Dave Tomalin – Company Chair

I’m an independent filmmaker who has spent most of the last 25 years collaborating creatively with people who are often socially excluded, marginalised or ignored. I have led a number of social businesses leading to the production of 100’s of social films exploring issues that affect people’s lives. I’ve led creative voice and influence initiatives within most social sectors and is particularly motivated by initiatives with offenders, ex-offenders and people living with multiple barriers to engagement within civil society. I’m a graduate of the European Audio Visual Entrepreneurs programme and I am currently a director of Lippy Films Ltd , Lippy People CIC and the Common Cause Foundation.

I became a filmmaker to try and support those people with no voice, a way of being heard. I developed this further when in 1998 I joined The Prisons Video Trust, a charity formed in 1991 to help communication and understanding of prison issues within the prison world. I have worked on over 50 programmes with prisoners and staff to represent their views, spread good practice and encouraged learning and therapy. In the process I have filmed in over 100 prisons in England, Scotland, Ireland Finland, Belgium and Russia. The Trust has won a hard earned reputation for representing prison life accurately and honestly. I hope to continue to work with people who feel they are excluded in the hope that their stories can lead to change.

Having worked in the media industry for the last 15 years, I’ve gained extensive experience from working on a wide variety of productions. In a way, my career started when ITV picked up my award winning short film, ‘A Family Affair’, for broadcast. I was telling the story of my family before I’d ventured into the wide world to ask others to tell me their stories. To make films that can show either the beauty or the grime of the world – to explore and give voice to marginalised voices, have been my passions. Whether working on a feature length project or a short collaborative project, drama or documentary, I’m dedicated to creative excellence.

I have worked in the Creative industries since 1998. After starting in PR, Marketing and Audience Development, I carved out my career as a Project Director, including mentoring, developing Quality Assurance procedures, budget management, relationship development and bid writing at CIDA, where I worked throughout the ‘noughties’. As the project and strategy lead at Lippy People, I develop and deliver projects that get into the heart of making change to those that are truly marginalised and excluded from society and the decision making process. To this end, I enjoy working on projects that use creativity to engage and develop skills of those people marginalised and disenfranchised and seeing the confidence, skills, economic and regeneration changes that can take place.

I’m an independent projects and production manager and have worked in the arts and film industry for over 7 years. I’ve produced work for both commercial and third sector businesses locally, regionally and nationally, and I have a proven track record of raising finance for both creative and capital projects. I’ve been associated with Lippy Films since 2007 and have managed all productions from this time. I’m drawn to the company because of its willingness to explore challenging subjects that sit outside of the mainstream, and working within a team that takes enormous pride in producing films that are of the highest quality. I have a keen interest in visual arts, design and photography.

I’m a filmmaker and interactive media designer and over the first three years of my career I have been working on films and online media projects within both social and commercial environments. At 21 years old, I have found I can directly relate to the experiences of the young people I work with as their experiences are often similar to my own. I also share their enthusiasms for using social media as a means of getting their issues and voices out there and have woven these skills into my professional offer. I am passionate about using open source software and social networking applications to distribute media throughout the web as a means of extending voice and building influence around the issues that matter to young people. Link to my personal portfolio here.