UK Screen is pleased to announce that Andrew Lee, Technical Assistant at Directors Cut Films has been named as March’s Shining Star.

A dedicated and committed employee, Andrew’s excellent client manner has resulted in high praise from both colleagues and client’s, who have returned to the facility due to the excellence of the tech team.

Not only has Andrew contributed to overall business performance but he is respected by his colleagues, all who delight in working with him.

Natalie Bayford said:
“Andrew is a very valued member of the Directors Cut Team and we very much appreciate his contribution and efforts in making work enjoyable and rewarding especially in these very challenging and demanding times within the post production world!.”
 

UK Screen is pleased to announce that Sarah Walsh, Production Assistant at Smoke & Mirrors has been named as February’s Shining Star.

Sarah joined the company in March 2010 and ever since instinctive understanding of the complex nature of post production has earned her the respect and trust of her colleagues, leading to further responsibility within the company.

Sarah has fully embraced her role, offering constructive ways to help improve internal workflow, confidently deliver complex quotes and embracing her place on the APA course using it to productively further her knowledge.

Louisa Thomson, Head of Creative Production said:

“I’m thrilled that Sarah’s brilliance has been publicly recognised!  She goes above and beyond expectation every day and I simply don’t know where we’d be without her.  It’s going to be fun watching her storm ahead into a shining future. Thanks so much for the chance to reward her.”
 

11th October 2010 – This month’s Shining Stars winner is Katie Ringer, Production Manager, Molinare.

Katie’s speedy career progression, joining Molinare in 2009 as a runner and with 3 promotions since then, immediately caught the judge’s eyes.

“Every month we're amazed at her dedication to the company and her contribution to our productions.” Explains Jola Piesakowska, Creative Director for Molinare “No situation is too big for her to handle, her communication skills are fantastic and on every job our clients approach me to poach her.”

 “Last month Katie particularly excelled herself when two projects overran and all senior staff were on leave.

1. Completely reworked the post schedule for a 30 sec advert shot on film, and with no prior experience oversaw the vfx deliveries, final grade and delivery to client.

2. Reworked storyboards for a series of programme sponsorships liaising with client. Oversaw model shoot and first offline. No prior experience.

3. Her accounting skills have proved invaluable ensuring all contracts, invoicing and supplier paperwork was in order, invoices went out and suppliers got paid!

Over this fortnight she clocked up a total of 66 hours overtime (on top of her usual 90 hours)
And to top it all both clients raved about her organisation and her client care.”

The Shining Stars rewards those who go above and beyond the call of duty, have a direct impact the business and who show drive and dedication to their role. Katie has clearly done all of these in spades – a fantastic winner!

 Shining Stars is an exciting recognition scheme sponsored by Allan Chapman & James Insurance Brokers and is designed to help motivate and reward non-creative employees within UK Screen member companies, who often fulfil invaluable but unsung roles. Companies simply nominate a member of staff whose performance has been over and above the call of duty, each month a new Shining Star is chosen, and, in December, all winners will celebrate in style at a ‘Winner’s Dinner’.

So if you know someone who fits the bill, email Angela Durrant on angela@ukscreenassociation.co.uk to receive an application form.

2nd September 2010 – This month’s winner is Eddie Barros, Broadcast Dispatch, Prime Focus.

“Eddie has been a pillar of the library and dispatch for over six years.” Andrew Dorrall, Broadcast Library & Dispatch Manager explains “Ever reliable, he has a calm and unwavering approach to the random and chaotic demands of holding together the dispatch department, and does it always maintaining a great atmosphere with a friendly sense of fun.”

“In the last month Eddie has reached far beyond his call and filled not only the dispatch role but also in the absence of our dispatch runner Eddie has taken in hand many of the demands of running all local outgoing deliverable's. He has also gone to lengths of travelling to Windsor in his own spare time for the specific delivery of a particular company item saving the company both money and time.”

The judges were impressed with Eddie’s constant dedication to his role and willingness to go that extra mile (literally) to make sure the job gets done. They were also impressed with his attention to detail, making sure all packing bands that get thrown away are cut so as not to harm any wildlife. A very deserving Shining Star!

Shining Stars is an exciting recognition scheme sponsored by Allan Chapman & James Insurance Brokers and is designed to help motivate and reward non-creative employees within UK Screen member companies, who often fulfil invaluable but unsung roles. Companies simply nominate a member of staff whose performance has been over and above the call of duty, each month a new Shining Star is chosen, and, in December, all winners will celebrate in style at a ‘Winner’s Dinner’.

So if you know someone who fits the bill, email Angela Durrant on angela@ukscreenassociation.co.uk to receive an application form.

3rd August 2010 - This month’s winner is Becky Sim, Bookings Manager for Sequence Post.
Ben Foakes, Company Director, explains “Becky Sim has literally saved the day! Throughout the last few months since Sequence Post was forced to vacate its Great Chapel St premises due to Cross Rail's building acquisition program, Becky has worked closely with our appointed legal team to process the recommended Cross Rail compensation claim.”

Sifting through piles of receipts, invoices and time sheets and delivering all relevant information required, without Becky's outstanding effort and loyalty to the company we would never have received a penny.”

The criteria for winning Shining Stars is to show that nominees have gone above the call of duty and made an impact on the business - Becky has clearly done both. By taking on extra duties in addition to her day-to-day work, she has ensured that Sequence Post received the funding to help recover costs incurred by the move which has undoubtedly impacted the business. A true Shining Star.

Shining Stars is an exciting recognition scheme sponsored by Allan Chapman & James Insurance Brokers and is designed to help motivate and reward non-creative employees within UK Screen member companies, who often fulfil invaluable but unsung roles. Companies simply nominate a member of staff whose performance has been over and above the call of duty, each month a new Shining Star is chosen, and, in December, all winners will celebrate in style at a ‘Winner’s Dinner’.

So if you know someone who fits the bill, email Angela Durrant on angela@ukscreenassociation.co.uk to receive an application form.
 

12th July 2010 - This month’s winner is Harry Ash, Director of Finance for Rushes.
Joce Capper, Managing Director for Rushes explains “Harry joined SVC in 1986 as Financial Controller, becoming Senior Management Accountant for Ascent Media in 2003 and Director of Finance for Rushes in 2004. He has continued to take on extra responsibilities over the years. Harry now divides his time between Rushes and Soho Film Lab and keeping them both in healthy order; he particularly enjoys the Film Lab environment and is always animated when talking about what goes on there!”

In recent weeks Harry has taken on the mammoth task of end of year and end of month accounts for both companies, demonstrating his ability to work well under pressure, whilst still dealing with the everyday enquiries.

Joce goes on to say “Even in stressful moments Harry has a personal touch, while keeping the company purse strings in order, performing a role that doesn’t receive as much recognition as it deserves.”

The judges were impressed not only with his ability to work well under pressure , but also Harry’s interest and passion for the business, plus his desire to get involved with the various facets of the company.

Shining Stars, is an exciting recognition scheme sponsored by Allan Chapman & James Insurance Brokers and is designed to help motivate and reward non-creative employees within UK Screen member companies, who often fulfill invaluable but unsung roles. Companies simply nominate a member of staff whose performance has been over and above the call of duty, each month a new Shining Star is chosen, and, in December, all winners will celebrate in style at a ‘Winner’s Dinner’.

So if you know someone who fits the bill, email Angela Durrant on angela@ukscreenassociation.co.uk to receive an application form.

8th June 2010 - This month’s winner is Craig Allison, Systems Manager at The Senate Visual Effects.

Sarah Hemsley, Chief Operating Officer explains: “Craig has been with us for about 6 years and is an invaluable member of our team. As we have moved on to working on large scale VFX awards on feature films, Craig has managed ours systems and data department through the good and bad times, always working out the most economical way of sorting out any problem, while working with more and more demanding productions.”

In the last month Craig has had the challenge of installing a number of servers urgently to help save render time which has meant he’s had to work through the night to ensure the client’s needs were met. One of the key criteria for Shining Stars is winners actions having a direct impact on business and making sure the clients expectations are met and that they leave the job happy obviously has a huge impact on business! The judges were impressed with Craig’s dedication to his work, both over the past month and the 6 years he has been at the company, growing with the company and doing what it takes to get the job done. A true Shining Star.

Shining Stars, is an exciting recognition scheme sponsored by Allan Chapman & James Insurance Brokers and is designed to help motivate and reward non-creative employees within UK Screen member companies, who often fulfil invaluable but unsung roles. Companies simply nominate a member of staff whose performance has been over and above the call of duty, each month a new Shining Star is chosen, and, in December, all winners will celebrate in style at a ‘Winner’s Dinner’.

So if you know someone who fits the bill, email Angela Durrant on angela@ukscreenassociation.co.uk to receive an application form.
 

5th May 2010 - This month’s winners are Amy Pacy & Samantha Kennard, Client Services Team at ChilliBean. Both worked tirelessly around the clock to ensure a job which was delivered to them late, met its tight transmission deadline. Peter Godden, Commercial Manager, explains “Even after a few 11pm finishes the week before Amy and Sammy knew they could be in for another late one when a job came in for 96 versions of a new TV campaign, for a major FMCG to be distributed to around 30 countries.

“The post was due to finish on Friday afternoon and delivery of the masters expected at ChilliBean at around 4pm. However this was slightly over optimistic, the post required a number of re-edits and caption changes delaying delivery. Not knowing when the tapes would arrive, Amy and Sammy waited on standby as there were transmission deadlines lines to meet. Eventually at 3.15am on Saturday morning the tapes arrived……. now work could begin!”

Amy and Samantha worked through the night encoding the masters, adding metadata tags and uploading onto the ChilliBean servers and downloading links e-mailed to the global recipients. They eventually finished at 6pm on Saturday evening and remained on call throughout Sunday to verify downloads had completed and providing helpdesk services.

All their hard work all paid off as the campaign made its transmission deadline of Monday. Well deserved Shining Stars!

Shining Stars, is an exciting recognition scheme sponsored by Allan Chapman & James Insurance Brokers and is designed to help motivate and reward non-creative employees within UK Screen member companies, who often fulfil invaluable but unsung roles. Companies simply nominate a member of staff whose performance has been over and above the call of duty, each month a new Shining Star is chosen, and, in December, all winners will celebrate in style at a ‘Winner’s Dinner’.

So if you know someone who fits the bill, email Angela Durrant on angela@ukscreenassociation.co.uk to receive an application form.

8th April 2010 - This month’s winner is Ann Runeckles, Corporate Social Responsibilities for Pinewood Studios Group.

Ann balances her time sifting through the numerous charitable requests received daily at the Studios whilst implementing the most worthy activities to inspire both local and UK-wide filmmaking communities.

 “During the last month she worked with Pinewood’s nominated charity First Light and Bond’s producers to launch Second Light – a new talent development scheme for young people of Black and Minority Ethnic backgrounds” explains Mark Hamilton, Comms and Public Affairs Manager for Pinewood Studios Group “Ann liaised with productions to organize an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour and talks from on-site tenants for the participants to kick off the scheme. Ann also used her persuasive skills on prominent producers at Pinewood to conduct a session on making a film to a local youth group in Iver Heath.”

The judges were impressed with Ann’s dedication and passion for her role. Ann’s work is far reaching not only impacting the company, but also helping inspire and pave the way for the UK’s next generation of filmmakers. A true Shining Star.

Shining Stars, is an exciting recognition scheme sponsored by Allan Chapman & James Insurance Brokers and is designed to help motivate and reward non-creative employees within UK Screen member companies, who often fulfil invaluable but unsung roles. Companies simply nominate a member of staff whose performance has been over and above the call of duty, each month a new Shining Star is chosen, and, in December, all winners will celebrate in style at a ‘Winner’s Dinner’.

So if you know someone who fits the bill, email Angela Durrant on angela@ukscreenassociation.co.uk to receive an application form.
 

2nd March 2010 - This month's winner is Melanie James, Communications Executive for Prime Focus

Derek Moore, Creative Director at Prime Focus explains "It is hard to pick one particular time where Mel has gone above the call of duty because in all honesty she does it many times a day. This week we had a major presentation on which required us to produce a lot of promotional material. Mel dived in, grabbing the task by both horns and project managing it through to a highly successful conclusion. This required her to liaise with our colleagues in North America and India, our London design team and the printers, staying late into the evening throughout the week to ensure everything was ready." Derek goes on to say "During this, Mel continued to deal with other requests, ensuring everyone got what they needed. Without her we would be lost, and she never gets (or claims) the credit for her successes."

Mel demonstrates consistent commitment to her role and the judges were impressed with her 'can do' attitude and enthusiasm. Mel not only came up trumps on providing the material for this particular presentation, but clearly goes to great lengths to provide support for her colleagues without fail. A true Shining Star.

Shining Stars, is an exciting recognition scheme sponsored by Allan Chapman & James Insurance Brokers and is designed to help motivate and reward non-creative employees within UK Screen member companies, who often fulfil invaluable but unsung roles. Companies simply nominate a member of staff whose performance has been over and above the call of duty, each month a new Shining Star is chosen, and, in December, all winners will celebrate in style at a 'Winner's Dinner'.

So if you know someone who fits the bill, email Angela Durrant on angela@ukscreenassociation.co.uk to receive an application form.

3rd November 2009 –This month’s winner of Shining Stars goes to Magdalena Przezdziecka, Production Assistant at Framestore

Simon Whalley, Executive Producer explains “My workload is very high and I am dealing with a number of different projects at any given time, across varying media (Film, TV, Digital). Magdalena has assisted me over the past few months and has been fantastic. However, it was this month that she really excelled herself.”

Simon goes on to say “We are doing all of the post production on the new series of Armando Iannucci's 'The Thick Of It'. We had to deliver 4 of 8 episodes very quickly, as the TX date is imminent, and so Mags was assisting me on this project. One of the other jobs I was working on started to have a few issues, and so I asked Mags to look after The Thick Of It entirely so I could focus attention elsewhere.  She stepped up massively and single-handedly produced all of the post production on the first 4 episodes, delivering AHEAD of schedule.”

The producer of the show was delighted and not only praised her efficiency and good humour throughout the project but that she could produce the rest of the series.

The judges all agreed that Magdalenda’s ability to step up to the mark and deliver the production single-handedly, ahead of schedule was impressive enough, but to also receive such high praise from the client and the promise of more work too, made her unquestionably this months Shining Star.

Shining Stars, is an exciting recognition scheme designed to help motivate and reward non-creative employees within UK Screen member companies, who often fulfil invaluable but unsung roles. Companies simply nominate a member of staff whose performance has been over and above the call of duty, each month a new Shining Star is chosen, and, in December, all winners will celebrate in style at the Vision Charity Ball.
 

4th October 2009 - This month’s winner is Gary Bradbury, Edit Support Manager at Evolutions.

Lorraine Lydon, Operations Manager for Evolutions explains “This month has put an incredible strain upon the edit support staff at Great Pulteney Street Site. Technical issues have caused disruption whilst bedding in new infrastructure. Our resident shining star Gary Bradbury has demonstrated the perfect example of our company value to "Take Responsibility".”

Gary worked tirelessly putting in long hours (in excess of 70 hour weeks) and motivating his team through a challenging time in order to help return the business to a normal working service.

The judges were all impressed with Gary’s dedication – Gary is no stranger to Shining Stars having won last year as well. His hard work and calm approach shone through again in his nomination and his attitude and professionalism have certainly impacted the business.

Shining Stars, is an exciting recognition scheme designed to help motivate and reward non-creative employees within UK Screen member companies, who often fulfil invaluable but unsung roles. Companies simply nominate a member of staff whose performance has been over and above the call of duty, each month a new Shining Star is chosen, and, in December, all winners will celebrate in style at the Vision Charity Ball.

So if you know someone who fits the bill, email Angela Durrant on angela@ukscreenassociation.co.uk to receive an application form.
 

3rd September 2009 - This month’s winner is Mike King, Engineer and IT for De Lane Lea.

As I'm sure everyone knows De Lane Lea suffered a blow last month when the building next door was ravaged by fire and the De Lane Lea building had to be evacuated. As at this date they still do not have full access to the building and have not traded since the 10th of July as a result.

Helen Alexander, Financial Controller for De Lane Lea explained “Mike King has shown his dedication the DLL by ensuring that within a day of the disaster we had email so all staff and clients could be contacted and kept informed of ongoing developments. He has subsequently been a very calm, key member of the recovery planning with a hands-on approach to ensuring that our IT systems have been up and running for internal DLL staff as well as those clients still using the premises in the offices at Royalty House. With his help we managed to have temporary offices set up within 3 days of the fire.”

“His input and help when dealing with insurance companies has been tremendous. He has gone above and beyond his remit under what can only be described as a very demoralizing period in the long history of DLL and is definitely Shining Star.”

The judges were all delighted to be able to announce Mike as this months Shining Star. They all agreed that in these very testing times for De Lane Lea, Mike had certainly risen to the challenge - his dedication and hard work had unquestionably impacted on the business which is exactly what the Shining Stars recognition scheme is about.

Shining Stars, is an exciting recognition scheme designed to help motivate and reward non-creative employees within UK Screen member companies, who often fulfil invaluable but unsung roles. Companies simply nominate a member of staff whose performance has been over and above the call of duty, each month a new Shining Star is chosen, and, in December, all winners will celebrate in style at the Vision Charity Ball.

So if you know someone who fits the bill, email Angela Durrant on angela@ukscreenassociation.co.uk to receive an application form.

Last month's winner was James Wichall, Technical Support for Reelsound.

Since starting with the company back in March 2007 doing work experience, James has made impressive progress in the company.

Michael Wabro, Company Director, says "...he has progressed in astounding bounds, & has shown an amazing ability to tackle tricky technical situations." Wabro goes on to say "...the most impressive thing he has done was fixing our Digi delivery server which went down last week, piece by piece until we restored it, data and all. It cost us a few motherboards & power supplies worth a few hundred quid at the most. This saved us the better half of £10K to buy a new one or £2K a year in support fees from the manufacturer."

The judges all agreed that due to James' clear enthusiasm for his job, his positive outlook and the fact that he has made such a big impact on the company both financially and as a member of the team, he was a clear winner of this month's Shining Stars.

Shining Stars, is an exciting recognition scheme designed to help motivate and reward non-creative employees within UK Screen member companies, who often fulfil invaluable but unsung roles.

Companies simply nominate a member of staff whose performance has been over and above the call of duty, each month a new Shining Star is chosen, and, in December, all winners will celebrate in style at the Vision Charity Ball.

So if you know someone who fits the bill, email Angela Durrant on angela@ukscreenassociation.co.uk

This month's winner of Shining Stars goes to Simon Graham, Avid Engineer at Hire Works Ltd.

Simon spent two weeks in Korea last month to provide technical support at the 2009 ISAF World Match Racing Championships, working long intensive hours to make sure the job was done.

Lawrie Read Executive Chairman at Hire Works nominated Simon following the receipt of two unsolicited hero grams form the CEO of the broadcast company covering the event and the main News Picture Editor.

They had the following to say about his outstanding efforts:

"I just wanted to say what a star Simon is - absolutely invaluable. It all worked like a dream this year with your gear and with him. He worked stupid hours with us and never grumbled once, and he is nothing but a total credit to your company, one we would be delighted to take with us anywhere and on any job. Frankly, I can't think why we would look anywhere else for the services you offer after the experiences we have had over the past two Korea's, and we may well have some more similar types of jobs coming along...."

"I just wanted you to know that Simon was a star - you should be very proud to have him on your staff...we were pulling crazily long hours - all of us - leaving the hotel every day at 7.30am and usually finishing around 9 or 10pm (one day it was midnight) and throughout Simon kept his calm, helpful attitude and sense of humor. The man deserves a bonus!!"

With this amazing feedback, the Judges felt that Simon had obviously done an excellent job and had clearly gone above and beyond the call of duty to ensure the clients received the best possible service. Gaynor Davenport commented “The Shining Stars recognition scheme is all about how individuals make a real impact on business – I can think of no finer way of doing this, than impressing your clients so much that they only want to work with you in future!"

Shining Stars, is an exciting recognition scheme designed to help motivate and reward non-creative employees within UK Screen member companies, who often fulfil invaluable but unsung roles. Companies simply nominate a member of staff whose performance has been over and above the call of duty, each month a new Shining Star is chosen, and, in December, all winners will celebrate in style at the Vision Charity Ball.

So if you know someone who fits the bill, email Angela Durrant on angela@ukscreenassociation.co.uk to receive an application form.
 

This month's winner of Shining Stars goes to Robin Durham, Buildings Manager at Rushes.

Robin has the challenging job of looking after a complex building and 100 employees.

Amongst other things, Robin has helped to make Rushes greener and saved the company money with his environmentally friendly initiatives including recycling schemes, water coolers, electricity monitoring and the installation of bike stands.

Along with fixing front doors, working out air con nightmares, looking after health and safety, Robin has also been overseeing the training of work experience staff (he looks after 3 per week form inductions to demos) and looks after all junior staff. He is currently working on introducing apprenticeships in to the company too.  

Joce Capper, Managing Director of Rushes comments "he's good natured, always willing to help and a firm believer in the power of positivity. The glass is always half full and there's always a solution to be found...He's great at managing budgets, keeping a close eye on the pennies and reducing costs..."

The judges were all impressed with Robin's cost saving initiatives and felt that he clearly impacted the company on all levels by keeping the day to day running of Rushes, introducing new initiatives and always with a "nothings too much trouble" approach to his work. A clear and well deserved Shining Star.

Shining Stars, is an exciting recognition scheme designed to help motivate and reward non-creative employees within UK Screen member companies, who often fulfil invaluable but unsung roles. Companies simply nominate a member of staff whose performance has been over and above the call of duty, each month a new Shining Star is chosen, and, in December, all winners will celebrate in style at the Vision Charity Ball.

To nominate your staff for next month, applications need to be submitted by Friday 19th June. Simply email Angela Durrant on angela@ukscreenassociation.co.uk to receive an application form.

We are pleased to announce the winner of April's Shining Star award is Mat Appleton who works as Head of Client Services for ENVY.

Mat was nominated by Facility Director, Natascha Cadle who highlights his meteoric rise through the company, from runner to Head of Client Services in a year.

Since then he has hired nearly 100 runners and launched the ENVY Academy to speak with young people from several universities and create communication between them and the industry.

Natascha comments "He has changed so many peoples lives by giving them an opportunity to work in Post Production and many of them have moved on from being a runner and doing extremely well in their careers. I think he is instrumental in finding talent and nurturing the next generation of ENVY (and industry) creatives. I believe this certainly is one of the most positive things you can do as a company." 

Gaynor Davenport, CEO of UK Screen commented "the judges were all agreed that Mat's consistent enthusiasm and dedication to nurturing new talent  through the ENVY Academy and recruitment process made him stand out as a very deserving Shining Star"

This month's winner of Shining Stars goes to Emma Shannon, Post Production Supervisor at mediahouse (IMG Media Ltd).

Emma has been a member of the mediahouse bookings team for seven years and General Manager, Karen Mullins praises her commitment, efficiency and reliability throughout this time. However, when a personal tragedy stuck at mediahouse in February leaving the team 3 people down, Emma excelled even her own high standards.

Mullins explains "Emma, despite dealing with her own grief, stayed at work throughout the period and held the entire department together.  With only runners to help answer the phones, Emma had to look after all our clients and manage all the productions in post.  Only someone with her organisational skills and dedication could have kept things running so smoothly." Emma not only worked through this time, but also took on extra projects dealing with complicated changes to schedules working evenings and weekends to make sure the project went out on time and on budget.

"Emma's reaction to a traumatic situation showed commitment under very difficult circumstances. She rose to the challenge undertaking extra projects to cover other staff and holding the department together though out a very tough time - she very clearly is a Shining Star" comments Larry Davis, Vision Charity and judge of Shining Stars.

To nominate your staff for next month, applications need to be submitted by 24th April. Simply email Angela Durrant on angela@ukscreenassociation.co.uk to receive an application form.
 

Alison was nominated by Robin O'Donoghue, Head of Post Production Sound who comments, "In recent months Alison has been dealing with three very high profile projects, Slumdog Millionaire, Nutcracker, the latest Warner Bros epic as well as Little Dorrit, In the night garden for CBBC and a Bollywood Film - Pusher.

Alison manages to schedule this complex mixture of bookings across the two sites of Shepperton and Pinewood, shuffling crews and talent seamlessly so the client never feels compromised in what they are offered."

Gaynor Davenport, CEO of UK Screen commented "the judges were all agreed that Alison's consistent commitment to the role, hard work and charm shone through in the nominations - a worthy winner."

To nominate your staff for next month, applications need to be submitted by 13th March 09. Simply email Angela Durrant on angela@ukscreenassociation.co.uk to receive an application form.

UK Screen is pleased to announce that Sarah Walsh, Production Assistant at Smoke & Mirrors has been named as February's Shining Star.

Sarah joined the company in March 2010 and ever since instinctive understanding of the complex nature of post production has earned her the respect and trust of her colleagues, leading to further responsibility within the company.

Sarah has fully embraced her role, offering constructive ways to help improve internal workflow, confidently deliver complex quotes and embracing her place on the APA course using it to productively further her knowledge.

Louisa Thomson, Head of Creative Production said:

"I'm thrilled that Sarah's brilliance has been publicly recognised!  She goes above and beyond expectation every day and I simply don't know where we'd be without her.  It's going to be fun watching her storm ahead into a shining future. Thanks so much for the chance to reward her."

Shining Stars is an exciting recognition scheme sponsored by Allan Chapman & James Insurance Brokers and is designed to help motivate and reward non-creative employees within UK Screen member companies, who often fulfil invaluable but unsung roles.

Companies simply nominate a member of staff whose performance has been over and above the call of duty, each month a new Shining Star is chosen, and, in December, all winners will celebrate in style at a celebratory lunch, win a bottle of champagne, receive a certificate and a have a profile in UK Spotlight.

So if you know someone who fits the bill, please contact ria@ukscreenassociation.co.uk to receive an application form.
 

Michael Gale, Bookings Manager at The London Studios comments on Alyson; "In the last 3 months Alyson has excelled by taking on greater responsibilities with no complaint and with great success. The additional work that she has undertaken has been done to the very highest standards and proven herself to be a real self-starter and for that reason she is a shining star."

To nominate your staff for next month, simply email Angela Durrant on angela@ukscreenassociation.co.uk to receive an application form.

The judging committee has also Highly Commended Richard Lovell, a Runner at De Lane Lea.

"Arlene is always here when you need her, whether it's to make clients feel welcome with a warm smile as they enter the building, whether it's fielding calls in a friendly and efficient manner, or whether it's assisting the production team," said Jen Reznick, Facilities Coordinator at Locomotion.

"Recently she was invaluable in helping to track down elusive rushes for this year's inaugural UK Music Video Awards and, with many members of the production team on leave for holidays, weddings, honeymoons and births this past month, she helped keep the rest of the producers, machine room operators, editors, and clients sane."

Arlene's award marks the third of the monthly Shining Stars, which began in August 2008. This month though, the judging committee would also like to highly commend Richard Lovell, a Runner at De Lane Lea, who has been almost literally rushed off his feet on the new Bond film, Quantum of Solace.

Lovell was nominated by Financial Controller, Helen Alexander. "Richard has been a runner at De Lane Lea for nine months and has learned a lot in a short time," she says. "We expect a huge amount from our runners, but in the last few weeks Richard's efforts have gone above and beyond the call of duty in providing runner services to the Quantum of Solace production and all clients and staff at De Lane Lea.

Despite doing long shifts due to staff illness and long studio hours, he was always cheerful and willing to do more. He more than did what we expect of our runners – he was actually in two places at once!"

Gary's award marks the second of the monthly Shining Stars which began in August 2008. 

Gary was nominated by Evolutions Operations Manager, Lorraine Lydon, who explained: "Gary's dedication, patience and sheer drive has exceeded even his own enviable record while leading the team at Evolutions on Oxford Street.  I am extremely proud of his efforts."

Gary played an instrumental role in Evolutions new site opening Evolutions' new Great Pultney Street site, working to an extremely tight deadline he was able to inspire and motivate new recruits.  Gary's selfless commitment saw him give up a huge amount of his own time at weekends and in the evenings to ensure our new venture got off the ground in the right way.

Larry Davis, formerly Controller of Media and House Services at MPC, now Executive Director of Vision Charity and with over 35 years experience in operational roles in the broadcast industry chairs the judging committee. He commented on why Gary was chosen as the winner; "Gary demonstrated exceptional commitment, happy to sacrifice his own time and always with a smile on his face. Gary is a deserving winner and testament to the type of individual we work hard to recognise through the Shining Stars awards."

Sharon was nominated by Rushes Managing Director Joce Capper who stated; "Sharon knows how important it is to be organised in such a fast-paced and time-pressured environment. We all rely on her everyday to keep things ticking over smoothly at Rushes. Library and Dispatch is the hub of the company and without it everything would surely fall apart."

In the past month Sharon has completed a huge project, clearing the entire Rushes Library archive from its Milton Keynes storage facility. Joce adds that; "Most people would have found this project daunting, Sharon didn't and also reduced the library costs significantly through her efficiency and organisation."

Larry Davis, formerly Controller of Media and House Services at MPC, now Executive Director of Vision Charity and with over 35 years experience in operational roles in the broadcast industry will chair the judging committee.

He commented on why Sharon was chosen as the winner; "We were delighted to receive a high standard of entries from a broad range of companies and job roles. However Sharon's application for this first round just stood out from the rest.  Her contribution to increasing the performance of the business is outstanding and we congratulate her for winning."

This month’s winners are Amy Pacy & Samantha Kennard, Client Services Team at ChilliBean

Both worked tirelessly around the clock to ensure a job met its tight transmission deadline. Peter Godden, Commercial Manager, explains “Even after a few 11pm finishes the week before Amy and Sammy knew they could be in for another late one when a job came in for 96 versions of a new TV campaign, for a major FMCG to be distributed to around 30 countries.

“The post was due to finish on Friday afternoon and delivery of the masters expected at ChilliBean at around 4pm. However this was slightly over optimistic, the post required a number of re-edits and caption changes delaying delivery. Not knowing when the tapes would arrive, Amy and Sammy waited on standby as there were transmission deadlines lines to meet. Eventually at 3.15am on Saturday morning the tapes arrived……. now work could begin!”

Amy and Samantha worked through the night encoding the masters, adding metadata tags, uploading onto the ChilliBean servers and downloading links e-mailed to the global recipients. They eventually finished at 6pm on Saturday evening and remained on call throughout Sunday to verify downloads had completed and providing helpdesk services.

All their hard work all paid off though as the campaign made its transmission deadline of Monday. Two very deserving Shining Stars!

Shining Stars, is an exciting recognition scheme sponsored by Allan Chapman & James Insurance Brokers and is designed to help motivate and reward non-creative employees within UK Screen member companies, who often fulfil invaluable but unsung roles. Companies simply nominate a member of staff whose performance has been over and above the call of duty, each month a new Shining Star is chosen, and, in December, all winners will celebrate in style at a ‘Winner’s Dinner’.

So if you know someone who fits the bill, email Angela Durrant on angela@ukscreenassociation.co.uk to receive an application form.
 

8th April 2010 - This month’s winner is Ann Runeckles, Corporate Social Responsibilities for Pinewood Studios Group.

Ann balances her time sifting through the numerous charitable requests received daily at the Studios whilst implementing the most worthy activities to inspire both local and UK-wide filmmaking communities.

 “During the last month she worked with Pinewood’s nominated charity First Light and Bond’s producers to launch Second Light – a new talent development scheme for young people of Black and Minority Ethnic backgrounds” explains Mark Hamilton, Comms and Public Affairs Manager for Pinewood Studios Group “Ann liaised with productions to organize an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour and talks from on-site tenants for the participants to kick off the scheme. Ann also used her persuasive skills on prominent producers at Pinewood to conduct a session on making a film to a local youth group in Iver Heath.”

The judges were impressed with Ann’s dedication and passion for her role. Ann’s work is far reaching not only impacting the company, but also helping inspire and pave the way for the UK’s next generation of filmmakers. A true Shining Star.

Shining Stars, is an exciting recognition scheme sponsored by Allan Chapman & James Insurance Brokers and is designed to help motivate and reward non-creative employees within UK Screen member companies, who often fulfil invaluable but unsung roles. Companies simply nominate a member of staff whose performance has been over and above the call of duty, each month a new Shining Star is chosen, and, in December, all winners will celebrate in style at a ‘Winner’s Dinner’.

So if you know someone who fits the bill, email Angela Durrant on angela@ukscreenassociation.co.uk to receive an application form.