06/03/2014 - UK arts industry veteran will join in April as Director of Marketing, Communications and Audiences

The British Film Institute (BFI) has hired Richard Shaw as Director of Marketing, Communications and Audiences. Shaw will join in late April. He will lead the BFI’s communications and audience teams assuming overall responsibility for developing and leading a customer and communications strategy across the BFI, encompassing venues (BFI Southbank and BFI IMAX), DVD label, theatrical distribution, Festivals, including the BFI London Film Festival, BFI National Archive, Sight & Sound and BFI Lottery Film Funding.

Shaw joins from Lion Television where he has been Executive Producer and Head of Development since 2002. Prior to that he held senior marketing and public engagement roles at some of the UK’s highest profile arts organisations, including the Royal Opera House, the National Theatre and English National Ballet.

BFI CEO Amanda Nevill said, “Richard brings to the BFI a rare and valuable skillset which combines a wealth of experience in managing all the marketing and customer-engagement demands of the cultural sector, with a decade of working at the coal-face of content generation in the commercial film and television sector.”

Shaw said, “This is a tremendously exciting time to be joining the BFI with British film and television enjoying such enormous critical acclaim and international success right now. The BFI has an inspiring vision to build on this success and I’m really looking forward to joining the talented team who are helping to deliver the BFI's creative ambition for audiences and filmmakers across the UK.”