Tina Gharavi is a BAFTA-nominated filmmaker whose work focuses on ‘untold stories, unheard voices’ and storytelling from the margins. Tina’s award-winning films have been screened internationally and broadcast worldwide on the BBC, Channel 4, ITV and Showtime. She has made endearing, inimitably voiced films on subjects as diverse as Muhammad Ali, teenage sexuality, Yemeni-British sailors, The Lackawanna 6, death row exonerees, refugees and lighthouses. She recently completed her first feature, I Am Nasrine, a coming of age story of two teenage Iranian refugees in the North of England that was nominated for a BAFTA. The project patron Sir Ben Kingsley called I Am Nasrine “a life enhancing film, an important and much needed film”. Peter Bradshaw gave the film 4 stars and called it “a valuable debut, shot with a fluent kind of poetry”.

Since leaving Iran in 1979, Gharavi has been a true nomad; carrying no less than four passports, she currently resides in Northern England. Unafraid to take risks and cross genres, Gharavi’s work is set apart by its attention to detail and storytelling perspective. Programmer Shari Frilot said of Gharavi’s Sundance debut Closer that “it takes documentary to the next level”. As Deborah Ross writes of Tina’s work in the Spectator: “it’s not what I would call An Earnestly Grim Wrist Slitter. Instead, it is affectionate, humane, tender and, ultimately, optimistic”. Tina is represented as a director by Independent Talent and her second feature, The Good Iranian, is currently in development with Film4 and the BFI.

Born in the North East and with an academic background in media and culture, Victoria joined the team at Bridge + Tunnel from youth learning & participation and community radio production. In her role as Office Manager, Victoria is responsible for finance, facilities and HR as well as Bridge + Tunnel’s social media and digital presence.

Professor Marina Jirotka is Reader in Requirements Engineering, Director of the Centre for Requirements Engineering, Associate Director of the Oxford e- Research Centre and Associate Researcher of the Oxford Internet Institute. Her research interests have long been concerned with bringing a richer comprehension of socially organised work practice into the process of engineering technological systems, with a focus on supporting everyday work and interaction. Over her research career, she has developed close relationships with an extensive network of companies including those in the healthcare and pharmaceutical sector, such as BT Healthcare and Health Direct; in Government, NHS and DSTL; in IT, Microsoft and IBM; in Finance, Societe Generale and Barclays; and in Consultancy, McKinsey and KorteQ.

Dr Eric T. Meyer is Senior Research Fellow and DPhil Programme Director at the Oxford Internet Institute, where he has been on the faculty since 2007. Dr Meyer’s research focuses on the transition from analogue to digital technologies in research and knowledge creation across disciplines in the sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities. His research has included both qualitative and quantitative work with marine biologists, genetics researchers, physicists, digital humanities scholars, social scientists using big data, theatre artists, librarians, and organizations involved in computational approaches to research.

WeVideo is a U.S.-headquartered company that provides a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) cloud-based, collaborative video editing platform, which allows users to upload, manipulate, collaborate and manage their own media. The company was formed in 2011 and is based out of Palo Alto, California and Norway. WeVideo has a strong track record of collaborations including Disney, Universal Studios and several other content-generating clients. Their participation will offer a chance to expand their remit to include R&D in relation to the interface between narrative construction, professional content production and digital storytelling.

Ideonic is a multi-award winning digital agency with a heart. They work exclusively on developing cross-platform digital content that is not only engaging but also aims to make peoples’ lives better. Never happy with the status quo, everything they develop aims to push boundaries, resulting in a diverse portfolio that includes MirrorMe, a Guardian MEGA award-winning App with Channel 4, and Time Machine, a Learning on Screen, RTS and BigChip award winning, Time Education Supplement featured transmedia game to engage primary school kids with the heritage of one of the UK’s last surviving Newsreel theatres.

Computer scientists M. Jirotka and E. Meyer will evaluate the role of technology in facilitating socially-engaged creative production, while the technology development team will produce a platform project that responds to user interaction.

• Michèle Lamont | Harvard University, Professor of Sociology and African American Studies. Lamont specialises in culture and inequality, racism and stigma, social change and successful societies, and qualitative methods.
• Michael Moore | American Documentary Filmmaker. Moore is a renowned award-winning documentary filmmaker who focuses on topics such as globalization, large corporations, assault weapon ownership, U.S. Presidents and capitalism.
• Vincent Brown | Harvard University, Charles Warren Prof of History & Prof of African & African American Studies. Brown is a multi-media historian with a keen interest in the political implications of cultural practice.
• Emma Stone | Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Director of Policy and Research. Stone’s work explores the role of research in inspiring social change and informing policy and practice.
• Diana Paton | Newcastle University, Historian of the Caribbean and Slavery. Paton specialises in Jamaican history, Caribbean cultural history, comparative histories of slavery and emancipation, and gender history.
• Rowena Goldman | BBC Research and Development, Development Executive. Goldman specialises in developing and evaluating interactive digital projects and new media technologies.
• John Lazarus | Newcastle University, Associate Researcher at the Institute of Neuroscience. Lazarus specialises in social evolution, ethics, public engagement and the evolution of co-operation.
• Barry Sanders | Literature and History of Ideas. Sanders is a twice-nominated Pulitzer author specialising in African-American segregation, social inequality and racial politics.·