London, Thursday January 12th 2012: At the Foundation we are very pleased to announce the appointment of independent producer and executive producer Sandra Whipham as our fourth Foundation Director, to work alongside existing founding directors Jess Search, Beadie Finzi and Maxyne Franklin.
Sandra, who had previously been Deputy Commissioning Editor at Channel 4 in charge of commissioning the True Stories strand before setting up independent production house London Fields Pictures, will be working across the full range of the Foundation’s output, including the film slates for our four funds.
“Sandra has a solid and enviable reputation in the international documentary industry, the result of her eye for great projects,” says BRITDOC Chief Executive Jess Search. “She has achieved both critical success and festival exposure with the projects she has worked on as an independent producer and at Channel 4. We are delighted to be able to expand our team to include a Foundation Director with her artistic and professional integrity as well as her extensive experience.”
At London Fields Pictures, Sandra Executive Produced Road to Las Vegas and the multi award-winning Enemies of the People and produced Despicable Dick & Righteous Richard, which premiered in competition at Tribeca 2011 and was broadcast on BBC Storyville this week. During her time at Channel 4, she brought Afghan Star, Burma VJ and Last Train Home to True Stories.
Explaining her decision to join BRITDOC, Sandra says, “Setting up my own company has been an incredibly rewarding experience but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to join such a dynamic and innovative organisation. The next few years are going to be very exciting for BRITDOC as it grows into its next phase and I’m really looking forward to working across the broad spectrum of its activity and planning for the future.”
The last 3 months have seen many exciting developments at the BRITDOC Foundation. In early November Channel 4 renewed its support of the organisation, increasing its funding by one third and extending the sponsorship deal to the end of 2013. Following that, at the end of November, the Foundation announced a major new partnership with the Bertha Foundation including the launch of two new international funds for documentary filmmakers.
Sandra’s first official engagement in capacity as BRITDOC Foundation Director will be at Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, later this month.
Welcome Sandra!