Advisory Board & Ambassadors
Our Advisory Board and Ambassadors are guiding lights in our industry: outspoken figures of excellence in their field (often fields, being multi-talented) who have contributed to the development of Raising Films’ campaigning and community, and have been beacons for a more inclusive industry. They make us proud to be parent- and carer-filmmakers alongside them.
Following a career break to care for her mother (who has dementia), she has returned to the industry with a focus on original work for stage, screen, and radio. Her debut BBC Radio 4 play, THE THINGS WE NEVER SAID, starring Lia Williams and Siân Phillips, won Best Radio Drama at the Writers’ Guild Awards 2018; a subsequent play for BBC R4, RIOT GIRLS: MALE ORDER, aired in 2018.
On the film front, she was selected for BFI/Bird’s Eye View Filmonomics 2016 and Maison des Scénaristes International Screenwriters’ Pavilion, Cannes 2015. Stage play EXHUMATION was workshopped at the Royal Court Theatre, London. Recent credits include commissions for Leeds Playhouse, LAMDA, and Chinese Arts Now. In summer 2019, she will be Writer in Residence at Theatr Clwyd/Gladstone’s Library.
Ming also writes, speaks, and campaigns on dementia and carer issues and is a member of the Carers Advisory Panel for charity Dementia Carers Count.
In her freelance producing Jules continues to work on projects which challenge expectations and stereotypes: MY MAD FAT DIARY, BABS and GUILT. With her own company Brazen she is developing a number of projects with writers and actors with disabilities and with neurodivergent talent. Brazen Productions is a Disability confident employer and now a Raising Films Ambassador
Jules also works with moving image artists and recently produced a permanent installation for the National Museum of Qatar with British Iraqi artist Jananne Al Ani.
She has appeared in blockbusters such as HOT FUZZ and PADDINGTON, as well as starring roles in indie hits such as ADULT LIFE SKILLS and BLACK MOUNTAIN POETS. She has starred in numerous TV comedies such as HORRIBLE HISTORIES, THE MIGHTY BOOSH, and GARTH MARENGHI’S DARKPLACE. Her role in the stage show version of the latter won her a joint PERRIER award after its successful run in Edinburgh. She had three series of her own surrealist sketch show ALICE’S WUNDERLAND for BBC Radio 4. She has written television sketch shows, pilots, and several award winning short films. She is currently developing her new feature TIMESTALKER with Western Edge Pictures.
Photo: Joanne Davidson/SilverHub
In 2013 the company merged with Pinewood Studios to form Pinewood Pictures, where she continued as Head of Distribution, working on a slate which included large scale releases such as SPOOKS: THE GREATER GOOD. She joined Modern Films, a leading female-led production, distribution and event cinema company, as Head of Distribution in 2018. She obtained her BA from the University of Oxford and is a graduate of both Inside Pictures and the MEDIA Business School’s Marketing and International Distribution Programme.
Natalie is a Trustee and Vice-Chair of Scottish Documentary Institute, which supports documentary filmmakers at every stage of their career and is an Industry Specialist sitting on the Liverpool City Region Production Fund Investment Panel.