48 Hour Film Competition
Judges

Patricia Hetherington

Producer, Organiser, Action On The Side, Busy Kiwi Productions

Patricia is a narrative short-form content producer who runs Busy Kiwi Productions. She freelances as a PM and AD. She has taught Media and Film Production at University and FE levels, including at Hult International Business School, Raindance Film School, and Kingston University. She worked with Ealing Film Festival for 2 years, is part of the previewing team for the International Film Festival The Hague and in 2023 was a jury member for Sci-Fi London 48 Hour Film Challenge and the Tels Quels festival (Belgium) LGBTQ+ short film competition Her media industry roles include working at VICE Media, BAFTA albert, and the BBC.

A.D Cooper

Director, Writer, Producer, Hurcheon Films

A. D. Cooper is an award-winning writer and director who’s created a long slate of short films. These have included drama, comedy, horror, documentaries, music videos, poetry and corporates, garnering many awards at international and UK film festivals. She’s also presented and directed her own plays on London stages, and heard her historical radio dramas produced as podcasts by Towton Audio. She’s published joke books, short stories, multiple articles on filmmaking, and has been an award-winning rugby journalist. She regularly runs workshops on writing short scripts on the M.A. Scriptwriting at the London College of Communication.

Neal Romanek

Writer, Editor, The Flint Media

LA-trained and London-based, Neal Romanek is a Writer, writing for and about movies. He is the Editorial Director of The Flint Media, the global news & events hub for media industry sustainability. He was formerly the Head of Communications at BAFTA albert. His books include Skies of Venus and Boudicca.

@rabbitandcrow (X)
LinkedIn

Stacey Carr

Development Consultant

Stacey Carr is currently the Head of Inclusion and Skills at Covent Garden-based theatre, the Donmar Warehouse. She is also an independent consultant coaching creatives, production companies, Talent and brands through the creative process of preparing their TV/Media projects for the partnership and pitch phase, as well as supporting career navigation. An EMMY-nominated Unscripted TV Executive who has always worked toward a more inclusive and representative creative landscape, she developed content for various companies including Nickelodeon, Endemol Shine North America, and OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network prior to moving from Los Angeles to London in 2021.

Jim Fitzmaurice

Writer, Organiser, SGCF

Jim Fitzmaurice is a retired university professor of English from Flagstaff, Arizona and currently an honorary research fellow at the University of Sheffield. Since he has retired, he has written screenplays on a wide variety of topics including an imagined comic encounter between Barack Obama (as an undergraduate poet in LA) and Charles Bukowski. Other comedies and dramedies focus on Margaret Cavendish (duchess of Newcastle) at Bolsover Castle in the 17th century and Raymond Carver in married student housing at the University of Iowa in the 1960s. Jim was in charge of local arrangements for the Sheffield Global Cinema Festival, November 2023.

@JamesFitzmaur19 (X)

Sumandeep Kapour

Blogger, Graduate, Production Assistant

Sumi is a talented filmmaker and graduate from the University of Westminster, where she earned her BA in Television (Hons). She blogs about her personal experiences with muscular dystrophy and queerness. Sumi contributed to the Ealing 48 team as a Production Assistant and now brings her expertise to the AOTS 48 HR competition as a member of the judging panel.