Kiran Nataraja and Polly Hill Join The Edinburgh TV Festival
Channel 4’s Director of Streaming and Content Strategy, and former TV Festival Advisory Chair, Kiran Nataraja, and Head of Drama at ITV, Polly Hill, are set to join the Edinburgh TV Festival board from July.
Joining Executive Chair Fatima Salaria and alongside current board members Camilla Lewis, (Joint CEO, Curve Media), Danny Horan (CCO, Blast Films), Heather Jones (Chief Creative Officer and UK GM, A+E Networks EMEA), Patrick Holland (Executive Chairman, Banijay UK), Soleta Rogan (Managing Director, Rogan Productions), Tamara Howe (Director of Commercial & Operations, Naked TV), Nataraja and Hill will be responsible for the governance and strategic direction of the Festival as well as overseeing the finance, strategy, and setting of longer-term goals of the Festival in maintaining and building its position as the foremost, agenda-setting event in the industry calendar.
Nataraja joins Holland in understanding the Festival’s inner-workings, first-hand, both having undertaken the role of Advisory Chair (2023 and 2020 respectively) and Hill has been a long term Festival contributor and panellist.
The board appointments come in a year that also sees a new Creative Director at the helm in the form of Rowan Woods, who is building on the recent success and growing status of the Festival, both in the UK and internationally, as the go-to place for industry self-examination and analytical discussion of the most important issues facing broadcasting as well as celebration of TV as a cultural influencer.
Nataraja said: “The Edinburgh TV Festival is a crucial focal point each year for our industry, and it was a privilege to be last’s years Advisory Chair. I’m looking forward to joining the board to continue to help shape the strategic direction of the Festival and further cement its value and importance to those who work in the industry in these ever-changing times.”
Hill commented: “It’s an honour to be joining the Edinburgh Festival TV Board and I’m looking forward to bringing my passion and enthusiasm for TV and our industry to the table. I’ve always loved visiting the Festival and see it as a place to celebrate television in all its forms. We need to embrace changes within the industry, whilst recognising the power of television and its influence on our daily lives, and how it’s a force of good and can instigate cultural changes.”
Of the appointments, Salaria said: “We warmly welcome Kiran and Polly as they join the Festival Board, recognizing and celebrating the wealth of knowledge and expertise they bring. Their contributions will be instrumental in propelling the Festival to new heights. Kiran’s enthusiasm and passion for TV really shone through in her pivotal role in last year’s Festival and it’s exciting that she will not only be bringing that into the backroom set up on an ongoing basis but also her strategic knowledge of an ever-evolving TV landscape. In Polly we have a TV professional with a wealth of experience and industry understanding in a variety of guises from commissioning and production to broadcaster and indie.
“They join an already strong and distinguished board as we look to what the future of the broadcasting industry holds.”
The Festival will once again take place at the EICC in Edinburgh from 2pm on Tuesday 20 August to 2pm on Friday 23 August.
The first speakers and sessions for this year’s Festival will be announced soon. Passes on sale now at www.thetvfestival.com
