Director of Digital Development at Royal Shakespeare Company
Sarah Ellis is an award winning producer currently working as Director of Digital Development for the Royal Shakespeare Company to explore new artistic initiatives and partnerships. The latest partnership she is leading for the RSC is the Audience of the Future Live Performance Demonstrator funded by Innovate UK which is a consortium consisting of arts organisations, research partners and technology companies to explore the future of performances and real-time immersive experiences.
In 2017, she became a fellow of the University of Worcester for her work in the arts and technology. In 2016 she was awarded The Hospital Club and Creatives Industries Award for cross industry collaboration for her work on The Tempest in collaboration with Intel and in association with The Imaginarium Studios. In 2013 she was listed in the top 100 most influential people working in Gaming and Technology by The Hospital Club and Guardian Culture Professionals. In partnership with Google’s Creative Lab, she recently produced Midsummer Night’s Dreaming which won two Lovie Awards for Innovation and Experimentation. In 2012, she produced myShakespeare, an online artistic commissioning platform for the World Shakespeare Festival. In 2011, she was the producer of the RSC’s new work Adelaide Road, which mixed live performance with an app and website map. As a theatre and spoken word producer, she has worked with the Old Vic Tunnels, Battersea Arts Centre, Birmingham REP, Contact, Freeword, Improbable, Southbank Centre, Soho Theatre, and Shunt. She has been Head of Creative Programmes at the Albany Theatre and Programme Manager for Apples & Snakes, England’s leading performance poetry organisation. She is a regular speaker and commentator on digital arts practice.
Industry Champions
Sarah Ellis
Director of Digital Development at Royal Shakespeare Company
Tom Chalmers
Founder and Managing Director at Legend Times Group
Tom Adeyoola
Entrepreneur
Sade Banks
Founder and CEO of Sour Lemons
Mandy Barker
Founder of Sail Creative
Lucy Bayliss
Head of Creative Programmes at DanceEast
Charlotte Beevor
Entrepreneurial Designer and Stylist
Stephen Bennett
Joint Head of Policy Lab and Visual artist
Jennifer Johnston
Head of Learning at Into Film
Anra Kennedy
Consultant Director at The Audience Agency
Vikas Kumar
Founder and Director of GemArts
Amanda Maxwell
Community Manager and board member of shesaid.so
Jo Morrison
Director of Digital Innovation at Calvium
Dave Moutrey
Director of Culture and Creative Industries at Manchester City Council
Laura Pye
Director at National Museums Liverpool
Lara Ratnaraja
Cultural Consultant
Will Saunders
Consultant and Executive Producer
Jaswinder Singh
Director of Asian Arts Agency
Amy Smith
Global Director, Recruitment & Outreach at Framestore
Tolu Stedford
Development Producer at the Independent Film Trust and CEO of Creative Lions Productions
Maria Tanjala
Co-founder of Big Couch and FilmChain
Annie Warburton
CEO at the Goldsmiths' Company
Sharon Watson
CEO and Principal of Northern School of Contemporary Dance
Claire Whitaker
CEO of Southampton Forward
Nia Williams
Director of Learning and Engagement at National Museum Wales
Tom Philipson
Founder of YourStudio and Special Lecturer at Central Saint Martins, UAL
Malath Abbas
Game Designer and Creative Producer
Steven Berryman
President of the Chartered College of Teaching and Senior Deputy Head, Sir William Perkins's School
Laura Giles
Managing Director at Screen Cornwall
Leslie Ramos
Philanthropy Advisor and Director at The Twentieth
Anna Kiernan
Associate Professor in Creativity and Literary Culture, University of Exeter
Fiona Mozley
Novelist
Lilli Geissendorfer
Independent Consultant and Director, Theatre Green Book
Savraj Matharu
Principal Lecturer in Digital Innovation, University of Westminster
Anna Disley
Executive Director, Programmes and Impact, New Writing North
Hannah Pater
Development Director, Big Change
Linda Spurdle
Cultural Consultant and Producer
Josie Warden
Design Researcher
Tobias Revell
Design Futures Lead at Arup
Phil Holton
Senior Qualification Manager, Pearson
Sara Salsinha
Independent Designer and Researcher
Rebecca Swarray
Senior Policy Officer, Greater Manchester Combined Authority, and freelance Curator, DJ and Producer
Robert Kilpatrick
CEO and Creative Director, Scottish Music Industry Association
Grace Shin
Account Manager, Clarity
Holly Lewis
Co-Founding Partner, We Made That
Jack Gamble
Director, Campaign for the Arts
Anna Kime
Freelance artist and Policy Officer, Centre for Cultural Value
Chris Hildrey
Director, Hildrey Studio
Fred Deakin
Director, Fred Deakin and Company Limited
Natasha Trotman
Equalities Designer and Researcher
Ve Dewey
Founder and CEO of Concurrency
Rachel Coldicutt
Founder and Executive Director, Careful Trouble
