Our Judges

Diva is a seasoned creative in film and television, having worked for Warner Bros, Paramount, BBC, ITV and independent production companies in developing film, television and digital content. Diva was a producer on the BBC's Waterloo Road and Channel 4’s Hollyoaks, the associate producer of BFI/Film4/Screen Yorkshire feature film, Sky Peals and produced several short films including Bury The Dogs (BFI, executive produced by Shane Meadows), The Witch’s Daughter (BFI, starring Burn Gorman and Jo Hartley). LIA IRL (Roman Coppola NFT funded, starring William Flanagan), Little Pains (Kodansha, staring Leo Ashton), the doc short How Fast Can You Eat A Pickled Egg? (with support from Joe Lycett) and executive produced the short film, ‘Surprise Baby’ for Rope Ladder Fiction.

 

Diva was a mentee on Channel 4's Commissioner's Networking Programme, the Women In Film And TV Mentoring Programme and participated on the BBC Comedy Collective. She obtained a post graduate diploma in script development from the National Film and Television School in 2023.

Jo Schofield is Senior Talent Executive at Screen Yorkshire where she leads the organisations above the line talent development work. Her portfolio at SY includes two iterations of FLEX; the groundbreaking platform agnostic lab, Script Ed (for underrepresented script editors), and co delivering BFI’s Insight: emerging feature film producer programme. Jo also has strategic oversight of The Unit, a Channel 4 and Bradford council funded film hub for grassroot talent, in Keighley. In addition, Jo developed Its Grin Up North with BBC Comedy, spearheading comedy community building across Newcastle, Liverpool and Bradford, and recently lead on the Bradford x West of Ireland producer exchange programme for producers in Bradford and Ireland.   

 

She is a board member at Oldham Coliseum Theatre & has over 20 years experience in film, TV and talent development. Jo is a BAFTA nominated and EMMY winning producer & was at the helm of some of the UK's most beloved storylines as storyline writer & script editor at Emmerdale and Coronation Street, and as Senior Digital Producer for ITV. She was Commissioning Executive for Drama at RTE, running the Short Film Fund, and executive produced Storyland, the broadcaster's first online commissioning platform. During her tenure she was Executive Producer of comedy smash hit Hardy Bucks and co-developed Derry Girl’s writer Lisa McGee’s first showrunner commission RAW for the broadcaster.

Bernhard Pucher graduated from the London Film School in 2007 and has been running his production company Iron Box Films ever since. He is now a The Black List Recommended writer and Award-winning director, with two feature films under his belt, including the horror/comedy RAVERS, starring Georgia Hirst (Vikings), Danny Kirrane (Serpent Queen) and Natasha Henstridge (Species). As a producer, Bernhard Pucher most recently created Greek/Cypriot thriller SIEGE ON LIPERTI STREET (2020) which has won 5 awards at Thessaloniki, was released theatrically in Greece and Cyprus and is currently available on HBO Europe.

 

Arriving in 2025, is the animated feature SPIKED! starring Matthew Goode, which he co-produced with Kapers Animation and Fabrique D’Image. Since 2021, he also launched CenterFrame, a community for filmmakers which helps grow professional networks and helps get their projects made.

Diogo Brüggemann is a Brazilian film critic and writer, and co-host and curator of CenterFrame's Make It Short. He holds a Master’s degree in Literature and Cinema, with a focus on horror, sci-fi, and LGBTQ+ cinema, and pursued academic work at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.

 

His writing on film and television has appeared in publications across Latin America, the United States, and Europe. Passionate about international and independent cinema, he is particularly dedicated to highlighting diverse voices and film festivals worldwide.

Bill Beaumont launched Distant Future Animation Studio in 2011, and for the last 14 years has created animation for entertainment, broadcast, and the corporate sector.  During his career he has also created animation for large scale projections, major national awards ceremonies, 4D rides, and augmented reality experiences.

Also a judge for the Royal Television Society Awards for the last 7 years, Bill says he is honoured to return for a second year to judge the animation category for Bradiff.

Chris Hees is the founder and producer at UK production company Bridge Way Films. He is a BAFTA winning, Oscar nominated producer and alumni of the prestigious National Film and Television School, ACE Producers, Berlinale Talents, Creative England’s Market Trader, Screen Yorkshire’s Flex and Cannes Producer Network. In 2017 he was one of 22 most promising producers to secure slate financing for his company, through the BFI Vision Award 3. In 2018 he co-produced Nathalie Biancheri’s debut feature, “Nocturnal”, and his animated feature, “Absolute Denial” (Dir: Ryan Braund), was selected for competition at Annecy 2021 and was picked up by SC Films for sales.

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His short films have had success internationally, with a number being bought by Disney as well as Cesar and BIFA nominated “Scale” (20222) and European co- production “Wonderwall” (2025) both being selected for Semaine De La Critique at the Festival. Chris was proud to be on the Board of Hull 2017, was one of the first steering group members of the British Screen Forum’s Future Leaders Programme, and is a member of BAFTA.

Owen Seabrook is a director, impact producer and cofounder of Tell Studio, a Leeds-based documentary company that partners with brands and charities to spotlight important causes through engaging and emotive storytelling.

 

He believes in the power of authentic film as a driver of positive change, proven by his film Cut Short: Fighting Against Knives in the North (2023) which won Best Short Documentary at Activists Without Borders Film Festival and is in use in over 300 schools and youth organisations across the UK as a teaching resource for knife crime intervention.

Pishdaad Modaressi Chahardehi is a Bradford-based filmmaker and producer with over 10 years’ experience creating documentaries, music videos, and cultural projects worldwide.

 

He creates films and events that spotlight unheard voices and spark meaningful conversations.

Fiona Georgiou Hunt is an award-winning screenwriter, novelist, director and producer whose career spans theatre and film. She has written widely, from novels and screenplays to books on the craft of writing, establishing herself as both a practitioner and an authority on storytelling.

 

Alongside her creative work, Fiona collaborates with arts, creative and media organisations, using her expertise in story and communications strategy to help them connect with audiences in meaningful ways.

Lorna is a Manchester-based writer who graduated from Falmouth University's screenwriting MA with a distinction in 2022, and whose writing has received a number of awards over the years. These include the ScreenSkills / Dandi Breakthrough Writer Programme in 2024 and a semifinalist in Both The Writers Lab UK & Europe and the BBC Comedy Collective in 2025.

 

Her romantic comedy drama short, Opening Up, has also won a number of awards as well as being officially selected at range of BIFA-, BAFTA- and Oscar-qualifying festivals.

Hafsah works across visual art, film, installation, socially engaged practice and immersive. She is an award winning artist who has over twenty years experience working with leaders in co-creation and digital innovation and is originally from a science background with a first class honours degree and distinction at Masters in Fine Art. Her socially engaged practice, titled Separes Ensemble, continues to practice the tension between art and creativity with communities of people at the centre of cultural change.

 

She is the founder of Working Class Film School, a film-making project for young people across the UK and in the Global South having delivered projects, training and mentorship in Nepal, Hong Kong and more recently Pakistan and has taught with BFI Film Academy and National Film and Television School. Hafsah is currently working on a film trilogy set in her home city of Bradford and an artist film feature about cinema and mohabat (love). She lives in Manchester.

Kamal is a Bradford based, Bangladeshi-British a working class writer, for screen, stage and radio. He received a scholarship to read Architecture at The University of Cambridge and an MA in TV Fiction at Glasgow Caledonian University. His debut BFI short film as writer and co-exec producer, ALL THE LIGHTS STILL BURNING (2023) (directed by Dominic Leclerc and exec produced by Clio Barnard) had its world premiere at The London Film Festival 2023 and screened at BFI FLARE 2024 and The London Indian Film Festival. His Channel 4 funded short film ME AND THE WITCH (2023) (writer and associate producer) is currently being developed by Warner Brothers and Wall To Wall. He was selected for the prestigious BFI Network@LFF Scheme (2023). 

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As Script and Story Consultant, Kamal worked on the double BAFTA nominated ALI AND AVA (2021) (written and directed by Clio Barnard), world premiere at The Cannes Film Festival. Script Consultant for DANCE SCHOOL for Channel 4. Kamal also writes for stage and radio. Credits include: 3-part series BATGIRLS (2024), BANGLA BANTAMS (2022) FATHER'S LAND IN MOTHER TONGUE (2019) and BREAKING UP WITH BRADFORD(2017).

Kamal is developing his debut feature film with the BFI and currently under commission writing an Opera for Bradford Opera Festival and a series with BBC Radio4. 

Ruth is a journalist and media consultant, she is advisory chair of the Creative Cities Convention and MD of Under the Moon Ltd, a company dedicated to nurturing talent, improving opportunities and offering strategic advice on creative industries development.

 

She is also chair of the National Poetry Centre, a flagship project of the Poet Laureate Simon Armitage, creating the nation’s first national cultural centre for poetry, based in Leeds. She is a former creative director of documentaries at BBC Religion and Ethics, Head of Documentaries at Granada Television, MD of Real Life Productions, Executive Director of Screen England and Head of Factual at Tiger Aspect Productions. Ruth started her TV career as a reporter and presenter at Yorkshire Television and is an experienced documentary maker, writer and interviewer at literature festivals and events.