DAVID BELTON
Creative Director
David is an award-winning filmmaker with thirty years of experience directing documentaries and dramas.
At the BBC, he covered the collapse of the Soviet Union, the civil war in Bosnia and the Rwandan genocide for Newsnight. He moved to BBC Docs - specialising in arts and history films, winning a BAFTA for Simon Schama’s Power of Art. He wrote the story and produced the award-winning feature film, Shooting Dogs (US: Beyond the Gates) which garnered him a BAFTA nomination for Outstanding Achievement in a First Feature. And subsequently directed the Grierson-nominated BBC drama series, Ten Days to War.
In 2008 David moved to the US and directed the PBS series, God in America and The Amish - for which he received a Primetime Emmy nomination for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking. Back in the UK, he has made historical films for the BBC on the Cold War and Horatio Nelson as well as contemporary series for Netflix (Captive), Amazon (This is Football) and Channel 4 (Lost Worlds).
In 2014 David wrote a critically acclaimed work of non-fiction, When the Hills Ask for Your Blood.
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BJØRN JOHNSON
Creative Director
Bjørn is an accomplished documentary filmmaker, with over fifteen years’ experience editing films across a broad spectrum of genres. His editorial career began with the BBC where he achieved credits on numerous prime-time scripted dramas including the political series Party Animals, family favourite Merlin and BAFTA nominated Garrow’s Law.
In 2006 Bjørn transitioned into documentaries with his work on the multi award-winning feature Deep Water. Since then, he has been driven to make thought-provoking films that integrate the idea of dramatic storytelling within a factual narrative.
In 2016 Bjørn collaborated with the Royal Gardens in Kew on Kew’s Forgotten Queen; a BBC biopic about Victorian botanical artist Marianne North. His recent credits include - Waco: Madman or Messiah (A&E), Pearl Harbor: The Accused (HBO), Lost Worlds: Deeper into the Black Sea (Channel 4) and Race for the White House (CNN).
POLLY ALLEN
Head of Production
Polly has worked in production management for twenty years and has considerable broadcast knowledge across entertainment, sport, current affairs and documentary programming. For the past decade, Polly has worked almost exclusively within the independent sector as production manager for Hotsauce TV, Sunset + Vine and as Head of Production at the BAFTA and EMMY award winning TV Production company Quicksilver Media.
Polly has overseen many productions including Secrets of the Vatican (WGBH/PBS), Clothes to Die for (BBC2) and Manhunt: Closing in on a British Paedophile (Channel 4).
In 2015 Polly became Head of Production for Black Sea Films, an independent production company set up as an SPV for an ambitious archaeological research and deepsea diving expedition to the Black Sea. She was instrumental in setting up and managing this successful start-up over 4 years. Polly oversaw the sales process on this project and helped secure international sales and deliver to a worldwide market. Polly has extensive experience in putting together budgets and cost reporting them accurately. Her experience in managing teams and working to both big and small budgets is extensive.
HUGO GODWIN
Director of Development
Hugo is an experienced producer across factual television, feature documentaries, drama and short films. A Screen International Star of Tomorrow and a graduate of the NFTS, Hugo began his career with the BBC and has since worked with various leading independent production companies.
In his early career, Hugo produced numerous short films including the BIFA-nominated The Girls (Film London/UK Film Council) and he was the associate producer on the award-winning The Love of Books (BBC Storyville).
Hugo has since developed numerous documentary series and films, including David Starkey’s Music and Monarchy (BBC2), Illuminations: The Private Lives of Medieval Kings (BBC4) and The Genius of British Art (Channel 4). His producing credits include the drama-doc Frankenstein and the Vampyre (BBC2), Ten Billion (Sky Atlantic) and the ambitious maritime archaeology series Lost Worlds: Deeper into the Black Sea (Channel 4).
Most recently, Hugo developed the critically acclaimed feature documentary The Reason I Jump, which premiered at the 2020 Sundance World Cinema Competition.