26/06/2013 - Alison Cornwell, Tim Richards join elite body

The British Film Institute (BFI) has appointed Alison Cornwell and Tim Richards to its Governing Board. The BFI Board of Governors is chaired by Greg Dyke and the other Governors are: Josh Berger CBE, Ashley Highfield, Tom Hooper, Matthew Justice, Peter Kosminsky, Libby Savill (Deputy Chair), Cy Young, Pat Butler, Charles Cecil MBE and Baroness Oona King.

Cornwell is a finance executive with extensive film, television and broadcasting experience gained with major USA studios and with independent companies including Disney, Sparrowhawk Media and GMTV. Since 2008 she has been CFO of Alliance Films involved in film distribution in Canada, UK and Spain. Following various successes including the acquisition of Maple Pictures from Lionsgate and the financing of movies such as Insidious and The Woman In Black [+see also:
trailer
film profile], Alliance’s owners decided to sell the business. Cornwell led the exit process, which concluded in a successful sale and she is currently working with the new owners.

Tim Richards is the founder and CEO of Vue Entertainment, a leading cinema exhibition company with over 145 cinemas in the UK, Ireland, Denmark, Germany, Taiwan, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Portugal. Two Canadian investment groups have acquired Vue Entertainment recently, with Richards retaining a substantial equity stake and continuing to manage the business.

Dyke said, “Alison and Tim will help the BFI realise its ambitions and steer a path through the challenges it faces, particularly in the changing landscape of distribution and exhibition.”