Alison Thompson, president of international sales and distribution at Focus Features, chairs the steering committee this year, taking over from Working Title’s Tim Bevan.

Guiding Lights, the mentoring programme funded by Skillset and the UK Film Council, and run by Lighthouse, has embarked on its 2010/2011 edition.

Optimum Releasing is also backing the initiative. Alison Thompson, president of international sales and distribution at Focus Features chairs the steering committee this year, taking over from Working Title’s Tim Bevan.

The 25 up-and-coming filmmakers and industry professionals selected from across the UK to take part in this year’s programme were introduced at a launch on Tuesday night.

A list of their mentors will be announced next month. Mentors in previous years have included Danny Boyle, Paul Greengrass and Alison Owen. During the one-year mentoring scheme each participant will develop a one-on-one relationship with their mentor and also attend numerous high-level industry training and networking events.

Neil Peplow, director of Skillset said: “We are delighted to support this programme, which gives exciting talent a unique insight into the film industry. Matching industry members at the top of their game with exceptional candidates is a great way of helping the film industry find the talent it needs to survive and thrive.”

Honor Harger, director of Lighthouse added: “We are confident that the filmmakers taking part in this year’s Guiding Lights programme are stars in the making. We are also very excited about the mentors who we are in the process of bringing on board to help take these filmmakers and industry professionals to the next level of their careers.”

This year’s participants are:

Producers
Nicky Bentham
Natasha Carlish
Gael McLaughlin
Purnima Ramadorai
Enrico Tessarin

Directors
David Alexander
Ian Clark
Vesna Cudic
Gaëlle Denis
Tina Gharavi
Richard Lawson
Omelihu Nwanguma
Martin Stitt
Emma Sullivan
Duska Zagorac

Cinematographers
Sarah Bartles-Smith
Jaime Feliu-Torres
Taina Galis
Suzie Lavelle

Business Professionals
Nadia Denton
Tamara Van Strijthem

Writers
Hajdana Baletic
Suhayla El-Bushra
Neth Knowles
Stewart Thompson

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