Panel Profiles
Our panel of industry bigwigs have been hand chosen to help us choose the best of the best ideas submitted to the Gate Lab and get those ideas in front of commissioning editors. Read each of their personal biog's below.
Ian White
After beginning his career as a researcher and then producer for Granada TV sports, Ian trained as a director at the ITV giant. He began directing comedy and light entertainment shows before moving on to Coronation Street. He was instumental in taking the show from two to three episodes a week, and then became the Street's senior director. After moving on to shoot numerous episodes of Peak Practice, Casualty and Bad Girls, Ian began to develop projects of his own. As producer he got Thin Ice with Nicholas Lyndhurst commissioned and most recently his drama Cold blood (starring John Hannah, Matthew Kelly, Russell Brand) has been commissioned for new episodes. He likes trees.
Mervyn Watson
After producing countless episodes of Coronation Street, Mervyn produced First among equals, Floodtide and Wipeout before moving on as series producer for Emmerdale. A move to the BBC as deputy controller of Drama, saw him work on Down to Earth and was followed by exec producing Holby City and then onto exec produce 165 episodes of Casualty. Latterly he has been executive producer on Daziel and Pascoe.
Chris Salt
Chris Salt is an award-winning documentary/drama producer-director based in Manchester, with 25 years of network broadcast credits mainly in factual programming. He also works as series and executive producer, script editor, script writer, consultant and project manager. He has extensive experience of developing, and realizing ideas for clients across the media industries, on projects ranging from social documentary, stone age anthropology and football violence to the slave trade and sexual politics via Eric Morecambe and Gandhi. He also works as consultant in the social action and performing arts sectors. He has a hard-earned reputation as an intelligent and visually creative professional from treatment to delivery, a leader of diverse teams who strives for excellence whilst adhering to budgets great and tiny.
Claire Lewis
Having started her career as a newspaper and radio journalist, Claire moved into TV at Granada, becoming news editor across a raft of programmes. She worked in Children's TV and LE before working on 28UP with Michael Apted. After a spell at BBC producing Brass Tacks and Open Air she returned to Granada to win a BAFTA as series editor on 35UP. She returned to the BBC and then to Mentorn films as series producer, before honouring her GTV contract to produce 42UP. After this she became programme exec at Meridian with responsibility for Arts and Documentaries, and then back to the BBC to produce Imagine, Trouble at the top, and Jimmy's farm. After producing 49UP she made the feature documentary Truck of dreams, and is currently shooting another feature End of the Line about the world's depleting fish stocks. Phew!