Meet Screen Yorkshire's Expert Board of Directors

• John Surtees, Chair

  John is a former Director of Resources at ITV in Leeds & Manchester and Chairman of 3sixtymedia. Previous roles within ITV include Controller of Production (YTV), Director of Resources (North) and MD of Provision.
• Adeel Amini

  Adeel Amini, a Bradfordian, formed The TV Mindset in 2018, a mental health support group for freelancers which advocates for constructive change in the industry, advising and informing policies of key decision makers and institutions. Adeel won the Edinburgh Television Festival Industry Champion Award 2020 for his work on behalf of freelancers during the Covid pandemic. A senior entertainment producer, Adeel’s TV credits include Catchphrase, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, Blind Date and 8 out of 10 Cats Does Countdown.
• Samantha Glynne

  Samantha works at world leading content producers Fremantle, where she is Global Senior Vice President of Branded Entertainment. Fremantle creates and distributes some of the world’s best known drama, entertainment, factual and lifestyle shows; from The Young Pope and American Gods to the X Factor and Take Me Out. Samantha drives branded entertainment activities for Fremantle around the world, working with regional commercial and digital teams to deliver brand strategy, lead key relationships with brands and agencies, and maximise advertiser engagement on TV and digital platforms.
• Ali Rashid

  Ali Rashid is an award winning producer who has served on a number of boards relating to film and television, including PACT. He ran his own production company for a number of years, is a former group head at YTV - Tyne Tees and the former Head of the School of Media, Design and Technology at the University of Bradford.
• Cameron McCracken

  Cameron is Managing Director of Pathe UK. He is a member of the British Screen Advisory Council and has co-produced or executive produced over 20 films including: Girl with a Pearl Earring, The Queen and Slumdog Millionaire.
• Charles Cecil MBE

  Charles is Managing Director of Revolution Software, today one of the world’s leading adventure game companies. Responsible for writing successful adventure games including Broken Sword, the company has also developed games based on major TV & film franchises.
• Sarah Doole

  Sarah is CEO of Red Productions. The Manchester based indie has produced some of the UK's most popular and critically acclaimed drama series, including Happy Valley, Last Tango In Halifax, Years and Years and Harlen Coben's Safe.
• Ian Roe

  Ian is a chartered accountant and business finance consultant working in media for over 20 years. Based for 17 years at Yorkshire Television in Leeds he held finance roles in YTV, Granada Productions and, latterly, ITV Productions where he was Director of Finance.
• Richard Gerard

  Richard has held Financial Director roles at B&Q Logistics and at ITV plc during 10 years working within the production/studios businesses. Richard runs his own FD consultancy business, providing assistance to SMEs in the North of England.
• Martin Burke

  Marketing and commerce specialist Martin Burke brings over 18 years of global marketing & digital experience across Food and Drink, Retail and Entertainment to Screen Yorkshire’s board. Martin currently works as Marketing and eCommerce Director at Bettys and Taylors, home to the UKs favourite brew, Yorkshire Tea and the region's favourite tea and Fat Rascal destination, Bettys, where he is responsible for the Bettys Brand, Marketing and Online Sales. Martin also has 10 years’ experience in the Film, TV and Gaming industries in various marketing and brand roles at Warner Brothers, Sony PlayStation and Electronic Arts.
• Radha Chakraborty

  Finance and strategy expert Radha Chakraborty is Director of Development Media International, an NGO that works on improving child health and cognitive outcomes across 14 countries in sub–Saharan Africa. She is also Vice Chair of BookTrust, the UK’s largest children’s reading charity, and a Trustee of Missing People. After a mathematics degree at Imperial College Radha qualified as a Chartered Accountant and Chartered Tax Advisor at PwC and worked at Shell before becoming a partner at Towers Perrin (now Willis Towers Watson) where she led one of the GB lines of business. She was also Operations Director at Comic Relief.