Head Gear, Coutts, Tea Shop and Sigma Films execs join Screen Summit line-up

Head Gear Film CEO Phil Hunt, Sigma Films producer Gillian Berrie, Coutts’ executive director in media banking Judith Chan and Tea Shop Productions’ Mark Lane are the latest high-profile speakers joining the line-up for Screen International’s ‘The Future of UK Film’ summit, to be held on September 24, 2024, at BFI Southbank, London.

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Hunt’s leading film financier Head Gear has invested in recent titles including How To Have Sex, Talk To Me and Fisherman’s Friends: One And All while its upcoming slate features Alice Lowe’s Timestalker and Rebecca Lenkiewicz’s Hot Milk. Hunt also founded UK sales agent Bankside Films and distribution outfit Bohemia Media.

Glasgow-based production company Sigma Films was set up by Berrie in 1996 together with director David Mackenzie and his younger actor brother, Alastair Mackenzie. Currently in production on David Mackenzie’s Fuze starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, the company’s previous credits range from Jonathan Glazer’s Under The Skin to Netflix’s Outlaw King and, more recently, the Taron Egerton-starrer Tetris.

At leading private banking giant Coutts, Chan heads the business development team in its media division, specialising in structuring film and television debt transactions. With over 25 years of experience in media financing, Chan has previously worked at an LA-based investment bank and Ingenious Media.

Lane has a busy slate in the works via Tea Shop Productions, which he founded with LA-based James Harris, and is run alongside Leonora Darby. They recently wrapped production on Rowan Athale’s Naseem Hamed biopic Giant starring Pierce Brosnan and Amir El-Masry, and John Maclean’s Tornado starring Tim Roth and Jack Lowden. Other upcoming titles include Fall 2, 47 Metres Down: The Wreck and Shudder’s The Cycle.

The four join previously announced speakers including Neon Films’ Nicky Bentham, Lionsgate UK’s Marie-Claire Benson, Independent Talent’s Jane Epstein, Studiocanal UK’s Alex Hamilton and True Brit founder and CEO Zygi Kamasa. 

The high-level conference will bring together leading industry executives to debate how the UK independent film sector can build on its strengths to become a fully thriving, equitable and sustainable industry. 

The summit is sponsored by Access Bookings, Film London and UK Global Screen Fund.

The Early Bird price of £215+VAT will be available until Friday August 16.

The conference will aim to give attendees the insight and industry intelligence to:

• navigate the new Independent Film Tax Credit and matching it with international incentives;
• discover what kinds of stories and packages private financiers are looking to support and talent agents are hoping to put in front of their clients;
• learn from distributors who have guided UK indie films to box office success;
• understand how innovations such as AI and virtual production are going to impact and enhance the industry;
• discover the benefits of bringing fresh and diverse voices into the industry.

Visit here to find out more about the event. 

For sponsorship opportunities, please contact Scott Benfold.