Co-founder of Big Couch and FilmChain
Maria’s background is in film production, from line producing, budgeting to distribution strategies. She is passionate about tech solutions that bring transparency and automation in the creative industries, creating a level playing field for creators and enterprises.
Alongside Irina Albita, Maria founded the FilmChain platform that collects, allocates and analyses revenues for film, TV and digital content on the blockchain, replacing the traditional practices with transparent, real-time payments from viewers to filmmakers. The founders won multiple film and tech awards including UKBAA 2019 and were Screen Awards nominees “Gamechangers” 2019. Clients using the platform end-to-end include Council of Europe Eurimages, Golden-Globe winning producers and numerous funds from the UK, Germany, Canada, Australia etc. The team is backed by the UK government through several grants. Imperial College and University of Toronto are their tech partners.
Industry Champions
Sarah Ellis
Director of Digital Development at Royal Shakespeare Company
Tom Chalmers
Founder and Managing Director at Legend Times Group
Lucy Bayliss
Head of Creative Programmes at DanceEast
Charlotte Beevor
Entrepreneurial Designer and Stylist
Stephen Bennett
Joint Head of Policy Lab and Visual artist
Tom Adeyoola
Entrepreneur
Sade Banks
Founder and CEO of Sour Lemons
Mandy Barker
Founder of Sail Creative
Jennifer Johnston
Head of Learning at Into Film
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 and CEO at HOME
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
Head of Talent 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
Chief Executive at Cockpit Arts
Sharon Watson
CEO and Principal of Northern School of Contemporary Dance
Claire Whitaker
Bid Director, Southampton City of Culture 2025
Nia Williams
Director of Learning and Engagement at National Museum Wales
