01/12/2010

Veteran producer David Parfitt, Oscar and BAFTA winner for Shakespeare In Love, has taken over from Sandy Lieberson as Chair of Film London’s Board of Directors. Parfitt has worked in the film industry for over 20 years and has formerly served as Chair of the BAFTA.

BBC’s Isabel Begg, replacing the outgoing Lisbeth Savill, also joins the board. Begg is Head of Rights, Business Affairs and Partnerships for BBC North and previously Senior Legal and Business Affairs manager in fiction at BBC Films.

Parfitt said, “Sandy is a hard act to follow but I relish the challenge of driving forward Film London during this new exciting period of change and development. As an agency for London they do a fantastic job supporting film business and film culture. As well as building on their excellent track record, I look forward to helping establish a new national strategy for inward investment through film.”

Lieberson said, “The growth of the organisation under my six-year tenure is something I am very proud of. As an organisation it has shown great imagination and innovation seen in successful initiatives such as Microwave, which has not only experienced excellent commercial and critical success but also inspired countless other micro-budget schemes both in the UK and around the world. In David I am confident I am leaving the organisation in very safe hands to not only maintain its important work for the capital but also see it continuing to develop and innovate.”

Film London CEO Adrian Wootton said, “To have new board members who are intimately concerned with contemporary British filmmaking provides us with the kind of expertise essential to Film London’s future developments.”