Screen South Announce New Appointments

The regional screen agency for the South East, Screen South, has announced the appointment of Co-Heads of Production Development and Training, Nicole Dade and David Castro, replacing Miranda Robinson, who goes on maternity leave for the next year.
Nicole and David will bring their extensive knowledge of the industry to work on a range of existing projects and to maintain Screen South's excellent record in supporting the region's growing band of internationally acclaimed filmmakers.
Nicole Dade is Head of Development at Atlantic Film Group (Dean Spanley), where she oversees the company's slate for film and TV. She also manages several national filmmaker development programmes, including UK Film Council/Lifesize Pictures' shorts to features initiative Director's Lab, Warp X/BEV's Last Laugh: Women Create Comedy and the London Film Festival's Think-Shoot-Distribute. Previously, she was Production Executive at Screen East. Before that she worked for short film production company First Take Films.
David Castro began working in film, TV and corporate world as 1st AD, Production Manager and Location Manager. This was followed by being a Producer and then five and a half years as CEO of the New Producers Alliance (NPA) and as such supported emerging filmmakers by developing many successful training programs and events with industry and governmental partners.
Over the last five years, he has been a freelance consultant focusing on film and filmmaker development and training. He has been an independent assessor for Screen South Large awards for over six years, as well as a project development manager for South East Media Network (SEMN). He also continues his ongoing research into new methods of combining digital exploitation and distribution of film with new business models to maximise monetary and audience impact.
Screen South Interim CEO Chris Chandler commented: "I am delighted to have the opportunity to work with two such able and experienced people on Screen South's production development and training projects. Nicky's and David's experience and skills really play to Screen South's strengths and priorities - I know we all look forward to a challenging and exciting year."
Both Nicole and David can look forward to an exciting 12 months, with the inaugural 'On The Lot' New Entrants Training Programme set to begin next month at Pinewood & Shepperton Studios, followed shortly thereafter by the Digital Shorts production scheme, which every year attracts hundreds of entries from regional filmmakers. In addition, they will oversee the delivery of hundreds of projects supported annually through the RIFE Open Fund, including the production and development of feature films and the development of the region's filmmakers.
Further information is available at: www.screensouth.org.
(KMcA/BMcC)