Isle of Media boosts Advisory Board
October 26, 2018
By Colin Mann
The Isle of Media – the public, private partnership launched to market globally the Isle of Man’s media cluster and guide media ventures locating on the Isle of Man – is adding three world-class media professionals to its Advisory Panel. The Panel drives the direction and strategy of the Isle of Man media hub and helps to spread the word globally about the advantages of setting up media ventures on the island.
Dr Bettina Brinkmann has a broad expertise in TV and film production, international co-productions, acquisition, event management and business development and was decisive in developing international projects, closing global deals and executing major projects with some of the world’s leading institutions and brands. She worked in various executive roles in the media and marketing sector both within the private sector (Bertelsmann, RTL, VOX) and the public sector (ZDF, EBU), covering a broad scope of responsibilities.
She is experienced in setting up international partnerships, launching new projects and defining market entry strategies. She is shareholder of a Swiss company and co-founder of a new media venture.
Parallel to her professional engagement she is on the Steering board of a Swiss animal welfare foundation.
She holds a PhD in media and has continued advanced studies at the International Institute for Management Development Lausanne and is currently pursuing further studies. She is based in Switzerland.
Clark Bunting is the co-founder and CEO of Digital Circus Media. He is the former president and general manager of Discovery Channel, developing Shark Week, and overseeing Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, Investigation Discovery and many other brands for Discovery Networks. He is well known as a strategist and innovator with a reputation for growing businesses with strong branding underpinnings. He is also known in the non-profit world as the former CEO and president of the National Parks Conservation Association and Chairman of the Smithsonian National Zoo Advisory Board.
His programming portfolio has received numerous Emmy, Dupont and Peabody Awards, and one Oscar. He is a recipient of the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Michigan State University and holds an honorary PhD.
Bunting is based in the USA
Joan Burney Keatings MBE has been the formidable powerhouse behind the award-winning children’s charity Cinemagic for the last 17 years. She loves the magic of film and television and recognises its power to educate, motivate and inspire young people.
Keatings has steered and catapulted the Cinemagic brand from being a Belfast-based film festival for young people to now hosting Cinemagic film festivals across the world including Dublin, London, Castres (France), Los Angeles and New York. The Festivals engage with over 40,000 young people from all backgrounds and abilities.
To date, the charity has engaged with over 500,000 young people, screened over 3000 films, and hosted over 500 masterclasses, workshops and special events. Cinemagic film production projects have received international acclaim for their ambition, quality and reach.
She is also a very passionate and successful producer having produced ground-breaking short films and programmes aimed to improve the life chances of young people particularly from areas of deprivation.
In the last four years, Keatings and her team at Cinemagic have produced two feature films, A Christmas Star and Grace and Goliath; secured worldwide distribution for both feature films; developed award-winning ‘behind the scenes’ documentaries, produced over 45 short films. Keatings is based in Northern Ireland.
“Growing the Advisory Panel is important for the Isle of Media as it shows the depth of knowledge and experience the organisation can call on,” commented Michael Wilson, CEO of Isle of Media. “The Panel reviews our strategy and their global network allows the business to develop contacts and attract businesses from across the world. We appreciate the time all our advisors give, and the benefit this brings to the Isle of Man economy and the media cluster we are building.”