“Having left school with just three O’levels, and being repetitively told by the nuns at my convent that I was “thick and lazy and would never amount to anything” I wasn’t the most motivated Northern lass. I stumbled across the media industry by accident, after getting my first job at Granada Studios Tour – yes, the ‘entertainment theme park’ in Manchester! Perhaps not the best career start, but at least it was a start. In the words of D:Ream “Things Can Only Get Better” and they did! I got my head down and worked hard, carving out my own wonky path through the world of television, music promos and commercials. At the age of 29 I set up my own production company Silver Films and for fifteen years we produced commercials and content within the computer games and automotive industries and, most importantly, we worked direct with clients. Our brands included Lexus, Toyota, Umbro, Ocean Software, Eidos (Tomb Raider) and Motorola. My true passion however, lay with producing short films with social issues. Our mantra back then was to “shoot cars to feed the bank and make short films to feed our soul!” Our love of storytelling and craft paid off, and in 2001 we won a BAFTA for a short film we produced called ‘About A Girl’. And then in 2003 we were nominated for another BAFTA for our short ‘Talking With Angels’. Fast forward to 2018 and I am now the Managing Director and Director of the Board at the British Arrows – the most respected and prestigious awards programme for film advertising in the UK. I’m also delighted to say that I have been able to continue to ‘feed my soul’ by developing and launching a new initiative; BAD – the British Arrows Doorway – which gives new talent, predominately BAME and economically disadvantaged, a chance to start their career in the advertising industry.“