Liz Farahadi
Festival Director & Founder
Liz has starred in a number of Award Winning Independent Films, Theatre Productions & Commercials
Fuelled by her passion about creating opportunities within the industry , championing diversity and inclusion she started putting her own projects together, projects she wrote and produced. She then produced, wrote & starred in the Award Winning short film, Love And Other Stuff, & co-produced and starred in the Award Winning short film, Losing Grace which she also picked up Awards for Best Actress in.
She currently has her first feature film in development. This is a crucial film that looks at Domestic Abuse and the varying manifestations this takes, including financial control.
She Champions using Film to shine a light on the disenfranchised & is delighted that alongside her own journey she can support other Filmmakers through The SohoLIFF and through the films she makes giving a voice to those who have been marginalised.
Vanessa Ayiku
Festival Director
An experienced event producer/director and content editor, Vanessa worked on Herne Hill’s Free Film Festival, curating ‘shorts’ film nights for 5 years. She’s passionate about bringing new talent to the forefront and new audiences to independent film.
Vanessa has over 20 years production experience in TV and entertainment, and currently mentors and assesses Media Apprentices across the UK.
She manages SohoLIFF’s content platforms and produces and directs studio interviews and the live awards show.
Erik Moore
Studio Manager at 01 zero one
Erik is a founder of the festival. An experienced sound engineer/designer and video editor who has worked on many short and feature length films including sound design for the Oscar long listed film “Beverley”.
He has managed 01zero-one, a centre for film and video creatives in Soho since 2010. He is about to release his second vinyl album with his band, an upside down tree.
He is the Studio/Technical Producer for SohoLIFF.
Matt Taylor
Studio Filming & StreamYard Producer
Matt has over 20 years experience as a filmmaker, covering scriptwriting, directing, camera, lighting and editing.
Matt was the co-wrote and co-directed on the award winning feature film The Warehouse, that screened on London Live TV and Apple TV.
He has made over 10 short films including NASA & the Space Pen which screened at several international film festivals.
Matt runs FBH Films Ltd.
Steven Conner
Head of Design
Steven is an experienced and passionate graphic designer. He is a Senior Designer at Sold Out Advertising, handling the UK’s top music campaigns.
He runs Conner Design and has created the brand, logo, animations, and illustration for the festival.
Andrea Speziale-Bagliacca
Production Consultant
An award-winning TV Executive Producer, Andrea is passionate about content and has an impressive track record in making programmes for a global audience for over 20 years.
After years of working in the industry, most notably at Viacom and NBC, he is currently working in the third sector, mentoring and helping British youth get into the media industry.
Passionate about cinema, he produced ‘MTV Cinematic’ and ‘MTV @ the Movies’ for several years and is now delighted to working with SohoLIFF.
Billy Herring
Production
Billy is a trained actor and made his West End debut in the musical ‘Common Threads’. He played the title role in M&M Theatrical production’s Peter Pan and the Ben Mayland role in the Musical ‘I Wish’.
Billy also wrote and starred in two award nominated short films – ‘Same Time Tomorrow’ & ‘Father Figure’ and worked with HiWire Entertainment on ‘The Grey Room’ and Essex Film Collective/Impala Films on ‘Cache’. He has just finished writing his first feature film, ‘The Volunteers’, currently in pre-production.
Suzanne Whitlock
Marketing
Suzanne is Head of Digital at RLAM, and in her spare time while not walking her dog George, supports marketing for the SohoLIFF and InterInvest. Cinema and diversity are two big passions, and she is delighted to bring 25 years of experience across a wide range of marketing functions to SohoLIFF.
Favourite film: Call Me By Your Name – a beautiful story of first love, with the aesthetic of Merchant Ivory mixed with a 1980s soundtrack, and the emerging talent of Timothee Chalamet, for me, it is perfection.
Simon Fernandez
Photographer and Picture Editor
Simon is the festival photographer and picture editor based in London with a mind for music, portraiture, landscapes and events.
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Production
Matt Long, Ion Belesis, Alessia Moretti, Jack Mellows, Emily Cavanaugh,
Our volunteers
Ben Barnett, John Higgins, Nathan Bannister.