The British Film Institute (BFI) has appointed Isabel Davis as its new director of Filmmaking Funds.
Davis will work on a five-year fixed-term contract, beginning in October this 12 months. She will take over from Mia Bays, who will depart the function that month.
Davis will be part of the BFI from Screen Scotland, the place she has been executive director for eight years.
Prior to that, she labored on the UK Film Council beginning in 2006 and transferred to the BFI in 2011 when the previous was dissolved. She started as senior executive earlier than changing into head of worldwide in 2012, a job she held till 2018, throughout which period she backed movies together with Cold War, Mary Shelley, The Lobster and High Life.
Her new function contains managing a £20m ($26.7m) annual funds for the Filmmaking Funds, and spearheading the BFI’s work supporting UK impartial filmmakers.
“I’m honoured to be stepping into this role at a time when this public funding is critical to building a successful future for UK film and the public value it represents,” stated Davis.
“It’s a difficult second for UK impartial movie, economically and structurally. But viewers urge for food for nice tales, and for the communal expertise of cinema-going, is strikingly resurgent and our filmmaking expertise continues to be among the many world’s finest. Enabling filmmakers to supply work that connects with a broad vary of audiences throughout the UK – by way of ambition, inventiveness and coronary heart – must be on the core of our response. Daunting, sure, however thrilling too.
“My pleasure is tempered solely by disappointment at leaving Scotland, which I’ve been fortunate sufficient to name dwelling for a lot of my grownup life, together with by way of the inventive upswing of the previous eight years. Huge because of my Screen Scotland teammates, whose expertise, arduous work and good nature serve our trade, audiences and younger individuals to such optimistic impact, and to our colleagues at Creative Scotland for his or her help.
“I’ll bring my experience in Scotland to this role, and with it a truly UK-wide perspective on the BFI’s support of independent film. So Scotland hasn’t seen the last of me – nor indeed have Northern Ireland, Wales and the English regions.”
“Isabel is tenacious when it comes to doing the right thing for UK independent film and filmmakers,” stated Ben Roberts, BFI CEO. “This is such a huge job, a cornerstone of UK independent film, and Isabel brings experience, passion, and a national and a global outlook, and a firm commitment to fairness and public service. She will be an asset to the film community and the BFI.”
“We are thrilled to welcome Isabel Davis as the new director of the BFI Filmmaking Fund,” stated Harriet Finney, BFI deputy CEO and executive director of company affairs and partnerships. “Isabel combines a deep-rooted dedication to impartial filmmaking with a clear-sighted understanding of the challenges and alternatives dealing with the sector at this time. She has a confirmed monitor file of bringing individuals collectively to drive significant change, and her expertise at Screen Scotland provides her a particular perspective on how we will finest help filmmakers throughout the UK.
“At a second of profound change for our trade, I can assume of no higher particular person to steer the BFI’s imaginative and prescient for a thriving impartial sector. I’m assured that Isabel will form the longer term not solely of the BFI’s National Lottery Filmmaking Funds, but additionally of our wider strategic response to the pressing questions dealing with impartial filmmakers at this time. We sit up for welcoming her to the BFI in October.
“I would also like to thank Mia Bays, the current director of the BFI Filmmaking Fund, for her tireless commitment to the BFI and to the filmmakers we have supported over the past five years.”
Nicky Bentham, producer and co-chair of Pact’s Film Producers’ Group, added: “Isabel has a wealth of experience in providing strategic thinking and action to develop and deliver support for UK filmmaking talent. UK independent producers are facing critical challenges – from raising finance through to getting films sold and out to audiences – and I feel confident that Isabel has the right expertise to guide the BFI Filmmaking Funds so they can achieve maximum impact. I also look forward to working with her in my role at Pact as she leads on the BFI’s work to engage and support the wider UK independent filmmaking community.”
The appointment comes after a course of of a number of months, which started with a job description posted in late April, an software deadline of May 11, and headhunting agency Quicksmith canvassing opinions from trade figures.
External interviewers on the panel included producers and BFI board members Elizabeth Karlsen and Hakan Kousetta, and Bentham as Pact group co-chair, whereas Roberts and Finney have been amongst these representing the BFI.
During her tenure, Bays launched a reshaped BFI Filmmaking Fund as half of the BFI’s 10-year Screen Culture 2033 technique. She has overseen BFI-backed options together with Kneecap and My Father’s Shadow, which received the Bafta movie award for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer in consecutive years.
After leaving the BFI function, Bays will lead a UK model of the low-budget Dogma filmmaking programme.
