Our People
Our academic team at Central Film School is composed of experienced industry professionals who bring a wealth of practical knowledge and creative expertise into the classroom. Collectively, they have worked across filmmaking, acting, screenwriting, and production, contributing to feature films, television, theatre, and emerging media. Their diverse backgrounds mean students are taught not only the theory and craft of storytelling, but also the realities of working within today’s screen industries. This blend of academic insight and hands-on industry practice ensures our teaching remains relevant, collaborative, and closely aligned with professional standards.
Faculty
Dr Mark deValk
BA (Hons) Practical Filmmaking Course Leader
Dr. Mark deValk holds a PHD in Film Practice from Oxford Brookes University. His experience in filmmaking production includes a strong background in social justice storytelling through documentary and experimental forms; he is a continuing indie-practitioner currently exploring ‘essay film’ and ‘expanded cinema’ techniques. His work has screened at a number of key international film festivals. Mark is also co-author of The Film Handbook, which examines and advocates how theory can be creatively employed to underpin and enrich personal film practice. His expertise includes film aesthetics, mise-en-scene, directing, producing, cinematography, research and script development across drama, documentary and experimental work.
Steve Livermore
BA (Hons) Acting for Screen Course Leader
Steve is a lecturer, actor and director with over twenty years’ experience in screen acting, theatre, and recorded media. He has taught on a range of Conservatoire, Higher and Further education courses. After completing his vocational studies in 1992 at East 15 Acting School, Steve achieved his MA in Actor Training and Coaching from The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. He has directed classical and contemporary texts, pop promos, short films and TV commercials and worked on a wide range of production sizes; from small scale studio theatre pieces to car commercials in Dubai.
Jen Handorf
Associate Lecturer
Jen is an accomplished filmmaker with a career spanning the UK and US. She studied film at Columbia University and there began producing award winning shorts that have screened at festivals from Sundance to Berlin. This work earned her a Student Academy Award and shortly after she went on to complete an M.A. at USC’s Peter Stark Producing Program. Jen returned to the UK and co-founded the special effects company 13 Finger Fx, going on to produce cult features such as The Borderlands and Prevenge. Jen regularly consults for distributors and leads workshops worldwide. She has acted as a jury member for festivals and film academies around the world including BAFTA and AMPAS. Her recent short, Wolf Whistle, was directed with an all-AFAB crew and is currently touring festivals. She is currently in development on several projects, including an adaptation of The Yellow Wallpaper and her feature debut as a director, COUGAR, which she recently presented in the Frontieres Forum at the Cannes Film Festival.
Will Thacker
BA (Hons) Screenwriting Course Leader
A screenwriter, author and playwright, Will Thacker co-wrote the feature film England Is Mine and has won awards including Best Short Film at the Shanghai Film Festival 2014. He is the author of two novels, Charm Offensive (2014) and Lingua Franca (2016), both published by Legend Press. Will’s first play The Bot (2024) has been performed in London, Liverpool and Sydney, and won ‘Best Comedic Support’ at the Liverpool Fringe. Will also works in commercial writing such as speechwriting, ghostwriting and copywriting, as well as script consultancy, with over 15 years' experience. He holds a BA in English Literature with Creative Writing from Lancaster University and an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Manchester’s Centre for New Writing.
Ben Gibson
Postgraduate Course Leader
A producer, academic, and consultant, Ben Gibson worked on projects alongside Raoul Peck (Director of, I Am Not Your Negro), and has collaborated with both the Ecole Louis Lumiere in Paris and Victorine Studios in Nice. As the former Director of the Berlin Film School (2016-2020) and London Film School (2000-2014), he has a proven track record in leadership. Ben’s impressive credits as an independent producer and as the Head of Production at the British Film Institute include notable films by Terence Davies, Derek Jarman, John Maybury and Carine Adler, plus many other UK features and shorts by directors including Patrick Keiller, Gurinder Chadha, Lynne Ramsay, Richard Kwietniowski and Andrew Kotting. Ben co-managed The Other Cinema/Metro Pictures (1981-1987), operating London’s Metro Cinema. He’s also been on-stage host for the Berlinale, a dramaturg, a theatre director, a repertory film programmer, a film critic and a journalist.
Gareth Spicer
Director of Courses & Curriculum
Gareth has worked in higher education for almost 15 years, across a range of organisations including ICMP and London Film Academy. He holds an SFHEA, PGCertTLHE and an MA in Composition for TV, Film and Games. Gareth spent a decade as a performing musician (drums and guitar) for a number of creative artists. In 2021, he turned his attention to composition, and you can hear some of his creative work on Spotify, including his latest release Music from Samsara which was written for a short film.
Robert Emilien
Associate Lecturer
Robin Emilien is an experienced Photographer and Filmmaker, specialising in editorial and commercial work across fashion, music, and corporate sectors. He has collaborated with clients including Vogue, Elle, GAP, BBC, Firestone, Marks & Spencer, J.P. Morgan, LiveNation, and Unilever, He has contributed to award-winning campaigns for brands such as Eastpak and Lee Jeans. A passionate educator, Robin has taught photography and cinematography at all levels, sharing industry insight to inspire the next generation of creative professionals. He champions visual storytelling as a tool for self-expression, confidence, and social change. His commitment to social impact includes work with Médecins Sans Frontières, Action for Racial Equality, and The Amos Bursary – a charity co-founded by Baroness Valerie Amos supporting talented young people from underrepresented backgrounds. Robin has produced films and photography highlighting their journeys and is developing a documentary on the Bursary’s origins and impact. Through teaching and creative work, he fosters mentorship, skill development, and inclusivity, empowering students to grow through photography and filmmaking.
Tamsin Larby
Tutor
Tamsin Larby is a versatile scriptwriter for theatre, radio and film, whose most recent project is an interactive Virtual Reality game developed with Screen South and BRiGHTBLACK, in the BFI-funded Develop Create XR programme 2024/25. She has an MA in screenwriting from the London College of Communication and has written a number of short films. In 2022 her TV pilot Planet Rising was optioned for development by The Writers Lab UK & Ireland and in the same year, her radio play Angry Bird, was broadcast by Near FM, Ireland and was selected to play in the UK International Audio Drama Competition in 2023. She has a background in theatre, having worked as an actor and producer, and founded the successful charity, Tender (www.tender.org.uk) which uses drama and the arts to educate about healthy relationships.
Simon Shore
Tutor
Simon Shore is an award-winning writer-director with over 30 years’ experience across feature films, high-end TV drama, documentaries, and short films. He trained at the Royal College of Art, where his graduation film, La Boule, won a British Academy Award and was a semi-finalist for the Student Oscar. Alongside his creative practice, Simon has spent much of his career as a film educator – teaching directing, writing, acting, producing, editing and cinematography – and has contributed to the development of courses at several institutions. A specialist in directing pedagogy, he wrote the curriculum for the MA Directing programme at MetFilm School and led it for nine years. He has a long-standing interest in the short film as a distinctive form and has been deeply involved in its culture, serving on the BAFTA Short Film jury for 13 years and chairing it on five occasions. His current research explores the intersection of fiction and documentary practices, improvisation and performance.
Leila Shalkouhi
Tutor
Leila Javadi Shalkouhi (known as El Hakim) is a filmmaker, digital content producer, and VLE coordinator whose work spans global health, broadcast, and education. She served as a Multimedia Content Producer for the World Health Organization, collaborating with UNHCR, UNICEF, and embassies including Japan, Germany, and Canada to deliver documentary, social, and campaign content. Leila’s films and live productions foreground women’s and children’s rights, with recognition including RTS, RTS East, NAHEMI, and Women, Life, Freedom awards and nominations.
She currently produces digital media and coordinates the VLE for the Better Futures Programme at the University of Cambridge (PACE), leads multi-media, and edits for ManoTo TV London. As a lecturer at Central Film School London, she has taught documentary practice and post-production (DaVinci Resolve). A recent contributor to the UCL Multimedia Anthropology Lab, she supported immersive and experimental media projects with Indigenous partners, drawing on editing, VR/Unreal workflows, and audiovisual production. Her practice combines narrative craft with technical precision to amplify underrepresented voices.
Zoe Black
Tutor
Zoe Black is an award-winning filmmaker and educator who brings playful, tender stories to life through bold visual expression. Their short documentary GIRLY is a joyful exploration of queer femininity and has screened at festivals internationally. It won Best Documentary Short at LesGaiCineMad 2024, a Goya Award qualifying selection. As a writer they have a flair for relationship-driven comedies and dramas, and the pitch for their feature project MOLL — based on the real-life 17th-century pickpocket Moll Cutpurse — won First Prize at B3 HessenLab 2024. Their latest narrative short, Queer & Confused, follows two friends on a night out in 1980s London. Other directorial work includes the unscripted web series Styled by Strangers, which premiered on YouTube in July 2025. Zoe holds an MFA in Film & TV Production from the University of Southern California and a BA in English Literature from the University of Cambridge.
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