of the festival. He went to Cambridge in the last millennium and pretends not to want people to know he graduated with a first in Natural Sciences. His connection with the Cambridge University was strengthened when he married a fellow of Trinity College in 2017, and his connection with Anglia Ruskin University was strengthened when it very kindly made him a visiting fellow. He is also a trustee and deputy chair of the Documentary Festival, DocFest, in Sheffield. He lives in Cambridge with his dauntingly clever wife, and their toddler.

Founding and Managing Partner at Malao and Previous Festival Director and Festival Producer of Watersprite

Bernadette Schramm is a Founding and Managing Partner at Malao, which has the model to leverage commercial entertainment as a platform to inspire audiences worldwide and create positive social and environmental impact. She formerly produced Watersprite Film Festival and coordinated the annual “Refugee Voices in Film” program, in collaboration with the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), launched at the Cannes Film Festival. As keynote speaker, she coordinated the Women in Cinema conference at the 16th Dhaka International Film Festival in Bangladesh, having spoken the previous year on the “Importance of Self-Esteem for Women in Roles of Leadership”. Bernadette is an advocate for the importance of empowering new talent and building filmmaking capacity in emerging economies, such as Ethiopia, Mongolia and Bangladesh, bringing more representative stories and authentic voices to our global screens.

Bernadette graduated with a BA and MA degree in Management with Modern and Medieval Languages from the University of Cambridge and started her career at the boutique strategy consultancy, CVA, working on corporate innovation projects between London, Paris and Berlin.

Director of Finance and Operations at Red Arrow Studios

Femi Ladeinde is Director of Finance for Red Arrow Studios in the UK. He oversees financial matters for the company’s UK operations as well as having financial oversight for the UK, Scandinavian and Israel based production companies in the group. Prior to Red Arrow Studios, Femi was Group Financial Controller at Content Media Corporation and joined Content following a stint at Classic Media as a Financial Analyst. Femi is a CIMA qualified accountant.

Previous Head of News and Current Affairs at Channel 4 and current President of Murray Edwards College, Cambridge

Dorothy Byrne is the President of Murray Edwards College. She was previously the Head of News and Current Affairs at Channel Four Television where her programmes won numerous BAFTA, Royal Television Society and Emmy Awards. She has won the Grierson Trustees Award at the British Documentary Awards, the Royal Television Society award for Outstanding Contribution to Journalism and the Women in Film and TV Argonon Contribution to The Medium Award. She is a Fellow of the Royal Television Society and continues to executive produce major international documentaries.

Award-winning Producer and Writer

Helen is a BIFA longlisted producer, writer, and Screen Star of Tomorrow. She began her career running the Cambridge student film festival, Watersprite, before making short films with directors such as Kate Herron and Chloe Wicks. In 2020, the Film and TV production company she runs alongside Stephanie Aspin, Erebus Pictures, received a BFI Vision Award. Since then the company has produced three features: KLOKKENLUIDER, directed by Neil Maksell, and starring Tom Burke, Jenna Coleman and Amit Shah; HOARD, directed by Luna Carmoon, which had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival this year, starring Joseph Quinn and Hayley Squires; and BONUS TRACK, directed by Julia Jackman, and starring Susan Wokoma, Josh O'Connor and Jack Davenport.

As a writer, Helen has worked with companies including Audible, Sky, Netflix and NBCUniversal, and has been part of schemes including iFeatures, 4Screenwriting and BBC Writersroom. She recently co-wrote her first feature, LAST SWIM, directed by Sasha Nathwani which won the Crystal Bear at Berlinale 2024. Helen recently wrote on the new Sky animated show READY EDDIE GO narrated by Jodie Whittaker, and has projects in development with companies including World Productions, The Development Partnership, Anton, Ardimages UK, Kinetic Content, Quay Street Productions and Moonriver Content.

Founder and Director at Kat Blair Publicity.

Kat Blair is the Founder of Kat Blair Publicity, a leading PR agency specialising in TV and film. Known for her strategic vision and exceptional industry insight, Kat has shaped the public profiles of some of the industry’s most celebrated productions. 

With a strong foundation in TV Production, Kat joined PR matters in 2008 where she handled unit and release publicity for top independent production companies and standout shows including Have I Got News For You, Outnumbered and The Syndicate. 

In 2017, Kat launched her own agency which represents high-profile clients such as Netflix, BBC, Sky and Endor Productions. Recent award-winning projects include Bridgerton, I Hate Suzie and Patrick Melrose.

Partner, Commercial, at Lee & Thompson

Nick Swimer is a partner working across Lee & Thompson’s Commercial and Film & TV Groups. Nick works with all parties in the content value chain including broadcasters, publishers, producers, distributors, operational and tech intermediaries and brands.

Nick trained at Nabarro (now CMS) and after 5 years joined Channel 4 as Head of Legal for Advertising and Board Counsel, and was the principal adviser, sitting with the executive board, on all regulatory and governance matters.

In 2015, Nick brokered the deal between Channel 4 and Sacha Baron Cohen to set up Sacha’s UK production vehicle, Spelthorne Community Television (named after Ali G’s hometown). He subsequently joined Spelthorne as its commercial director whilst maintaining his legal practice.

Nick joined Lee & Thompson in 2024 and is praised in the legal directories as providing invaluable client support, understanding the media industry intimately and providing client-focused, pragmatic advice.