Four Seasons Film Festival | Judges

Four Seasons Film Festival | Judges

JUDGING PANEL

Ed Fraser is the Managing Editor of the award winning Channel 4 News programme. He recently led Channel 4 News coverage of the Election Expenses scandal into the Conservative Party which won the Investigative Reporters and Editors award in 2017.Ed started as a programme editor with Channel 4 News in 2004 running the main evening show output before becoming the head of the digital team, then later the Head of Home News and Foreign News where he oversaw the programmes coverage of the US Presidential Election of Barack Obama and the Mumbai attacks.Before working with Channel 4 he worked on breakfast television with GMTV then Sky News where covered the Soham murder trial which became an international event when two schoolgirls were abducted and killed by the school caretaker.He has worked extensively in hostile environments covering the Iraq War, Kosovo, Northern Ireland and the Lebanon war in 2006.Channel 4 News was awarded the prestigious Royal Television Society “News Programme of the Year” title in 2017.

Adam Patterson is a freelance producer, director and photographer. Originally working as a documentary photographer Adam covered hard-hitting health and social issues such as drug addiction and teen gangs.Resulting work was published in iconic publications such as Time magazine and The Guardian and is exhibited globally. He was sent to cover the Chile Miners Crisis for the BBC in 2010 where he worked as an Assistant Producer on “Trapped: The Chile miners Story”. Additionally he was given a special mention at the World Press Photo awards for smuggling a camera to trapped Chilean miner Edison Pena, who then photographed conditions while trapped underground. In 2015 he shot a 1 hour BBC Panorama special following Syrian refugees 1500 miles from Greece to Austria. “Europe’s Border Crisis: The Long Road” was fronted by veteran journalist John Sweeney. Other recent films include producing a film in Iran for Channel 4 foreign affairs strand Unreported World and most recently producing “Belfast Buds” – a hard hitting observational film about prescription drug addiction for BBC 3.He has made several short films and frequently produces content for NGOs and corporations across Africa. Adam regularly lectures on photography at universities and galleries.

Mark Heywood is a novelist, screenwriter and filmmaker. He is the co-author of the bestselling Mark Dewar Cordoba novels set in Arabic Spain. The first book in the series was shortlisted for the Crime Writers' Association Debut Dagger Award in 2008. The books are published in English by Endeavour Press, and in Spanish by Ediciones B. Mark is currently developing drama and thriller projects for theatre and television, and he also runs individual and group coaching sessions for actors looking to practise their craft outside of rehearsals and auditions. Mark is represented by the Rupert Heath Literary Agency and the Emptage Hallett Talent Agency. He holds an MA (Distinction) in Screenwriting for Film and Television from Royal Holloway, University of London and has trained at the New York Film Academy. Mark has also acted with the Manchester Youth Theatre and Granada Television in the UK. Mark teaches the monthly Writing Salon at The Hospital Club in Central London and also develops and delivers writing masterclasses for a range of clients.

Lisa Francesca Nand

Lisa Francesca Nand is a journalist, travel writer and broadcaster who started off on BBC Radio before becoming a co-presenter on the Ian Collins show on the UK radio station TalkSPORT. When she was appointed in 2006 she was the first female presenter on TalkSPORT. She has been published widely online and in the UK press (Telegraph, Independent, The Times, Daily Mail, National Geographic Traveller) and is a regular expert guest on national radio and television (a regular travel expert on BBC1's Rip Off Britain, BBC2 Radio2, 5Live and local BBC stations). In 2015 she directed the authored documentary, First Heartbeat, about her experiences with miscarriage, broadcast on TLC UK and Discovery International around the world.

Sarah has been working in radio since the age of 16, her first gig was presenting on CFM in her home town of Carlisle. She has worked across the country presenting for Capital Yorkshire, Capital North East and Capital North West & North Wales. She currently hosts the Capital Weekender with Ministry of Sound across the UK on the Capital network and co-hosts Drivetime on Capital Liverpool with Graeme Smith.

Daniel Deme is a corporate and press photographer with 20 years of professional experience. He has worked for top photo and news agencies such as Getty Images, The Associated Press, the European Pressphoto Agency, and others. He has covered high profile assignments such as the Cannes and Venice Film Festivals, Royal events, top news and entertainment stories. His corporate clients include many household names such as Guinness World Records, Forbes Magazine, Boeing, Bloomberg, etc. Since the beginning of 2016 he is the official in-house photographer of the US Embassy in London. Daniel’s photos have been published on the front pages of many leadeing world newspapers and magazines, including The Times, Guardian, IHS, Grazia, OK, etc.

Award-winning director Matt Harlock’s first feature film, ‘American The Bill Hicks Story’ played over 40 international festivals, was the 2nd most successful documentary released in UK cinemas in 2010 and is 6th on the iTunes Docs Bestsellers chart. His drama short films have been shown on Channel 4, Film4, HBO and Sky. His recent festival hit Ink, Cocks & Rock’n’Roll recently premiered on Vice.com

His company Halflife Films is in pre-production on supernatural horror short Deep Clean (for which they raised £28,000 on Kickstarter) and is currently developing the feature/TV series. He also the founder of No Direction Home, the director’s networking community

Clare-Hope Ashitey is an English actress of Ghanaian descent based in London.

She began her professional career in 2004 starring alongside John Hurt in the genocide movie Shooting Dogs (US: Beyond The Gates). She returned from the shoot to finish her A Levels and prepare for university, winning lead roles in Children of Men (for which she was nominated for the Best Newcomer award at the London Critic Circle Awards) and Exodus along the way.

After completing a degree in Social Anthropology at the School of Oriental and African Studies, Clare went on to make her stage debut at the Arcola Theatre and develop her screen career with various roles in both television and film productions, including her first foreign-language role in Austrian film Black Brown White, her performance in which won her a nomination for Best Actress at the Austrian Film Academy Awards.

Clare recently starred in the critically-acclaimed, unscripted police drama Suspects and has also appeared in hit TV shows Doctor Foster and Master of None.