Channel 4 reveals the first participants of its ground-breaking post-production development programme

29 September 2023

• Six people from under-represented backgrounds to receive career development
• Channel 4 is the first UK broadcaster to launch a post-production development programme
• 4PP (4 Post Production) has been created by Channel 4’ Creative Diversity team and Emma Butt

Channel 4 has today announced the six participants who will join its ground-breaking post-production development programme which aims to improve off-screen diversity in the broadcast industry’s post-production sector.

4PP (4 Post Production), developed by Channel 4’s Creative Diversity team in partnership with award-winning Dialogue Editor and Dubbing Mixer Emma Butt, offers mid to senior level people from underrepresented backgrounds the chance to progress their careers in post-production.

The first-of-its-kind programme, part-funded by Channel 4’s specialist training and development team 4Skills, was devised following a panel session hosted by Channel 4 and Emma Butt earlier this year, which discussed diversity, equity and inclusion in post-production. More than 100 people applied to secure a place on the inaugural scheme which starts in October.

Channel 4 Creative Diversity Lead, Neila Butt said: “This is a really exciting time for Channel 4 and the Creative Diversity Team, as we have been able to take action in an area of the industry often overlooked on representation. Working with Emma Butt has been key to propelling and shaping this programme and we hope the participants have a really enriching experience.

“Hopefully our model can act as both inspiration and a template for other areas of the industry to use to help boost the careers of people who are under-represented in post production”. 

Emma Butt said: “Diversity and Inclusion doesn’t stop on screen or on set, yet that has been the focus these past few years while post production is forgotten. We see schemes and training each day for new entrants but what about people at mid-career level?

“To help address the lack of under-represented talent in post that is where our focus should be and I’m so grateful to Channel 4 for stepping up to the plate and taking on this challenge. Under the guidance of the Channel 4 Creative Diversity Team, I know our cohort are in the best hands.” 

Over six months the participants will receive mentoring from senior figures in the industry, skills gap training and shadowing and placement opportunities in positions with Channel 4’s production company partners.

The people taking part are:

• Harfun Li, Editor - Harfun Li is an editor whose credits include Taskmaster, Great Canal Journeys and Play Your Pets Right, which went on to win a Children’s BAFTA for Best Entertainment in 2019.
• Jay Francis, Online Editor - Since 2001 Jay has worked his way up from Edit Assistant to Online Editor with credits on some of the biggest shows on telly, including Embarrassing Bodies, How to Look Good Naked and 10 Years Younger.
• Lorene Dewett, Editor - Lorene is a British Editor, and her main focus is editing psychological dramas. Over the last several years Lorene has edited many drama short films, including two short films last year which were funded by the BFI Network Short Film fund.
• Wayne Urquhart, Re-recording Mixer- Wayne is a versatile and experienced audio professional with a career history spanning through games, radio, TV and film over 16 years. He was head of audio at A+E Networks EMEA for six years and has since been freelancing as a Dubbing Mixer for a variety of broadcasters.
• Heather Andrews, Sound Designer and Dubbing mixer - Heather Andrews is a Scotland based award winning and nominated sound designer, sound effects editor and dubbing mixer. She has worked on a number of award winning national and international high end television drama, documentary and feature film projects.
• Sophie Larkin, Editor - Sophie Larkin-Tannetta, grew up in north London and has been a broadcast editor for 4 years starting her career off at ITV News before joining the team at Channel 4 News. 

 

Notes to editors:

4PP Candidate profiles

• Harfun Li, Editor

Harfun Li is an editor started out as a Tape/Transmission Library assistant, she then progressed to Edit Assistant and now freelances as an Offline Editor making programmes for the major channels. 

She views editing as a lifelong learning experience and loves telling fun and entertaining stories. So having spent over a decade working in Unscripted, she is now looking for opportunities in Scripted to elevate her existing skills.

• Jay Francis, Online Editor

Jay has worked for both a dedicated post facility and at in-house facilities which have both been extremely rewarding.

Now based in Buckinghamshire he has easy access to Birmingham, Bristol and London. Jay currently spends most of his year on Escape to the Country which he has been working on for seven years.

• Lorene Dewett, Editor, in drama

Lorene is a British Editor, and her main focus is editing psychological dramas.  The aspect she loves about this is delving deeply into the mind of characters and exploring how that influences the events that unfold in the story.

Over the last several years Lorene has edited many drama short films, including two short films last year which were funded by the BFI Network Short Film fund. Additionally, a short film that Lorene edited won a BAFTA award in March 2022. Lorene is also a graduate of the National Film and Television School (NFTS), where she studied on the two-year MA Editing course.

In May 2023, she completed working as the Editor on a micro budget feature film called The Reunion.  This is the first feature film that she has edited, and it was a wonderful experience for her getting to develop the arc of a story and its characters on a long form project.

Lorene’s ambition for her career as an Editor is to continue to edit psychological drama-based stories, on bigger budget feature films and HETV dramas.

• Wayne Urquhart, Re-recording Mixer

Wayne was head of audio at A+E Networks EMEA for six years working across short-form promotional content for the company’s main brands: The HISTORY channel, Crime+Investigation and Blaze.

He has since been freelancing as a Dubbing Mixer for a variety of broadcasters (BBC, ITV, Channel 5), production companies and post production houses.  He has significant experience in mixing long-form factual entertainment, reality shows and documentaries.

• Heather Andrews, Sound Designer and Dubbing mixer

Heather Andrews is a Scotland based award winning and nominated sound designer, sound effects editor and dubbing mixer. She has worked on a number of award winning national and international high end television drama, documentary and feature film projects. Credits include Rescue: Extreme Medics, Stonehouse, Karen Pirie, The Critic, Dear David, My Old School and Killing Escobar.

• Sophie Larkin, Editor

Sophie Larkin-Tannetta, grew up in north London and has been a broadcast editor for 4 years starting her career off at ITV News before joining the team at Channel 4 News.  She has an MA in editing and a BA in multimedia communications from Bournemouth University.

Channel 4’s Creative Diversity Team

The Creative Diversity team sit at the heart of Commissioning and work across all genres and platforms.

The team delivers increased representation on screen and behind the camera, encourage greater inclusion, and ensure that portrayal within our programmes is authentic, challenges stereotypes and reflects the lives of everyone living in Britain today.

Read more about the Creative Diversity Team and watch panel event with Emma Butt here:  Creative Diversity | Channel 4

About Emma Butt

Emma is a freelance Dialogue Editor and Dubbing Mixer. She has written a paper on the lack of diversity within the post-production sound sector in TV, supported by the Sir Lenny Henry Centre for Media Diversity. She recently won ‘Achievement of the Year’ at the Women in Film and TV Awards. Her paper can be found here.