Marcus Ryder, the British diversity vet and former BBC news exec, has been named CEO of the UK’s Film & TV Charity.
Ryder will start in the early autumn, replacing Alex Pumfrey, who moved to ITV earlier this year.
He is a BAFTA-winning former BBC news exec who has campaigned on diversity issues for decades. More recently, he set up the Sir Lenny Henry Centre for Media Diversity and was made chair of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.
The charity is having a busy time of it of late, having ramped up its cost-of-living crisis help for film and TV industry workers along with its mental health support and research. During her five-year tenure, Pumfrey spearheaded the creation of the Mental Health Taskforce as well as fundraising efforts for the Covid response. The charity has said that more than £6M ($7.8M) was raised during the pandemic.
Ryder, who will depart the Lenny Henry Centre upon taking on the post, described the organization as an “incredible source of support for people working behind the scenes across the film, TV, and cinema industry, acting as a vital enabler for those facing disadvantage, financial hardship and poor mental health.”
He added: “It is recognised throughout the sector for making a significant contribution to the health and happiness of people working across the industry, and to its future sustainability, and I have admired how, through its research work, it has done much to shape the debate about how we treat the brilliant people who form the bedrock of the UK’s creative sector.”
Meanwhile, former Fremantle Global Head of Digital Claire Tavernier has become the charity’s Chair of Trustees with immediate effect, replacing Cameron Saunders and Andrew Wilson-Mouasher.
