Finding a Work Life Balance
Sponsored by Belfast Media Festival
Location: Upstairs Theatre
Time: Thursday 17th November, 1.30pm
Though working in the creative industries is considered by many to be a dream job, let's face it: our industries can be notorious for nightmarish demands on our workforce. Long hours and late nights chasing impossible deadlines are common ""industry standards""... but why? Is it possible to change how we do things to ensure that success doesn't come only through sacrifice? How might we work toward a healthy balance of work life and home life, meeting both the demands of a competitive production schedule and the demands of our own health and family without feeling overwhelmed?
Chaired by: Helen Thompson
Vikkie Taggart
Director of Operations, Stellify Media
Vikkie Taggart is the Director of Operations at Stellify Media. She joined at the conception of Stellify in 2014 in a consultancy capacity before coming onboard full time in 2015. Prior to joining Stellify, Vikkie worked for public and private companies over the last 15 years, predominantly in a finance, corporate governance, operations and business affairs capacity.
Currently as Director of Operations at Stellify Media, she is responsible for the strategic operations, coordination, growth and profitability of the company across multiple locations in Belfast, London & Manchester. As part of the Stellify partnership with Sony, she liaises directly with the BA and finance teams as well as the international formats teams in Sony Pictures Entertainment Europe. Vikkie has solid working relationships with commissioners across all major channels both local and network which also include the SVOD’s (Amazon, Netflix and YouTube).
She is currently the Head judge of the Royal Television Society NI Student Awards and has previously served as Chair of Royal Television Society NI and on the committee of the Belfast Media Festival.
Angela Moffatt
Negotiations Officer for Bectu & Prospect NI
Angela Moffatt is the Negotiations Officer for Bectu & Prospect Northern Ireland, previously working in this role in the Isle of Man since 2007. She has been active in representing members in the film, tv and media industries in Northern Ireland.
Prior to this role, she was a Human Resources Manager for the Isle of Man Government, after graduating from Queen’s University Belfast with a BA in Politics. Angela lives and works in Northern Ireland, with her daughter.
Kevin Beimers
CEO/Creative Director, Italic Pig
Kevin Beimers is the CEO and Creative Director at Italic Pig. Over the years he’s been a programmer, animator, blogger, art director, designer, developer, novelist and adventurer.
He once rode a tricycle across Australia, attended Oktoberfest with Miss Arkansas, nearly lost his left eye in Canada, and wrote and directed a primary school production of Star Wars the Musical right here in Northern Ireland.
Helen Thompson
Head of Operations, Big Mountain
Helen has over 25 years broadcast experience in Independent and PSB in operations and programming as well as production of commercial and non-broadcast content in Ireland and the UK. As Client Manager, External Business and Lead Talent Manager for BBC, she built relationships between BBC and Independent suppliers as well as sourcing and training talent for studio and location programming. Helen has mentored both companies and individuals and has made a huge positive impact on the growth of talent in the region.
From BBC, she joined local Independent Production Company Big Mountain as Head of Operations to work closely with the principles to grow and develop talent.
She organised the Belfast Media Festival for 11 years and has lectured in TV and Film in SERC in Bangor, UU in Coleraine and Belfast Met where she also delivers on the Skills Academies and mentors’ small businesses as part of Innovate Us.
Helen is currently a Future Screens Mentor and involved in delivering industry training for programmes run by NI Screen like Aim High, Into Film, Ulster Scots Broadcast Fund and ILBF (through Macha Media) and for organisations like Cinemagic and Princes Trust (through Visionworks).
Sarah McCaffrey
Business Development & Partnerships Manager, BBC Content
Sarah is the Business Development & Partnerships Manager within BBC Content. Until recently she was the Business Development Manager within BBC Children’s and Education overseeing business development and commercial deals.
Away from the day job, Sarah is also the Producer and Founder of the Women in Film and Television Mentor Scheme in Northern Ireland which is sponsored by Netflix.
Previously, Sarah was the Senior Channel Management Executive at UTV, and has also worked as a freelance Producer overseeing business affairs and development work across various companies.
