Sara Geater is to be the new Chair of Pact Council from January 2017, after being nominated for the position in the recent Pact Council elections process.
Geater is the Chief Operating Officer of All3Media, and was previously COO then CEO of Fremantle Media UK. Prior to this Geater held the post of Head of Commercial Affairs at Channel 4 following a four-year stint as Director of Rights & Business Affairs at the BBC where she negotiated the first Terms of Trade between the BBC and Pact.
Geater has also served as Head of Film & TV at Avalon, Head of Production at Miramax Films and Channel 4 Drama Co-Production Executive.
Sara was previously elected chair of Pact Council in 2014 but had to step down following her appointment to All3Media as Pact’s then constitution did not allow non-qualifying independent producers, such as All3Media, to sit on Pact Council. In July 2016 a new Pact Memorandum and Articles of Association was adopted allowing all members who are not owned by a UK public service broadcaster to vote in, and stand for, Pact Council elections.
The current Pact Council Chair is Laura Mansfield, CEO of Outline Productions and her tenure will run until the end of the year. Geater will take up the post in January 2017 after being elected unopposed in the Pact election.
Geater said: “It’s a real honour to be taking on the Pact Chair at such a pivotal and important time for the industry.
“Pact continues to play a vital role in driving and promoting the commercial interests of TV, film and digital production companies both in the UK and globally. I’m looking forward to building on the great work of Laura Mansfield and the current Pact Council in the New Year”.
Departing Chair Laura Mansfield said: “Sara is one of our industry’s most admired leaders. Her balance of experience and perspective which spans broadcaster, indie and ‘superindie’ will be invaluable at such an important time. I’m delighted to be handing the baton to Sara, and know she’ll be a great leader for Council and support for John McVay and the team. For myself, it’s been a real privilege and honour to represent our industry over the past couple of years as Chair, and I wish Sara and the new Council all the very best”.
The positions of Northern Ireland Representative and Welsh National Representative were also uncontested. Kieran Doherty (Stellify – SONY) will become Northern Ireland Representative whilst Gillane Seabourne (Midnight Oil) will remain Welsh National Representative.
Both will also take up their posts in January 2017.
The voting window for all other positions including Scotland Representative is now open and will close on 1st December 2016. The results will be announced at the Pact AGM on 7th December.
Pact Council oversees the work of the trade body, signing off budgets and financial plans, as well as agreeing the organisation’s policies, campaigns, terms of trade and collective agreements.
All posts are for a two year term, running from January 2017 to December 2018.
Staff Reporter
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