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.
• Andrew Sheldon

  Andrew has been at the heart of the TV industry in Yorkshire for more than 30 years, first as a programme maker and then as the co-founder of Leeds based factual production company True North. The company, which is the biggest factual indie outside of London, has a team of more than 150 people making content in Leeds that is seen around the world. In 2018 he played a key role in helping to bring Channel 4’s National Headquarters to the city. Andrew has extensive knowledge of UK broadcasting, both as a programme maker and as an industry figure, having previously appeared in Broadcast Magazine’s annual top 20 list of industry influencers. After recently stepping down from True North, he continues to work as an executive producer and is also a Creative Mentor on the Advisory Board of Channel 4’s Growth Fund.
• 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.
• 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.
• Fiona Melvin

  Fiona is Director of Finance and Operations at New Writing North, the writing development agency for the North of England, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, and oversees the administrative and financial operations of the organisation including HR, risk, governance, and data reporting. Fiona has over 15 years’ experience working in the cultural sector across a range of business, finance, learning and engagement roles, plus four years in the private sector managing an office and event space overseeing occupancy, health and safety and a public engagement programme.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Jamie Sefton

  Jamie Sefton began his career in the games industry more than two decades ago as a writer and editor of magazines and websites such as Arcade, Official PlayStation 2 Magazine and PC Zone. Jamie is now the Managing Director of Yorkshire and Northern England games business network Game Republic – which celebrated its 20th birthday year in 2023 – with more than 1300 game developers and events in the region featuring guest companies including Valve, Sony PlayStation, Microsoft ID@Xbox, Twitch, Ubisoft, Epic Games and Devolver. Game Republic also owns and runs the free GaMaYo network which hosts twice-yearly events in the North for 400+ game developers.