BAFTA Names Hilary Rosen as Chair

BAFTA has confirmed that Hilary Rosen has been appointed as its new chair.

Following a year as deputy chair, Rosen succeeds Sara Putt, who steps down after a three-year term.

Rosen will oversee the organization’s “mission to champion film, games and television talent through its awards, industry leadership and year-round development programs,” BAFTA said.

A BAFTA television committee member since 2021 and later its chair, she helped shape the TV and Craft Awards and oversee their juries. Outside BAFTA, Rosen is director of commissioning at UKTV, leading its slate of original scripted and unscripted content.

Rosen will be supported by Ade Rawcliffe and Andrew Miller as deputy chairs of the academy. They will serve a two-year term.

After an election, the following folks have been appointed to the board of trustees: Charu Desdot and Caroline Levy are the chairs for BAFTA’s games and television committees, while Nahrein Kemp will take up the role of LIT committee chair.

Additionally, Shrina Shah, chair of the governance and appointments committee, will join the BAFTA board of trustees.

Desdot, who takes over from Tara Saunders as chair of the games committee, is a studio director with over 25 years’ industry experience; her work spans some of the biggest names in games, including Sony and Xbox. She also has extensive BAFTA experience as a BAFTA Breakthrough recipient in 2014 and later serving on games award juries.

Levy, who will take over as chair of the television committee, is an experienced scripted producer, working across the BBC, Paramount and several independent production companies. Alongside production, she has a “strong record of accomplishment in bringing people together to address industry challenges,” BAFTA said, including acting as creative lead for International Horizons Scripted, a training program to encourage international growth for independent production companies in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Kemp becomes chair of the LIT committee. As ITV’s DEI and talent lead, she works with commissioners and producers to deliver its DEI strategy and £80 million Diversity Commissioning Fund and leads its £1 million Diversity Development Fund. Her experience includes the BAFTA Review 2020, BAFTA’s LIT committee and the Mayor of London’s Skills for Londoners Business Board. She is a non-executive director of Creative Access and a recipient of the Women in Film and TV Achievement of the Year Award.

Rosen said, “I have long been passionate about everything BAFTA does to promote the screen arts and champion talent across the screen industries, so it is a great privilege to take on the role of BAFTA chair. I am delighted to be able to do this alongside our newly appointed committee chairs, Charu, Caroline and Nahrein and the rest of the BAFTA board of trustees. All are outstanding industry leaders and with the collective passion and insight we share I’m confident that this board of trustees will continue to build on the important and impactful work that has gone before.”