Press Release
DIRECTORS UK CHAIR, BERYL RICHARDS WINS WFTV ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
2 December 2016
Directors UK, the professional association for British screen directors, would like to congratulate Beryl Richards on receiving the ITV Studios Achievement of the Year Award at the 2016 Women in Film & TV Awards ceremony, on Friday 2 December.
The Achievement of the Year Award recognises women who have made significant impacts in front of or behind the camera in film, TV or digital media over the past year.
Beryl is an award winning writer-director, whose work has included several popular television shows, such as the BAFTA nominated All About Me and the BAFTA and Emmy Award nominated My Life as a Popat. Beryl recently received a BAFTA Children's Award for her work on the CBBC show Secret Life of Boys.
As Chair of Directors UK and Chair of Directors UK Gender Equality Group, campaigning for better representation of women directors, Beryl’s contribution to raising awareness and making significant change in the area of women’s equality has justifiably been recognised with this award.
Beryl’s lead on the gender equality campaign and career development initiatives at Directors UK have helped to improve employment prospects and opportunities for all women Film and TV directors. Her work with the ground-breaking research reports from Directors UK, “Women Directors – Who’s Calling the Shots?” in 2014, and “Cut Out Of The Picture - A Study into Gender Inequality Amongst Directors within the UK Film Industry” in 2016, have helped generate media coverage and increase the public’s awareness of the issue.
Beryl continues to promote gender equality and Directors UK campaign objectives working in collaboration with broadcasters and production companies, the Government, key industry stakeholders, during media interviews, conference panels and with the general public, both inside and outside the UK.
On winning the award, Beryl commented: “I’m incredibly thrilled to receive this Woman in Film & TV Achievement award. Directors UK have worked tirelessly over the years championing and campaigning for women Film and TV, it is great to be recognised and celebrated amongst so many other great women and organisations in the industry. I hope the awards and this win will help encourage others to think differently about women working in the industry, and ultimately help boost and encourage more women in the creative industry to stay strong and persevere, and ultimately help improve employment and opportunities for women in the Film and TV industry.”
Beryl continues to work with the Directors UK Women Directors Gender Equality Group, and is also currently developing her feature film Wrong Planet, supported by BFI, Creative England, Creative Europe and The Wellcome Trust.
More news can be found on the Directors UK website at www.directors.uk.com.
Directors UK is the professional association of UK screen directors. It is a membership organisation representing the creative, economic and contractual interests of over 6,400 members - the majority of working TV and film directors in the UK. Directors UK collects and distributes royalty payments and provides a range of services to members including campaigning, commercial negotiations, legal advice, events, training and career development. Directors UK works closely with fellow organisations around the world to represent directors’ rights and concerns, promotes excellence in the craft of direction and champions change to the current landscape to create an equal opportunity industry for all.
· Further information can be found at www.directors.uk.com
· Directors UK Social Media handle: @directors_UK
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