CHRIS ATKINS, Director

As the long time collaborator of writer/ director Richard Jobson, Chris co-produced Jobson’s debut feature, Sixteen Years Of Alcohol, which was screened in competition in many festivals including Edinburgh & Toronto, and won awards at Dinard and the British Independent Film Awards. It also was given 5 star reviews on it’s theatrical release in 2004.

Following the critical success of Sixteen Years, the pair teamed up again to make the UK’s first kung fu movie, The Purifiers. The UK rights were acquired by Working Title was released in the US by New Line.

In 2002 Chris wrote & directed the micro budget dark comedy Feedback on which premiered in Edinburgh in 2004 and was screened in competition at the Raindance Film Festival in 2005.

Following this, he produced Jobson’s third film A Woman In Winter. This was a romantic ghost story set in the world of Quantum Physics, so Chris’ physics degree came in surprisingly useful. The film premiered at the London Film Festival in November 2005 and was nominated for a Scottish BAFTA for Best Film. He then produced Nina’s Heavenly Delights and really wished he hadn’t bothered.

He became interested in all things to do with liberty at the end of 2005 and hasn’t slept since. He has resigned himself to never traveling to America again.

NICKY MOSS, Producer

Nicky is an experienced, hands-on Producer with success in commercials, drama and documentary.

Nicky began her career at the Notion Picture Company in Sydney, making broadcast documentaries. In the UK Nicky went straight into features as Production Manager on the acclaimed drama The Great Ecstasy of Robert Carmichael. The film went on to be the only British film selected for Cannes in 2005 and competed in the prestigious Critics Week category. It premiered in the UK at the Edinburgh Film Festival and was theatrically released in October this year by Tartan Films. It has already enjoyed a successful European cinema release through the Wild Bunch.

After the comedy Too Much Too Young for Pensmith, Nicky went on to A Woman In Winter where she established her Producing partnership with Chris Atkins. She then worked with Chris on Nina’s Heavenly Delights. Earlier this year Nicky co-Produced the horror film Reverb with Swipe Films and EMI Music. She has also produced several commercials with recent campaigns for Carling and French Connection.

KURT ENGFEHR, Co-Producer

KKurt has worked in all areas of television and film production. During stints at HBO, MSNBC and National Video Center, he edited TV shows, music videos and documentaries. He has also been a promo writer for ABC and HBO. Kurt then worked on Michael Moore's Emmy nominated show "The Awful Truth" (1999), where he was Senior Editor.

Kurt has recently won the American Cinema Editors award for best documentary editing for his work on "Bowling For Columbine" (2002), which he also co-produced. Not being able to pry himself away from bowling, Kurt then worked on "A League of Ordinary Gentlemen" (2004), a documentary about life on the pro bowling circuit which won the Audience Award at the 2004 SXSW Film Festival. Kurt followed that up by working on Michael Moore's last film, "Fahrenheit 9/11" (2004) where he was once again, co-producer and editor.

Kurt then worked on “Seamless” a movie about NY fashion directed by Doug Keeve, who previously made, “Unzipped.” Kurt is currently co-producer and editor for the documentary “Trumbo” based on the off-broadway play about Dalton Trumbo which uses his letters as the basis for telling the story of his being one of the blacklisted writers in Hollywood during the 1950’s. Kurt is also finishing up editing a documentary with Angelina Jolie, called either “The Journey In” or “A Moment In The World. He’s also producing a doc about the selling of beauty. Called “America The Beautiful”, it’s getting a great reception on the festival circuit. Kurt is also producing a documentary about the band Manic Street Preachers, who Rolling Stone magazine called, the best band you’ve never heard of.

MARK THOMAS ,Guest Presenter

Mark started his comedy career with a stand up gig in 1985 at the White Lion Pub in Putney. Since then he has toured the UK and abroad, has made seven series’ of his own show for Channel 4, worked as a comic, an activist and a writer. He has a regular column in the New Statesman magazine and has won several awards and accolades for his humour and humanitarian work.

He has performed on many occasions at the Montreal Comedy Awards and Edinburgh Festival, as a regular on Australian and British TV and has curated exhibitions across South America. Mark had presented a diverse range of programmes from Dispatches, to Booked for BBC Radio 4 and his own video Sex, Filth and Religion. In the defence of civil liberties he has found himself at bomb factories, in court, on the front page of the Guardian and banned from Newsnight.

“Mark Thomas Weapons Inspector”, “The Mark Thomas Product” and “After School Arms Club” have been amongst his most popular TV programmes for Channel 4. His exploits have earned him a Time Out Comedy Award and Perrier Award Nomination, as well as a Medal of Honour from the Kurdish National Congress and a Human Rights Defender Award from the United Nations.

He is currently on a sell out UK Tour, and has just published his first book, “As Used on the Famous Nelson Mandela” about his experiences of becoming an arms dealer.

NICK FENTON, Editor

Since graduating from the National Film and Television School, Nick has become one of the UK’s most sought after editors with a range of documentary, drama and comedy credits to his name.

He is perhaps best known for the internationally acclaimed Channel 4 film, The Boy Whose Skin Fell Off which was broadcast in 2004. Nick won a BAFTA for his editing on the film and it went on to win dozens more awards, including an Emmy for Best Documentary and a Royal Television Society Award for Best Independent Production.

Other documentaries include; Bollocks to Cancer, Smart Hearts and Tales From a Hard City. His comedy credits include Nighty Night for BBC 3, and the Chris Morris series, Nathan Barley, for Talkback and Channel 4. Nick has a great eye for a story and his distinctive blend of satire and documentary experience gives him a unique perspective for cutting.

SIMON ROBSON, Head of Animation

Simon completed a graphics and digital media course at Ravensbourne College in 2001 and quickly developed into the one of the most cutting edge and in-demand freelance animators in the UK.

In 2003 Simon animated his first short film, What Barry Says. The film was a response to US lead imperialism in the middle-east and went on to show at festivals throughout the world in 2004, including; The Edinburgh International Film Festival, The World Wide Short Film Festival in Toronto, Resfest, Onedotzero, Rushes Soho Short Film Festival and many others. What Barry Says won best animation awards at The Brooklyn International Film Festival and The Portobello Film Festival 2004.

Simon along with co-director Patrick Vale, then secured financing from Channel 4 for another politically motivated animation, Forest Clearing. The film premiered at The Edinburgh Festival in August 2005 and has gone on to play at animation festivals around the world.

Simon also works with Nexus Productions who produce animated entertainment and commercials for some of the world’s best known brands, including Nike, Sony and Paramount Pictures.