FOUNDER

A seasoned entrepreneur with a background in tech, healthcare, and product innovation, Simon has supported countless creators through mentoring and investment.

Simon wrote and produced the award-winning short film 1 STAR REVIEW —his first foray into filmmaking—which premiered at FrightFest 2024 in Leicester Square and went on to screen at festivals worldwide, receive the Enhanced AVEC tax credit, and achieve commercial distribution, including being available on Amazon Prime, Tubi, BloodStream, & Shorts TV.

Inspired by that journey, and the incredibly passionate & talented people he met along the way, Simon conceived of 1st Features to help early-career filmmakers navigate the business challenges of the industry.

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PRODUCER ENGAGEMENT

Sintija is a feature film and short-form content producer, and the co-founder of the vibrant Watch Shorts Film Festival.

Her films have been recognised at festivals around the world, including Cannes Shorts, where she was named among the Top 25 Producers on the Creative Pool. One of her films was awarded the Shiny Award for Best Short Film.

Additionally, as part of a digital agency, she has managed digital campaigns and promotional websites for high-profile clients such as Netflix, Queue Magazine, and Warner Bros.

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FILMMAKER ENGAGEMENT

Yoann is an award-winning filmmaker who has produced several short films and brings a sharp operational mindset to every project, shaped by years of experience building and managing high-growth companies in the venture capital space.

He has led teams, overseen multi-million dollar budgets, and scaled ambitious ideas from concept to execution. Seeing a deep parallel between the worlds of venture and filmmaking, with both needing creative problem-solving, strong leadership, financial discipline, and an ability to bring diverse talent together toward a singular vision, he is passionate about applying these skills to help filmmakers navigate the often opaque business side of the film industry.

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EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

Natalie is an award-winning filmmaker, actor, and mentor from Norfolk. In 2024, Natalie was selected as one of BFI NETWORK x Film Hub South East’s Future Producers.

While a student, she was a producer on the independent feature 12, available on Amazon. Later, she produced BIFA-qualified comedy short STI: SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED INTRODUCTIONS and her directorial debut FRACTURED FRAME, which screened at the BFI in London.

With experience across writing, directing, acting, editing, creative producing, line producing, development, post-production supervising, marketing, and festival strategy, she is exceptionally placed to support 1st Features productions.

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RAINDANCE

Elliot is the founder of Raindance Film Festival (1993), the British Independent Film Awards (1998) and the Raindance London Film School (2017).

He has produced over seven hundred short films and seven feature films: the multi-award-winning The Living and the Dead (2006), Deadly Virtues (2013), Amber (2017), Love is Thicker Than Water (2018), the SXSW Grand Jury Prize winner Alice (2019)The Effects of Lying (2022) and Evil Sea (2023).

He teaches screenwriting and producing in the UK, Europe, Asia and America. Elliot has written three books which have become industry standards. In 2009 he was awarded a PhD for his services to film education.

SHORTS2FEATURES

Enrico is an award-winning writer-producer with 20 years of experience working in Film, TV, documentary and branding work. A graduate of London Film School and EAVE, Enrico has worked as a Producer/Line-producer/Co-producer through his own company Pinch Media on film and TV projects for Amazon, Universal, BBC, Al Jazeera and many others.

His work has gathered an Emmy nomination, a United Nations award and many more recognitions from festivals all over the world. He is a visiting lecturer at Royal Holloway university since 2018, and has previously taught at London Film Academy, Metropolitan Film School and many others.

He is also the founder of online film community ‘Shorts2features’, and advises 1st Features along with the rest of the highly experienced S2F Executive team.

CINE CIRCLE

ZB is a producer, marketing expert and founder & CEO of Cine Circle. ZB had a varied career starting off as a producer, switching industries to become the Head of Marketing at StoryTerrace and later on starting Cine Circle, an organisation dedicated to teaching filmmakers the business side of the film and industry.

During his time running Cine Circle he's had the privilege to interview 100+ successful producers, film marketing experts, PR consultants and journalists which has given him a wide knowledge of how to fund, produce and distribute profitable indie films.