John McVay OBE is the Chief Executive of Pact the UK’s leading Trade Association for Film, TV, Animation, Children’s and Digital production companies. He has been involved in programme making as a producer, consultant and trainer since 1986.  Prior to his appointment at Pact, John held positions as the founding Director of the Research Centre for Television and Interactivity in Glasgow, Director of Training and Education at Scottish Screen, Chief Executive of Scottish Broadcast and Film Training and as a Director of Independent Film and Television production companies.

John contributes to many UK government and international policy fora on the creative industries, broadcasting, trade and investment.  John has extensive experience of policy development across all aspects of broadcasting and television production and leads on all Pact policy development in the UK and Europe.  He also maintains excellent relationships with all of the UK’s major political parties and the devolved assemblies and parliaments.  

John is a member of the Creative Diversity Network, a member of the Creative Industries Council (CIC) and is the industry lead on the CIC sector deal which has recently been agreed with the UK Government.  John is the Chairman of the UK’s digital single market campaign and is the UK rights spokesperson for the Creative Coalition Campaign. 

John has been active on many industry bodies and organisations and has served Chair of the Creative Diversity Network, as a board member of Skillset, Chairman of the Skillset TV Investment Committee, a Governor of the NFTS, and President of CEPI, the pan‑European TV producers' association.  He is also a member of the British Film Commission’s business group and a Board member of the Creative Cities Convention.

At Pact, John led the successful campaign that resulted in changes to the 2003 Communications Act which resulted in the UK having the world’s most creative and commercially successful independent production sector.  This achievement was followed by negotiating and overseeing the successful introduction of increased competition for BBC commissions (The WOCC) in the BBC charter from 2007-17 and the further agreement with the BBC that all programming will be contestable by the end of the BBC Charter 2017-28.  He recently led the successful campaign to ensure UK independent producers retained the regulations that guaranteed their ownership of intellectual property rights.

John is involved in all of the negotiations with UK PSB’s for the commercial contracts that govern their commissioning of independent producers.  As part of his duties at Pact he is often involved in editorial or commercial issues between suppliers and commissioners and works to find a resolution that can work for all parties concerned.

Contact me about:

•    Joining Pact.
•    Membership renewals.
•    Membership services & general membership queries.
•    Problems with accessing the Pact website, logging in or other website troubleshooting.
•    Enquiries about the Pact website – news stories, event bookings, accessing resources
•    Pact webinars

Favourite TV Programme growing up: Fresh Prince of Bel Air

Favourite film quote: "The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didnt exist" - Usual Suspects

Outside of work, most likely to be found: Spending time with family, watching the Arsenal, keeping up with the boxing or in the gym.

Amber Vassiliou is Pact’s Head of Communications. Amber oversees Pact’s overall communications activity and is responsible for dealing with press enquiries and external stakeholder communications.

Amber joined Pact in September 2014 having spent the previous 11 years at Ofcom. As Communications Manager at Ofcom, she specialised in consumer telecoms, and more recently in broadcasting content policy.  Prior to that she worked for the Independent Television Commission. 

She has a BA in French Studies from the University of Manchester and a MA in Public Relations from the University of Westminster.

Please contact Amber about:

-    Press enquiries
-    For member communications, please email: membercomms@pact.co.uk

Favourite TV programme growing up: Degrassi Junior High or Beverley Hills 90210 – anything set in an American High School.

Favourite film quote: “She looks too pure to be pink” – Grease – see above American High School reference.

Outside of work, most likely to be found: Either in the gym or on the stage. 

Annette graduated from the University of Southampton with a LLB Law with European Studies degree where she completed a Erasmus exchange at the University of Malta. Annette previously worked at NBCUniversal, LLC as a Legal Intern and Paralegal.

Contact me about:

• TV and/or Film Registrations
• Tier 1 Compliance and Legislation
• Production Legal and Business Affairs queries
   

Favourite TV Programme growing up: My Wife and Kids

Favourite film quote: “Our greatest fear is not that we are inadequate, our greatest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure” – Coach Carter

Outside of work, most likely to be found: Dancing

Anjani’s role is to work with industry partners to help build diversity across the content production sector. She also provides support and advice to the Indie sector in order to help them develop their diversity policies and to recruit as widely as possible, both in terms of their staff and creative on and off screen talent.  

Anjani has over 18 years experience of production, starting as a researcher for LWT’s factual unit, she went on to produce and direct prime time factual and entertainment shows including Come Dine With Me, Masterchef and Location, Location, Location. She has also worked as a Talent Manager for BBC Drama and most recently collaborated with Creative Skillset on a number of projects around high end drama skills shortages and diversity.  

Contact Anjani about:

• Diversity Policies 
• Diamond 
• The Pact Diversity Training Scheme

Anish is a qualified ACCA accountant.

He initially joined Pact as the Bookings Administrator for the Indie Training Fund in 2007, and has since then fulfilled a variety of roles within the finance and membership department before taking on the role of Financial Accountant in 2014.

Anish also sits on Pact's Audit and Finance Committees.

Contact me about:

• General Accounts Queries including Sales or Purchase ledger
• Payroll
• Escrow and Cinema Levy
• Finance queries relating to International Markets/Missions
• Pact’s office IT and Telephone systems

Favourite TV Programme growing up...Thundercats

Favourite Film Quote...A friend should always underestimate your virtues and an enemy overestimate your faults. Vito Corleone, The Godfather

Outside of work, most likely to be found… On the sofa or at the cinema

 

Conrad trained in the City at Field Fisher Waterhouse, later at Denton Wilde Sapte in their TMT department and was educated at Exeter University, St John’s College Oxford and the College of Law.

Contact Conrad about:

• Legal and Business Affairs
• Bectu Film and TV negotiations
• Production queries
• 
  Favourite TV programme growing up: Brideshead Revisited
  
  Favourite film quote: "Ben, this whole idea sounds pretty half-baked. No, it's not, Dad. It's completely baked".
  
  Outside of work, most likely to be found: on a tennis court.

Contact me about:

• Legal and Business Affairs
• Channel 5 Terms of Trade
• Music

Favourite TV Programme growing up: Loved those loud American cartoons designed to sell toys; Transformers, Masters of the Universe…

Favourite film quotes: "I am big. It’s the pictures that got small" – Sunset Boulevard

"Are these photographs for narcissistic or publicity purposes?" – Performance

Outside of work, most likely to be found: At a gig, the theatre or the cinema

Dawn has had a varied media career spanning over 20 years, which started with five years in the world of commercial radio with Emap Plc, before launching her career in TV.

As a pioneer of local TV, she was head hunted to launch Yorkshire’s first local terrestrial TV channel, where she remained for a further two years as Managing Director. Dawn then went on to be involved with the launch of a second channel, which was the UK's first short film channel which aired on the Sky platform. In her final year she successfully launched the channel into a further seven European countries.

Not satisfied with having experience both in TV & radio, Dawn also ventured into the literary world when she became a published author in June 2006.

Currently Dawn is the Director of International Strategy for Pact. Dawn is responsible for:

• Developing and implementing policy to support independent producers
• Helping members to access international markets
• Developing the international exports strategy
• Engaging and influencing stakeholders
• Negotiating overseas trade agreements & MOUs
• Developing commercialised projects both in the UK and global  markets
• Brand integration and product placement development
  
  Dawn's innovative flair saw her create and launch the UK's first virtual market in the creative industries. More recently she created another first for the industry with the launch of another application which connects global broadcast commissioning execs to the UK independent production sector. 

Dawn has been actively involved in various industry boards and panels:

Board member – Skillset Cymru
Board member – UK Trade & Investment strategy board
Committee member – Sponsored Alliance
Advisory Nations & Regions – Steering committee
Chair – RTS West (Royal Television Society) judges
International expert advisor –DHI project (China Merchant Group)

Dawn has been appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in this year’s (2017) Queen’s Birthday Honours List for services to Exports.

Contact Dawn about:

• Exports
• International markets
• Trade missions
• Product placement
• Brand integration
• Education and training projects
• China Creative Exchange
  
  Favourite TV Programme growing up: Steptoe & Son

Favourite film quote: "Nobody puts baby in the corner" - Dirty Dancing

Outside of work, most likely to be found… Up a mountain

 

Specific areas of responsibility include Television, Political engagement, general legislation and regulation and research on broadcasting.

Contact Emily about:

• Television
• Pact Census
• Ofcom
• BBC
• Political engagement: select committees
• General legislation
• Regulation on the Terms of Trade

Favourite TV Programme growing up: Crystal Maze

Favourite film quote: ‘Roads? Where we’re going, we don’t need roads.’

Outside of work, most likely to be found: In an art gallery

Prior to joining Pact, Hannah worked in production, both out on location and in the production office. Her most recent role before joining was at Leeds’ based factual indie True North.

She graduated from Sheffield Hallam University with a First class BA in Film & Media Production in 2016, and since then has a strong interest in the Film & TV scene around Yorkshire.

Contact me about:

• Upcoming events in the Nations & Regions
• Opportunities in the Nations & Regions
   

Favourite film quote: Hard choice, but as Fight Club’s one of my favourite films – ‘It's only after we've lost everything that we're free to do anything.’

Favourite TV Programme growing up: Come Outside (I loved that spotty plane!) then when I got a bit older, Byker Grove because it was the cool thing to watch (I grew up in the North East)

​​​​​​​Outside of work, most likely to be found: running around a tennis court, or in a nice independent cinema.

Helen worked at Fremantle for 9 years; working as a Contracts Executive in the Fremantle International team, which focused predominantly on EMEA distribution sales. Then as a Business Affairs Executive in the Kids and Family Entertainment team. She also spent six months seconded to the production teams of Thames and Talkback.

Contact me about:

• BBC Terms of Trade
• ITV Terms of Trade
• Channel 4 Terms of Trade
• Writers (TV)
• Equity TV & Film

Favourite TV Programme growing up: The Animals of Farthing Wood.

Favourite film quote: "Come out to the coast, we'll get together, have a few laughs..." - Die Hard

Outside of work, most likely to be found: watching action, sci-fi and/or comic book movies/tv series.

Max is a solicitor specialising in television and film law. He qualified with media lawyers Frere Cholmeley Bischoff (now part of Eversheds).

Before joining Pact, he worked for DCD Media Plc (formerly September Films), where he was Head of Legal and Business Affairs, and Carlton TV Productions, where he was Senior Business Affairs Executive.

Max represents Pact on the boards of CEPI (European Independent Producers), FIAPF (International Producers Association), AGICOA (International TV Retransmission Collection Society), the Albert Consortium and the Joint Industries Grading Scheme for Film and TV.

Contact Max about:

• Terms of trade negotiations/advice
• Production legal and business affairs advice
• Union and Guild negotiations/agreements

Favourite TV Programme growing up: The Muppet Show

Favourite Film Quote: "No good deed goes unpunished"

Outside of work, most likely to be found: In Wiltshire

Rebecca has been a qualified chartered accountant since 2001, after training with Berg Kaprow Lewis.

She worked for a web startup before joining Pact, initially as Interim Financial Controller on a short term contract. After leaving Pact and spending a year with a recruitment startup company she came back to Pact in a permanent role as Financial Controller, and was appointed Financial Director in 2008.

Rebecca is also Pact’s Company Secretary and sits on the Pact Audit Committee.

Contact Rebecca About:

• Any general accounts / membership queries where unable to reach Anish or Adam
• Annual Audit
• Company secretarial
• Pact elections / Council
  
  Favourite TV Programme growing up: Blue Peter
  
  Favourite Film Quote: "Nobody puts baby in a corner" - Dirty Dancing
  
  Outside of work, most likely to be found… Watching Cbeebies

Contact me about:

• Pact Growth Accelerator queries including registration and logging in
• Pact Apps

Favourite TV Programme growing up: The Chart Show

Favourite film quote: "You can never replace anyone because everyone is made up of such beautiful specific details." – Before Sunset

Outside of work, most likely to be found: Going for long walks, watching world cinema movies or listening to alternative/foreign music.

Susie is Pact’s Policy Executive. Susie supports the Policy and Communications team with the delivery of its work. 

Before joining Pact, Susie was a Research Assistant at a think tank. She has a BA degree in Philosophy and Politics from the University of Liverpool, and an MA degree in International Relations from Warwick University. 

Favourite TV Programme growing up: The Simpsons

Favourite film quote: “That’ll do, pig. That’ll do.” - Babe 
 
Outside of work, most likely to be found: watching TV

Victoria joined Pact in 2019.  She speaks fluent French and Italian.

She has a BA Hons degree in Traditional Acupuncture from Oxford Brookes University.

Contact me about: 

•    John McVay's diary
•    Max Rumney’s diary
•    Office management issues

Favourite TV Programme growing up: Triangle

Favourite film quote: “Here’s looking at you, kid” Casablanca

Outside of work, most likely to be found: surrounded by dogs