Meet The Team

Meet our EIFF Directors: Charles, Lily, and Iain.

In 2022, Lily Streames, founder of ESSEX FILM COLLECTIVE invited director/producer Iain B. MacDonald to talk about his journey from his home town of Southend-on-Sea in Essex to Hollywood California. Little could she have known that in 2025 the two of them, together with Essex based filmmaker Charles Sharman-Cox, would have created the ESSEX INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL. 

With the support of an Essex County Council Arts & Culture award, their shared vision is to present a film festival dedicated to breaking down barriers within the film industry and to foster inclusivity and diversity.

In association with ESSEX FILM COLLECTIVE, we are dedicated to shattering barriers within the film industry and fostering inclusivity and diversity.

Our esteemed jury, comprised of influential industry figures, alongside our talented team of curators, ensures a platform where groundbreaking narratives can find their voice and resonate with audiences.

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Iain B. MacDonald

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Lily Streames

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Charles Sharman-Cox

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Patrons

Jane Gull

Director / Screenwriter

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Andrew Douglas

Director

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Jury

Michelle Farr-Scott

Comedy Producer

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Saul Dibb

Director / Writer

Elham Ehsas

Writer / Director

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Busayo Ige

Actor / Writer

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Tom Thurgood

Producer

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Mike Cater

Casting Associate

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Jane Gull

Director / Screenwriter

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Andrew Douglas

Director

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Curators

Jane Gull

Director / Screenwriter

DRAMA

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Kate McCoid

Writer & Director

COMEDY

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Ed Ismail

Writer & Actor

SCI-FI & HORROR/ THRILLER

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ANDREW GOOCH

Creative Director / Animator

ANIMATION

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Alison Cahn

Journalist, Artist and Filmmaker

DOCUMENTARY

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ALFIE WILSON

Acting / Film Student

STUDENT

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CHRISTOPHER ROBERTS

SCI-FI & HORROR/ THRILLER

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JAMES WEISZ

WRITER & DIRECTOR

LGBTQ+ and EXPERIMENTAL

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Core Team

Lee Lawrence

Olivia Bennett

Leah Butterworth

Iain B. MacDonald

Iain B.MacDonald started his career making arts documentaries before winning the Best Short Film award at the Edinburgh International Film Festival which led to his work in Television drama. In the UK he directed a wide variety of projects, from Jed Mercurio’s BODIES to Jane Austin’s MANSFIELD PARK and BBC/Showtime’s EPISODES, for which he was nominated for an EMMY. In 2015 he moved to Los Angeles where he has consistently worked on some of the entertainment world’s best shows including, SHAMELESS, PREACHER and the award winning POKER FACE, on which he served as Executive Producer. Iain’s most recent directorial work is Marvel’s acclaimed DARE DEVIL for the Disney Channel.

Lily Streames

Lily Streames is an actor, writer, producer and director across film, theatre, radio and commercials. In 2021 she won Best Actress at the San Francisco Film Festival for her performance in VIA(DOLO) which was also selected for the BAFTA recognised Aesthetica Festival. Most recently she starred in the award winning short comedy HA’PENNY DIP. When she is not working on film projects her passion has always been to elevate the growth of film in Essex by helping to build a vibrant film community at grassroots level for which she was appointed Cultural Ambassador for Essex.

Charles Sharman-Cox

Charles Sharman-Cox is an actor, writer and director for theatre and film. As a filmmaker he worked with Starving Artists Theatre of Los Angeles adapting and directing two of the company’s acclaimed stage plays, LOS ANGELES FEVER DREAM and CALIBAN REMIX. In 2019 he performed and directed Edgar Allan Poe’s chilling short story, THE TELL TALE HEART winning the Best Horror Award at the Cannes Short Film Festival and two Best Actor Statuettes at the Global Shorts Awards in Los Angeles and the Idyllwild International Festival of Cinema in California. His most recent work is the award winning drama IN ABSENTIA and WALK WITH OPEN EYES – a documentary about living with and surviving prostate cancer.

Jane Gull

Jane Gull is drawn to stories that challenge, entertain and shine a light on lives rarely seen on screen.

Her debut feature My Feral Heart became a landmark success, premiering at Cinequest (USA) where it won the Audience Award, followed by its UK premiere at the Edinburgh International Film Festival. The film was broadcast on the BBC, nominated for a BIFA, won a National Film and Television Award and became the most successful cinema-on-demand release of all time through Ourscreen. It was later introduced by Mark Kermode on BFI Player.

Jane’s second feature, Love Without Walls, won Best UK Film at both the Manchester Film Festival and the London Independent Film Festival. After a successful theatrical run, the film is now available on streaming platforms. Her award-winning short Sunny Boy has screened at festivals around the world and was broadcast on Channel 4, Arte TV, and Apple TV.

A committed voice in the film community, Jane is an alumna of the Berlin Talent Campus, the Edinburgh Talent Lab, and the BFI’s Think-Shoot-Distribute programme. She is a voting member of BAFTA and has served on juries for BIFA, Lift-Off, and Entr’2 Marches in Cannes. She is also a Cultural Ambassador for Essex and is honoured to be a Patron of the Essex International Film Festival.

Originally from Essex and now based in London, Jane trained as an actress at the renowned Anna Scher Theatre School. Her early career took her across the globe as a dancer/choreographer before moving into writing and directing for the stage and, ultimately, film.

Jane is currently developing a slate of original film and television projects.

Andrew Douglas

Director

Andrew began his career as an assistant to the internationally acclaimed photographer Snowdon (Antony Armstrong-Jones). He was a magazine photographer for Esquire and The Face and then a director of music videos and commercials. His 2003 documentary, ‘Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus’, won a Royal Television Society award. He made his movie debut with ‘The Amityville Horror’ (2005), the terrifying remake of the 1970s horror classic. In 2013 he produced and directed ‘Uwantme2killhim’ which was nominated for the Michael Powell Award for Best British Feature Film. Most recently his documentary ‘Stroke of Genius’ concerning the tennis rivalry between Roger Federer and Rapha Nadal was nominated for a Sports Emmy Award.

Michelle Farr-Scott

Comedy Producer

Michelle has been working in British comedy for more than two decades and has produced hit shows including Peter Pan Goes Wrong (BBC1), Bluestone 42 (BBC3) and Whites (BBC2). She also launched and produced BBC Comedy Presents, a live comedy show in Edinburgh and around the country. Most recently, she has been Executive Producer on a number of shows including hit Romesh Ranganathan series Avoidance (BBC1), comedy drama Romantic Getaway (Sky) and sitcom The Other Half (UKTV.) Michelle considers her greatest achievement to be organising an entire comedy series set in war-torn Afghanistan to be filmed on a vineyard in South Africa.

Saul Dibb

Director / Writer

Saul Dibb is a Bafta winning Director and writer and has directed Oscar and Golden Globe winning films. His debut feature, BULLET BOY (BBC Films, 2003), was nominated for several BIFAs, the Golden Hitchcock at Dinard and won the Evening Standard’s ‘Best Newcomer’. It was followed by an adaptation of Booker- winner THE LINE OF BEAUTY (BBC, 2006) with Dan Stevens and Hayley Atwell, which was nominated for the Broadcasting Press Guild Award for Best Drama.

THE DUCHESS (Pathe, 2008), starring Keira Knightley, Ralph Fiennes and Charlotte Rampling, was nominated for and won at the Oscars, BAFTAs, Golden Globes, European Film Awards and many more. Co-written with Matt Charman, SUITE FRANCAISE (eOne, 2013) starred Michelle Williams, Matthias Schoenaerts, Kristin Scott Thomas, Ruth Wilson and Margot Robbie. NW (BBC, 2016), adapted from Zadie Smith’s novel, was nominated for several BAFTAs including Best Single Drama, and won Best Drama at FIPA.
JOURNEY’S END (Lionsgate, 2018), starring Sam Claflin, Paul Bettany, Stephen Graham, Toby Jones and Asa Butterfield, it was a huge critical success and attracted a range of international awards and nominations. It was followed by the opening episodes of DUBLIN MURDERS (BBC/Starz, 2019), a series adaptation of the best-selling Tana French novels, nominated for best limited series at the Banff TV Festival.

In 2020 Saul directed BBC mini-series THE SALISBURY POISONINGS (2020). Starring Anne-Marie Duff and Rafe Spall, it was the UK’s biggest launch of any drama for five years before becoming a global hit on Netflix. His most recent project, THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT, is a BBC limited series starring Timothy Spall, which won two Baftas and three Royal Television Society awards. He is currently shooting the opening episodes of epic crime saga THIS CITY IS OURS for the BBC and Leftbank/Sony, starring Sean Bean.

Elham Ehsas

Writer / Director

Elham is a BAFTA nominated and Oscar-shortlisted writer/director working in Film and Television.He loves stories that explore what it means to be human, how the tiniest of moments can change us forever through connection, and where hope can take us if we are allowed to dream.

His debut short Our Kind of Love was BAFTA long-listed in 2019 and has been screened at festivals worldwide. The film has garnered over 3.6 million views on YouTube to date. His latest short film Yellow was BAFTA nominated in 2024 and shortlisted for the Academy Awards in the same year.

Busayo Ige

Actor / Writer

Busayo Ige is a British actor and writer of Nigerian heritage based in Essex. She graduated from Birmingham City University with a degree in English and Drama and trained at the Identity School of Acting.

Her on-screen experience includes appearances in Eastenders, two Screen Nation Award-nominated series, and winning the ‘Favourite Actress’ award for the web series “SUFFERING” in 2020. Additionally, she has featured as the lead in multiple short films.

Busayo wrote and starred in the BFI-backed short film “Essex Girls,” which received critical acclaim at the BFI London Film Festival in 2023 and is being featured at the Sundance Film Festival. The film was also longlisted for a BAFTA short film award in 2024.

Tom Thurgood

Producer

Tom Thurgood is a producer based in Essex who recently participated in the BFI Network south east creative producer program for 2023. Tom produced the short film “Forgive Me, Father” by writer & director Doreen Nasimbwa starring Mimî M. Khayisa (The Witcher) and Steve Toussaint (House of the Dragon).

Tom works at Netflix as Production Coordinator for Original Series, UK. He is an alumni member of the Screenskills Make-a-Move programme as well as the Television Workshop, Nottingham.

Mike Cater

Casting Associate

Born and raised in Essex, Mike began working as a casting associate to Luci Lenox in 2017, co-ordinating the TV & film department at Frank Stein Studio. Together they have worked on numerous projects, most recently films and series for HBO, Netflix, Amazon & Showtime. He studied English & Spanish at Royal Holloway, University of London. On graduating, he worked consistently in talent management and worked at a top London agency for 4 years before making the move to Barcelona.

Mike’s wealth of experience in management, casting and English language teaching has given him a wider perspective of an actor’s potential and a strong ability to assess what an actor should improve upon to succeed.

Kate McCoid

Writer & Director

Kate McCoid is a working-class Writer/Director based in Essex. Her award-winning short It’s Not Custard premiered at SXSW and has since gone on to find a home at Channel 4’s Random Acts and with horror giant Alter. Kate has written and directed shorts that have screened globally, won awards at horror genre festivals and earned nominations at various BIFA and BAFTA qualifying festivals, most notably Underwire Film Festival’s Under 25 Award and Norwich Film Festival’s Best East Anglian Award. She is currently receiving a channel 4 mentorship partnership in 2024 with her script reaching top 25 out of over 2600 submissions. Her most recent short Shelley is in script development with BFI South East Script Lab.
Alongside her writing and directing, Kate has also established herself in VFX Editorial in the last decade working on titles such as; Andor, The Little Mermaid, The French Dispatch & Detective Pikachu.

Ed Ismail

Writer & Actor

Ed has been a professional actor/writer for 20 years appearing on stage & screen. He is a Mercury Theatre writer and hosts a podcast for actors called Don’t Think, Act!
His short film It’s Over? was nominated for the Havering Award at the Romford Film Festival in 2019 and he’s currently working on his 2nd feature film script.
Ed is obsessed with cinema, tries to watch a film a day, and prefers Grease 2 to Grease.

Andrew Gooch

Creative Director / Animator

Andrew Gooch is creative director and founder of Ultra Studio. He is a motion graphic designer working within the film, TV and advertising industry for over 15 Years. Andrew graduated from Ravensbourne University in 2009 with his degree in motion graphics design. Starting his career as a freelance designer straight out of University, Andrew has worked with many different design and TV studios to hone his creative skills. During this time he developed his skills within Cinema 4D, and pushed his capabilities with every project. In 2012 he was commissioned to work on the London Olympics, creating the motion graphics for the opening ceremony. This defining project lead Andrew to start his own limited company, later evolving into Ultra Studio. 

Alison Cahn

Journalist, Artist and Filmmaker

Alison spent 25 years working in TV current affairs and documentary. Her most famous documentaries include BAFTA-winner Death on the Rock about the shooting of three Irish republicans, which the government tried to ban, and When Michael Portillo became a Single Mum, where the then politician took over the role of a Merseyside single mum for a week.

More recently, Alison started Forgebank Films, specialising in short online documentaries on environmental, educational and community issues, and set up a thriving low carbon work and event space. Now living in an intentional community in the North-West of England, Alison has just completed a Foundation Diploma in Art & Design.

Alfie Wilson

Acting / Film Student

Alfie is an actor in training with a strong passion for both film and theatre. As a student, he has been actively involved in writing, directing, acting, and producing various pieces of theatre, allowing him to gain a well-rounded understanding of the creative process. Alongside this, Alfie is progressing through the LAMDA grading system, further developing his skills and technique. Alfie is grateful for the opportunity to be part of the Essex International Film Festival and looks forward to connecting with other creatives and participating in the festival’s community.

Christopher Roberts

Christopher Roberts is an up-and-coming writer and self-proclaimed film trivia expert, born and raised in Southend on Sea. Since Graduating with a BA in Television Production and Screen Media at the University of Essex, he has continued his passion for TV and film by working on several projects as a Production Assistant and Boom Mic Operator across Essex. Chris is now involved with Movie Picture Box as a Co-Writer for their upcoming horror film Black Barrels and is in the early stages of developing his first TV pilot, Living with Death. When he has the time in his busy schedule, he is also a blog writer for the Essex Film Collective posts Their Favourite Film.

James Weisz

WRITER & DIRECTOR

James is an award-winning freelance writer and director with a background in theatre and live performance. His experimental Dance film, Parallax Point premiered at Leeds International Film Festival going on to being presented in screen dance festivals in Pensilvania, Malta and Germany.
His LGBTQI+ work has been screened at Norwich Queer International Film Festival, Sunrise Festival, Widescreen Film & TV Awards, and publicly across Europe.

James lives in Essex and produces film with Troika Film Collective.

He has a particularly interest in queer narratives, and experimental work that breaks cinematic conventions.

Lee Lawrence

CO-DIRECTOR and FOUNDER of ESSEX FILM COLLECTIVE

Lee Lawrence is the Lead Marketing Videographer for international schools in Thailand, dedicated to producing impactful visual content that bridges schools and their global communities.
 
As Director of the Essex Film Collective, Lee fosters a thriving network of film and TV professionals, building a supportive creative community in Essex.
 
With expertise in video production and a passion for storytelling, Lee combines technical precision with artistic vision to content media that resonates and inspires.

Olivia Bennett

SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER

Olivia Bennett is an Essex born actor/musician and writer. As an actor, Olivia’s credits spread across both TV/Film and theatre – with most notable projects being the new series of Doctor Who on the BBC and The Devils Hour on Amazon Prime. Olivia is also a writer, her first project being a micro short psychological thriller called “The Metronome”, which she also stars in – with many more projects currently in development. Olivia is thrilled to be a part of the EIFF team as Social Media Manager, having worked with Lily Streames with the EFC, Olivia strives to spread the opportunities the EIFF offers as much as she can to indie filmmakers like herself!

Leah Butterworth

EVENT CO-ORDINATOR

Leah Butterworth is a Company Stage Manager specialising in physical, dance and immersive theatre productions.
 
Leah is currently touring around Europe with Theatre of Dreams by Hofesh Dance Theatre hitting festivals internationally and has recently worked with Gecko on their show Kin at The National Theatre. Leah was Company Manager on Punch Drunk’s The Burnt City for a year and enjoyed working on a large scale immersive theatre show.
 
Her main interest is within the creative chaos of theatre and festivals.