Our Team

Kellen Playford

Festival Co-Director & Trustee

Kellen founded the festival in 2009 after discovering a lack of platforms in the regions for filmmakers to showcase their work.

He has an MA and a BA in film, and has spent the last decade promoting Norwich and Norfolk as a filmmaking hub, while also finding time to produce his own short documentary projects.

Craig Higgins

Festival Co-Director & Trustee

Craig has been involved with Festival for several years. During his time he’s been responsible for helping to recruit judges and patrons; new volunteers; and judging short films.  He became Co-director of the festival in September 2015 and was responsible for many of the operational and developmental elements of the past few years. He’s a film lover and an advocate of short films.

Matt Ecclestone

Festival Producer & Trustee

Matt graduated with a BA (Hons) in Fine Art from Norwich University of the Arts in 2013. He joined the festival as a volunteer in 2014 with previous experience working in contemporary art galleries, an artist space and within a creative agency. He is a big fan of meandering, open-ended, indie movies; the underdog genre; and of course short films.

Siobahn Ennis

Participation Manager

Siobhan joined the team in 2016 and helps with a plethora of jobs from event management to administration of the Festival. ! She loves film and has enjoyed helping out with the early stages of the judging process.

Keith Saunt

Funding & Investment Coordinator

After a long career in Formula One Motorsport and with a plethora of film courses both locally and at the London Film Academy under his belt, Keith joined the NFF team of volunteers in January 2017. He is looking to build long-term relationships between the very best local companies and the Festival over the months and years to come. He welcomes all enquiries from strong brands throughout Norwich and Norfolk that would both enjoy and benefit from an association as the festival grows in both reach and stature.

Keith also consults for various financial institutions concentrating on “Sports-related investments” and runs a Change Management company based in Norwich.

Mara Frampton

Festival Coordinator

Mara’s passion for cinema began at a young age, and some of her favourite directors are Sophia Coppola, Francois Truffaut and Hal Ashby. Her favourite film is Harold and Maude.

She is currently studying English Literature and Creative Writing at UEA. Her ambition is to one day write screenplays and meet people to make films with.

Olly George

Technical Film Coordinator

Olly graduated in Media Production at Lincoln University in 2015. Since then, he has spent time developing his work in the industry, working as a runner on various TV shows and shooting on short films and promotional videos. He is keen to be involved in Norfolk’s film scene and believes that it is a great place for creative people to collaborate. He joined the festival this year to bring both his production knowledge and enthusiasm for film to the team.

John Cheshire

Blog Coordinator

John is currently studying a masters in Biological Sciences at the UEA in Norwich. But when he’s not studying he’s spending his time watching and talking about films. John started getting involved with the festival in 2016 writing film reviews and hosting Q&As where he now volunteers as the blog editor. John attends a variety of UK and International film festivals and is a big fan of foreign language films.