Former South West Screen boss to be Creative England chief exec

Creative England has appointed South West Screen head honcho Caroline Norbury as its first chief executive officer.

Caroline’s role will be to develop the new organisation when it starts operating next month, becoming the first dedicated support agency for England’s creative industries outside of London.

From October, Creative England will receive DCMS Grant in Aid monies from the BFI to support the strategic development of film in the English Regions. Creative England will also become the BFI’s delegated body for the distribution of National Lottery funds for film.

Reporting to the Creative England Board, which is currently being recruited to take office on 1 October, Caroline will oversee the staffing and structure of Creative England, whilst building on strong local partnerships throughout the English regions and pursuing public and commercial funding for wider creative industry initiatives.

She will lead the agency as it works to transform film culture and creative industries strategy in the English regions, described by Minister Ed Vaizey as “…helping small companies grow, helping new talent establish itself and mobilising public and private investment to grow England’s creative industries.”

Since 2002, Caroline has been the chief executive of South West Screen and in June 2011 was appointed as interim establishment director of Creative England.  Prior to establishing South West Screen she ran First Take Films, an agency dedicated to developing new talent and new voices. Caroline is a member of BAFTA and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. She studied for her first degree in Government at the University of Essex and has an MA in Cultural Leadership from City University, London.

When it launches next month, Creative England will be the first agency to provide joined up support to the content industries of Film, Television, Games, and Digital and Creative Services in the English regions outside London.