Advisory Group

Jim’s interests lie in community exhibition and audience research, although professional experience extends wider to include film and media education, project evaluation and film market analysis. Since 2006 Jim has undertaken a wide range of commissions through his consultancy, Bigger Picture Research, delivering quantitative and qualitative research, project evaluation, training and strategic and business planning advice.

Clients have included the British Board of Film Classification, British Federation of Film Societies, British Film Institute, BOP Consulting, Creative Skillset, Department for Children, Schools and Families, European Audiovisual Observatory, Film Agency for Wales, First Light, Irish Film Censor’s Office, Office of Communications, Screen England, Screen East and the UK Film Council. Jim is also founding Chair of Llancarfan Community Cinema, an award-winning, volunteer-run exhibitor in the Vale of Glamorgan.

Jim has worked in the creative industries for nearly two decades. Prior to establishing Bigger Picture Research he was Head of Research & Statistics at the UK Film Council, Head of Policy at the Advertising Standards Authority and a Film and Video Examiner at the British Board of Film Classification. Jim chaired the UK Film Research Network and was instrumental in setting up the European Film Agencies Research Network. From 2004 to 2007 Jim served on the BBFC’s Advisory Panel on Children’s Viewing, holds a PhD, funded by the British Film Institute, is a member of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, and sits on the Board of Media Education Wales.

Jim has written widely on film subjects in magazines, journals and online, and his book about Peter Jackson’s debut feature film, Bad Taste (1988), was published by Wallflower Press/Columbia University Press in December 2008.

Berwyn is a Welsh Internationalist who has 27 years’ experience in film and events with a significant track record of turning artistic and strategic vision into reality.

In 2006 he established the Iris Prize – at £30,000 it continues to be the world’s largest LGBT short film prize presented annually during the Iris Film Festival in Cardiff, Wales (UK). 6 short films have been produced to date with the Iris Prize. Burger and Followers were selected out of 8200 entries for the 2014 and 2015 Sundance Film Festival. The Iris Prize was recognised by The Queen at a reception for the British Film Industry in 2013.

In 1997 aged 31 Berwyn was appointed the Chief Executive of Sgrîn Cymru Wales in which capacity he established Ffresh, the Student Moving Image Festival of Wales, the Wales Screen Commission, and the National Screen and Sound Archive of Wales (in partnership with the National Library of Wales).

Berwyn has produced content which has been broadcast on BBC, ITV and S4C including Llety Piod (UK) starring Bill Nighy, Colonial Gods (US/UK Co-production) and Boys Village (German/UK Co-production). Among projects for radio, he produced Wales: Land of Film for BBC Radio 2.

He is regularly asked to talk about film and gay rights on TV and radio. He has also served on film award juries and speaks on both programming and event production at universities, conferences and festivals having contributed to the European Short Film Symposium, Cork, Kashish Film Festival, Mumbai, Gaze Film Festival, Dublin, OUFEST, LA and the International Film Festival Summit, New York.

Rhiannon has spent 19 years creating new opportunities for young people through Arts and Film Festivals. In 2016 she was a founding member of Wicked Wales, an international youth film festival screening short films from Wales and from all over the World. In 2017 she has joined a team of volunteers from Rhyl Little Theatre and FHW Young Programmers to launch Wicked Cinema an affordable, community run mobile cinema.

Rhiannon has consistently looked at ways to broaden participation and access in the arts and the creative industries for young people in Wales. A former vice chair of Arts Council Wales, Ffilm Cymru Wales, Trustee of National Museums Wales and Chair of the Scala Cinema Trust, she always tries to involve young people in discussions and as a former Leader of Denbighshire County Council and Councillor for over 20 years, she consistently championed this work. She has recently joined the Hijinx Board.

As an Internationalist she believes in the importance of creating international opportunities for young people and is pleased to be a member of the British Council Advisory Board in Wales.

Sara Beer is the South Wales Regional Officer for Disability Arts Cymru. Her main role is supporting disabled artists and providing information and advice. Sara has been working with DAC for the past 10 years and has been involved in many projects. In 2016 she worked with film maker Ben Ewart-Dean who made a short film, Changing the Focus, which looked at the representation of learning disabled adults in film. Sara has a performance background and still acts when the opportunity arises.

Memo Arts Centre… full bio coming soon

Sana Soni is an independent film sales and distribution executive based in Washington, DC, originally from Budapest and New Delhi.

She has an extensive background in film and TV sales from multiple studios and independents in both Los Angeles and London, including Discovery, Warner Bros, NBC Universal, Signature Entertainment, National Geographic, and Walden Media. A UCLA and New York Film Academy graduate, she brings real-world market expertise to features and series in development or those looking for distribution.

Sana has spoken at the DC International Film Festival, served as a jury member for the Brooklyn Film Festival, and also executive produced an entire short-form TV series from conception to delivery during the COVID-19 lockdown period.

Lost Lands Cinema.

Meet the Film Hub Wales (FHW) advisory group: