Be Seen and Be Heard: The Reason

Ebele Tate - MA Directing Fiction Alumni

Writer, producer and director Ebele recently graduated from the Directing Fiction MA, where she was awarded a Channel 4 scholarship. Her graduation short, The Visit, screened at the BFI Woman With A Movie Camera Summit 2021. She is developing a slate of film and TV projects. As a working-class woman of Nigerian and English descent, she is interested in the intersection of gender, class, race and culture and in creating work which challenges the status quo from an authentic perspective.

Ijeoma Akigwe - Director of Marketing and External relations, NFTS

Ijeoma joined the School in September 2019 and is a Fellow member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing. She has worked in the higher and further education sector for over 26 years and has a proven track record in devising and delivering effective, student-focused marketing and communication campaigns. Her achievements in the higher and further education sector has been widely recognised and Ijeoma is the recipient of over 40 national marketing and/or customer experience awards. These include Heist Marketer of the Year and College Marketing Network Lifetime Achievement Award. Ijeoma has also been recognised nationally as winner of the Inspirational Leader Award in Customer Experience by WiM, Women in Marketing.

Following the ground-breaking report, Being Black in the UK music industry, Roger Wilson from Black Lives in music talks about the UK music ecosystem and why it still fails to reflect the diversity of the wider global community? It’s time to see a little less conversation, and a lot more action. Change involves everyone, from manager to musician. The session explores the need for change and the tangible next steps and actions that the industry should be taking.  We’ll discuss what can be done and ways we can all work together to build an inclusive music community in the UK.

Dave Neita

Dave Neita is a lawyer, actor, playwright and poet who routinely employs his creativity to raise awareness and advocate for social and racial justice.  He delivers educational consultancy in schools, creative workshops in mental health services and change management consultancy in a wide range of organisations including NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), Oxford University, The Church of England, Broadmoor Hospital, amongst others.  He holds an MA in Cultural Leadership, and he has published a book and several spoken word CDs. He has written a play on the Windrush Generation, UPLIFT, which he brings to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2022.

Marcus Antony Thomas - MA Directing Fiction Alumni

Having graduated from the NFTS Directing Fiction MA in 2021, Marcus formed part of the 2021 BAFTA Crew Cohort and has just completed an elite, yearlong mentorship scheme with WarnerMedia. Now represented by United Agents, he is working towards directing high-end TV, whilst developing his own slate of feature film and television projects.

Beverley Glean MBE

Founder and Artistic Development Director of IRIE! dance theatre. Beverley has been working in the field of dance, in particular African Peoples Dance for over 20 years.  Trained at the Laban Centre London, The Jamaica School of Dance and The Conjunto Folklorico Nacional de Cuba; she has continued her training and development in dance & culture by working alongside artists from West Africa, Europe, America, and the Caribbean. Beverley founded IRIE! dance theatre in 1985. The company pioneered the move towards representing and promoting reggae music and its movement nuances on stage.  Naturally, over the years, IRIE! has grown in stature. As well as its Touring dance theatre company, it has developed a much sought-after education & community outreach programme and the only accredited course in African & Caribbean Dance in the UK.

Rosie Lehan

Trained at Laban Centre (Trinity Laban) BA (Hons) Dance and Middlesex University MA Performing Arts. Working with Beverley Glean since 2000 Rosie has worked on a diverse range of projects, including Connectingvibes Dance Company for young dancers and the Dance and Diversity project, an action-based research project originally funded by NESTA and ACE to investigate the place of African and Caribbean dance.   Rosie worked as a Dance Lecturer at City and Islington College working on partnership projects with organisations such as Creative Partnerships, conducting research projects and establishing links in the USA and China. Together with Beverley they created and subsequently led The Foundation Degree in Dance 2008-2018 and successfully launched the BA(Hons) Diverse Dance Styles validated by University of Roehampton.  Currently Director of Accredited Training at IRIE! dance theatre.

Shahlaa Tahira

Shahlaa Tahira is a seasoned on-air, online, and live events presenter. After co-hosting BBC Radio 1Xtra Talks (September 20-21), she is focusing on visual content collaborations and season 2 of Badass Mums the Podcast. Shahlaa is also an Executive Producer at Somethin’ Else/Sony Music UK where she focuses on audio content for diverse audiences under 25, working with brands like BBC Radio 1Xtra, Primark, Spotify and more! Shahlaa is that friend who will start a conversation on the train, always has time for a chat, is great at advice, has contagious energy and loves a debate.  She has spent the last 7 years working with brands like Rinse FM, Reprezent Radio, The Roundhouse, 4 Music, Vauxhall, Vans, Trend Centrl’s BKChat London and Lewisham Council, so her transferable skills are endless. In her free time, she DJ’s and creates content and events that encourage conversation around music, education, equality, community, family, and travel.

Nigel Twumasi

Nigel Twumasi is a software engineer turned entrepreneur. He is the co-founder of mayamada: a creative brand that reaches across comics, video games and youth engagement. In 2019 Nigel was recognised as a member of the nationwide 56 Black Men campaign.

In addition to their manga universe, Nigel delivers engaging comic and gaming workshops for young people. He also runs the GamePad community gaming event and is the organiser of the “Do I Look Like A Gamer?” campaign.

Nigel’s team strive to advance diversity and inclusion in creative industries, providing awareness and opportunities for under-represented young people through inclusive events.

Nigel Tadyanehondo - MA Digital Effects Alumni

Nigel is an Independent Colourist based in London working on a wide range of projects which include animations, commercials, music promos, short films and feature films. Nigel is a graduate of the prestigious National Film & Television School, where he studied Digital Effects, specialising in Colour Grading. He has worked on films that have been selected for numerous international film festivals such as SXSW, BAFTA, OSCAR Student Academy, BFI London, Grierson, Locarno and many more. Nigel’s clients include Arsenal, British Vogue, Formula E, EA Sports, Adidas, Nike, Netflix, Amazon, NoTwoWays, Telfar, Dazed and with directors such as Glen Milner, Dean George, Edie Amos, Ben “Rvbberduck” Doyle, Alec Maxwell, Aaron Christian, Sylvia Hong and Dalia Dias.

Angie Le Mar

Angie Le Mar is a Multi Award-winning Comedienne / Writer/ Director/ and Producer.

The first Lady of Black Comedy.

Angie’s career spans over 40 years, starting out at Lewisham Youth Drama, Albany Empire and Second Wave.

Angie blends her own style of creative thinking to bring her own brand of entertainment straight to her audience. She has successfully harnessed the power of laughter to create inspiring and thought-provoking productions, from Stage to TV and Radio. In 2023 lookout for online and TV and Film work. As an Entrepreneur, Angie’s aim is to inspire others to achieve against the odds, not just in show business, but the business behind it.

More info www.angielemar.com 

Jean-Claude Lionbeat

Jean-Claude is Founder of Lionbeat, a Bass Culture Development Agency.

Lionbeat present BASSISbikes: Decarbonised culture vehicles that bring Bass Culture back to the streets, outside of annual carnivals, explaining how they connect to sound systems, and what Lionbeat’s cultural strategy ‘GEARS’ is designed to achieve.

Since 2002, Lionbeat has led artistic and audience development activities for Black music and Sound Systems. This radical activity seeks to improve the provision of production and technical facilities, realms and resources to individuals, groups and works from African, Caribbean and Afropean cultural-heritage communities in the UK.

@Lionbeat
@BASSIStv

Mykaell Riley

MYKAELL RILEY – ACADEMIC /RESEARCHER/MUSIC CONSULTANT/ CURATOR/SONGWRITER /PRODUCER Fellow of Arts & Business & Royal Society for the Arts

His career started as a founder member of the British roots Reggae band Steel Pulse who would go on to receive a Grammy. As a professional writer/producer, his work encompassed TV, Film, resulting in eleven UK top twenty positions, and three UK number ones. He also formed The Reggae Philharmonic Orchestra, Britain’s first black pop string section.

He is a senior lecturer at the University of Westminster where in 2012 he established the Black Music Research Unit. In 2016, having secured the first major AHRC award to research the impact of Jamaican music in Britain, he became a Principal Investigator. In 2017 he championed the Grime Report in partnership with Ticketmaster, which resulted in a change in government legislation. In 2018 he staged the UK’s largest photographic exhibit on the impact of Jamaican music in Britain. In 2019 he released ‘Bass Culture’ the film mapping Soundsystem culture to Grime. Mykaell now sits on the academic board for the Museum of London, Brent 2020 – No Base Like Home, HKW Berlin and is trustee for Tavaziva Dance and Finding. Rhythms

Kamilla Rose

Kamilla Rose is an award winning radio presenter, DJ and journalist, currently a presenter on Capital FM.

Previously she was the host of a daily brunch show on female-led community station, Foundation FM and Redbull’s monthly Normal Not Novelty radio show and live event series.

After joining Capital back in 2021 with a permanent Sunday night slot, Kamilla has fast grown into the Capital family becoming the primary cover for Marvin Humes’ weekday Capital Late show. In 2021 Kamilla Rose stepped into TV presenting and worked alongside Amazon co-hosting their Pop Culture live streamed series, interviewing high profile pop acts, from Tom Grennan and Mimi Webb and also presenting 4Music’s weekly UK Music Video Chart.

As an accomplished music and culture journalist she has been published in platforms such as The Guardian, Complex Mag and Buzzfeed, and has interviewed the likes of Mary J Blige, Kano, Lianne La Havas and many more.

Kamilla is also an experienced voice-over artist working with brands such as The Brits, University of London and Greenpeace.

As a DJ Kamilla Rose has a versatile style, playing house, R&B, hiphop and garage. Events, radio mixes and festivals include Lovebox (2019) Wireless IG Live (2020), Kiss Fresh, Future Bounce, Rinse FM, BBC Radio 1xtra.

James Joseph

James is an artist manager, record producer, educator and impresario integral in the creation of major label jazz artists from the UK – Jason Rebello, Cleveland Watkiss and his brother, Julian. He continues to play a key role in guiding the careers of many other British jazz greats, as well as global artists including Nina Simone and Cassandra Wilson.

He has consulted for BBC Worldwide and has co-produced television and radio shows for the BBC and ITV. Film and the stage are important facets of his reach as an executive producer for projects in Opera and Ballet.

James advocates quality music making with a record of supporting and creating music series’ on television (Jazz with Julian Joseph) concert venues (Wigmore Hall, Barbican). A founder of the Julian Joseph Jazz Academy, trustee of National Youth Jazz Collective, supporter of HMDT Music, and World Heart Beat Music Academy. He also lectures at music academies, universities and conservatoires on the music business and focussed career planning for the music profession. James is a passionate proponent of excellence in the arts believing that music enriches and our society immeasurably and must be valued, encouraged, protected and championed.

TAME DT

TAME DT is a DJ out of North London, constantly exploring the black roots of electronic music. DJing for him is about introducing people to all kinds of music. He enjoys combining genres that have been prevalent in his upbringing with new things he’s listening to daily. He is also an audio producer excited about radio, constantly trying to create ideas to keep radio fresh and exciting… the sky’s the limit for audio, and he is just happy to be a part of it.

Mica Sefia

Mica Sefia is a singer songwriter from Liverpool. Her work now focuses on the Equality, Diversity and inclusion aspects of Higher education. She works as the EDI project coordinator at Leeds Conservatoire alongside working with other likeminded external organisations. She an associate of Black Lives in Music and a champion for social justice.