GEORGE REED (he/him)
InterMediaUK, Chair
Senior Media Planning and Continuity Manager, Warner Brothers Discovery
George joined Intermedia in 2019 when he was the chair of AMC Pride. Setting up the AMC Pride ERG was a real learning curve for him, allowing him to gain a wealth of experience and knowledge that he is now pleased to bring to Discovery. As one of the Co-Chairs of Discovery Pride, George champions LGBT+ voices both within the company, media business and the wider community, seeking new and creative ways to grow the Pride group network and promote LGBT+ Diversity. Hailing from West London, George’s TV career has seen him work with channels within Europe, Middle East, Africa and the United Kingdom.
CALLUM GRANT (he/him)
InterMediaUK – Deputy Chair
Head of Commercial Inventory Operations at Global Media
Callum heads up the Commercial Inventory Operations team at Global, the media & entertainment group and is one of the founding chairs of Pride@Global. Global entertains and reaches nearly 52 million people every week, across radio, on Global Player and outdoor. Callum’s experience in media has taken him to several UK & Australian radio companies before moving to London and starting at Global. Callum is currently a mentor at the Global Academy, Global’s University Technical College which teaches the practical skills necessary to succeed in the media, working with the Creative Mentoring Network; and he’s also previously been involved with Manchester Pride & Sydney Mardi Gras.
Trenton Tomlinson (He/Him)
Label Operations Manager, Universal Music Group UK
Trenton Tomlinson is a Label Operations Manger at Universal Music Recordings UK managing campaigns including Record Store Day, National Album Day, and the self initiated ‘Black Story’ which celebrates Black artists within the Universal Catalogue. A passionate advocate for equity and inclusion, Trenton contributes to UMG’s social impact initiatives, chairing The LGBTQ+ ERG The Pride Network, member of UMG’s Taskforce For Meaningful Change & also sits on the BPI’s Equity Justice Advisory Group. With experience spanning A&R, marketing, and creative operations, he combines strategic expertise with a commitment to diversity, creativity and innovation in the music industry
ÆNDRA RININSLAND (ze/hir)
Financial Times – Newsroom Developer, ProudFT Co-Lead
DANIEL SADO (he/him)
ITN – Recruitment Advisor & Pride Network Co-Chair
ITN Pride is a network of LGBTQ+ employees, freelancers and allies who come together to support each other and share experiences. We also work to make ITN the best place possible for LGBTQ+ staff, and to make sure editorially we are supportive and accurate in our coverage of the community.
RAE LANGFORD
Banijay – Director of Group Communications
In her day job, Rae is Director of Group Communications at the global production company Banijay, home to over 130,000 hours of content and some of television’s biggest international brands, advising on creative communications strategies across the 22-market footprint. She spearheads Banijay’s global scripted communications strategy for the company’s network of 50+ scripted labels.
Rae is a passionate advocate for LGBTQ+ equality, especially for marginalised community. She is a proud lesbian and trans ally, and lives in east London with her sausage dog Murphy.
TOM WOODWARD
Film and TV Charity – Head of Fundraising
Tom started his career in sales and distribution in film in Norway. He’s worked in the charity sector since 2007 starting out as managing corporate fundraising and major donor fundraising at LGBT charity Stonewall where he ended up as Head of Major Partnerships when he left in 2015. During his time there he specialised in income generation from a wide selection of for core funding and a variety of project specific fundraising. Since leaving Stonewall Tom has worked at a range of organisations including Albert Kennedy Trust, REDRUK as well as at Hospice UK. He’s now Head of Fundraising at the Film and TV Charity, which looks after the wellbeing of people working behind the scenes in the film and TV Industries.
SARAH REYNOLDS (she/her)
Senior Manager at Hasbro
Sarah joined InterMediaUK in 2019, after launching and co-chairing eOne Pride at Entertainment One, before transitioning to represent Hasbro. She has over two decades of expertise in the entertainment industry, with experience in gaming, as well as both physical and digital media. An avid long-distance walker, regularly tackling Ultra challenges such as the London to Brighton 100k. If walking wasn’t enough to brag smugly about she’s also a cold water swimmer.
Naomi Bennett
CEO & Founder
Naomi is the CEO & Founder of a number of sapphic brands including Lesflicks, a global streaming platform; SaFFlicks, focusing on film festivals and screenings of authentic independent lesbian and bisexual movies; and SapphicIFF which exists to increase investment in sapphic films.
Naomi’s taking her existing knowledge of the sapphic community & combining this with experiences & passion around film. Naomi has been featured showcasing and amplifying lesbian & bisexual films in Forbes, Thomson Reuters, Time Out and Out News Global as she attempts to educate, inform and collaborate to make lesbian & bisexual films easier to make with better budgets and with easier routes to the intended audience.
Naomi provides efficiency, strategy and motivational consultations to LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs and filmmakers. She helps small businesses and independent creators to implement automations and processes to maximise their efficiency as well as looking at marketing and business strategy to increase revenue potential; and provides motivational 1-2-1 sessions to help keep focus, meet deadlines and achieve goals and maximise potential.
Her extensive collection of lesbian interest films on DVD should tell you about her 3 core passions, if her wonderful pride-themed rainbow eyeshadow doesn’t already!
Connect with Naomi: https://blinq.me/RiSzAi7nD1sg
DAMIEN CREEN
w00t Media – Media Manager
ANTHONY CROCKER (he/they)
The Telegraph Media Group – Director of Commercial Success
I deliver meaningful brand experiences in premium digital environments and I am passionate about building a fair and sustainable media industry for all.
JON HOLMES (he/him)
Editor and consultant, Sports Media LGBT+
Jon is a freelance journalist and writer specialising in LGBTQ+ inclusion in sport. He is the founder and lead of Sports Media LGBT+, an industry network, advocacy and consultancy group whose website also serves as a digital publishing platform for related news and content. At the time of writing, he is working on the Pride House Birmingham project at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, having been previously employed by Sky where he was Senior Editor in Sports and co-ordinated business support for the Rainbow Laces campaign.
Jon sits on the steering committees of both the Sports Journalists’ Association and the Football Writers’ Association. He was nominated in 2022 in the Outstanding Contribution to LGBT+ Life category at the British LGBT Awards.
SARAH O’CONNELL
The Sarah O’Connell Show
Sarah starred in a critically-acclaimed BBC Horizon documentary. She has been interviewed on BBC Breakfast, Cosmopolitan, MTV, and BBC radio to raise awareness and help educate about LGBT issues.
Sarah joined the InterMediaUK committee in November 2016. She’s also hosted the Transforming Cinema Film Festival twice, and events for ITV, NBC Universal, Endemol Shine, Warner Bros. Sarah’s been a judge in the grand final of the South Coast Comedian of the Year for 3 consecutive years.
Sarah has recently been nominated for the Positive Role Model Award for LGBT at the National Diversity Awards 2020.
POLLY SHUTE (she/her)
Pink News – Head of Corporate Partnerships
Polly Shute leads on partnerships for PinkNews, the world’s most read LGBTQ+ media title. As part of this role, she runs a Business Community that connects and supports ERG and EDI leads across the UK. Passionate about gender and LGBTQ+ equality, Polly has also co-founded Out & Wild Festival, is Deputy Chair of InterMediaUK and a Director of Trans in the City. Active in the LGBTQ Community for over 10 years, Polly was a Board member at Pride in London for four years. She has also consulted for DIVA Media Group and the London Mayor’s Office. Having been named as one of the OUTstanding Top 20 LGBT Public Sector Leaders, Polly is now a popular LGBT speaker, covering a variety of LGBTQIA and gender issues.
Beginning her career in marketing, Polly has since forged a successful career in sponsorship and fundraising roles. This includes Director roles at The British Heart Foundation and youth and disability charities. Polly has led on inclusion initiatives with leading brands such as Tesco, Barclays, Amazon Music and Channel 4 during her time at Pride in London and with DIVA and PinkNews. In 2023 she will be the only LGBTQ+ lead hosting a stage at the UK’s biggest Outdoor Conference. Her commitment to the LGBTQ+ community and diversity and inclusion have seen Polly honoured with awards such as the 2019 Social Purpose Award, the 2013 Most Innovative Fundraising Campaign award and recognition on both the Pride Power List and DIVA Power List.
IAN WILKINSON (he/him)
Red Bee Media – DevOps Architect, Access Services
Ian is also involved in Red Bee’s Diversity & Inclusivity Forum as an LGBT+ Ambassador. When not working Ian is either singing (“rent a tenor”) studying the piano, growing vegetables and baking!
Alex Macleod (he/him)
Deputy Head of Sales, Scotland – News UK
Ian is also involved in Red Bee’s Diversity & Inclusivity Forum as an LGBT+ Ambassador. When not working Ian is either singing (“rent a tenor”) studying the piano, growing vegetables and baking!
Matt Garforth
Product Manager, Bauer Media Group
Equal parts radio nerd and tech geek, Matt’s been working on radio station websites since 2010 – starting his career as an intern on Choice FM (RIP) and Galaxy (RIP) while studying Radio Production at the University of Westminster, before moving on to Capital and leading the team building GlobalPlayer.com and smart speaker skills. He’s now at Bauer Media Group heading up the tech team for BMG’s websites across Europe, and co-chairing Bauer’s LGBTQ+ ERG pillar in the UK.
Tristan Werkmeister (he/him)
Social Media Video Reporter
Tristan is a video journalist and producer. Prior to joining Reuters, he worked at PinkNews, where he managed a team of video producers focusing on hard news and foreign-language content, and spearheaded the coverage of the 2024 UK general election.
Tristan previously worked at The Associated Press as a Video Journalist, where he self-shot and produced stories ranging from Boris Johnson’s resignation in the UK to flying taxis in Paris. He started his career as a Fact-Checking and Investigative Journalist at France 24 and France Info, using Open-Source Intelligence for visual explainers on terrorism attacks and wars.
David Upton (he/him)
Head of Account Management, Hearst UK
I’ve worked at Hearst UK for 10 years – a lifetime in the digital world! I’m originally from Birmingham, and studied Film at uni, before stumbling into the world of publishing media and advertising. Cinema remains a huge passion of mine, alongside theatre, music and literature – any sort of media, basically! If you find me outside in the sunshine, it’s a special day.
Rebecca Gibbs (she/her)
Partnerships Manager, Telegraph Media Group
I Grew up in the depths of the countryside, but definitely a city person at heart, I love a festival, a musical, a quiet dinner or a pub all equally, but what I most enjoy about living in a city is the chance to meet many different people 🙂
Huw Brennan (he/him)
Sales Coordinator, Formats CIS & CEE
Australian in London for over 17 yrs (came for the weather, stayed for the travel)
Brad B (he/him)