DELEGATES OF THE THREE TV FOUNDATION PROGRAMMES REVEALED
DELEGATES OF THE THREE TV FOUNDATION
PROGRAMMES REVEALED
THE FIRST COHORT OF VISIONARIES REVEALED
London, 10th June 2025: For the first time, The TV Foundation will be welcoming TV’s rising stars of The Edinburgh TV Festival under the banner of Visionaries, the next evolution of the successful Ones To Watch programme. The Foundation’s well-established programmes will continue with attendees who are looking to start their career in TV joining The Network; and industry leaders joining Changemakers to find ways to bring more and better climate stories to our screen.
Twenty-five TV professionals will join the community this year as the 2025 Visionaries. The year-long programme will champion and connect TV’s best and brightest to give them the ability to turn their vision into real change for how the industry works and what we see on our screens. This year’s delegates come from all areas of the TV industry, including scripted and unscripted, and from development, digital, journalism, writing, and production. Of the final 25 selected 72% are women, 64% are from Black, Asian and other ethnic minority backgrounds and 32% have a disability.
After a successful first year, Changemakers returns with ten established TV professionals coming together for a year long programme to put climate at the heart of the industry. This year’s delegation includes Annika Allen Gray, Head of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, All3Media; Dan Cheesbrough, Managing Director, Hartswood Films; Ella Umansky, VP Format Acquisitions, ITV Studios; Jonathan Lewsley, UK Scripted Executive, Amazon MGM Studios; Manali Lukha, Head ITV Millbank Studios; Melissa Hardinge, Senior Commissioning Editor, BBC Children’s 7 to 12, BBC; Nicky Huggett, VP of Factual Development, Nutopia; Nicole Hajimichael, Head of Production, Nine Lives Media; Pia Masters, Head of Development, Happy Prince; and Rob Holloway, Commissioning Executive, Warner Bros. Discovery.
The Network is a free entry-level access programme for anyone who is ready to start a career in television. The 25 delegates who will attend the Edinburgh TV Festival, will be able to take part in workshops with TV industry teams from After Party Studios and BBC Studios Drama Productions with the results seen at sessions at the Festival.
Across this year’s festival delegates from Visionaries and The Network will be seen on stage at specially programmed sessions. These include a BBC Studios Drama Productions Workshop: Eastenders Live Read, After Party Studios and Channel 4.0 Live Pitch, and Channel 4 Random Acts Live Pitch.
The TV Foundation, the charitable umbrella of the UK’s most prestigious TV industry event, The Edinburgh TV Festival, hosts a number of programmes and initiatives that are about making TV open to all – a place where new perspectives, ideas and stories thrive.
Gemma Bradshaw, Impact Director said: This year’s delegates have shown their huge passion for TV and they’re all getting ready to make waves in the industry. Be sure to watch out for them at the Edinburgh TV Festival – we can’t wait to see what happens when we bring them all together.
To purchase passes for the Festival go to www.thetvfestival.com/passes
