Meet the team
All staff at The Film Academy Edinburgh are PVG cleared through Disclosure Scotland, and in addition pass an annual Child Protection course.
All staff are paediatric first aid trained.
Graham Kitchener
Creative Director & Producer
Graham Kitchener is an award-winning filmmaker, with experience as a writer, director, cameraman, editor and producer. Involved in youth work for over 30 years, he began his creative career in advertising within the Saatchi & Saatchi group.Teaching film to young people across Scotland for the past 10 years, including at the Edinburgh Pauline Quirke Academy, films created by his students have been nominated and won at film festivals around the world.
He continues to write and direct films for major organisations including Apple Inc, Jack Daniels, NHS and 2020 Productions, in addition to several independent short films.
Sarah Fairbrother
Production Mentor/Editor
Sarah Fairbrother graduated with a distinction in Film Directing (MA) from Edinburgh College of Art, specialising in creative documentary.
She works as a freelance filmmaker and editor, creating films which have at their heart, human-centred stories. Her short films have included Wild Winter Swim (2016), Losing Ground (2017), Finding Sid (2018) and A Different Approach (2019).
She works with charities and businesses to create video content and is currently developing her first film in 360.
Graeme D Blyth
Screenwriter/Production Mentor
Graeme has been working full time in film and television production for the past fifteen years. With credits ranging from Production Manager to 1st Assistant Director to Producer he has worked on feature films, documentaries, docu-dramas, digital projects, episodic series and short films for Netflix, Discovery International, SkyKids, BBC, PBS and National Geographic/Disney+. In addition to his broadcast work, he produced two short films Insta Gay (2023) and Sissy (2022) which are currently on their international festival runs.
Since moving to Edinburgh from Toronto, Canada, he has been working as a freelance consultant on development projects, writing short stories and scripts, exploring Scotland, and is so excited to join Film Academy Edinburgh as a Writer and Production Mentor.
Jack Hunter
Acting Tutor
Jack Hunter is an award-winning disabled actor, writer and poet. Originally from Inverness. Jack graduated from Queen Margaret University’s BA Drama & Performance course in 2017.
Jack has created and toured his solo work across Scotland & Europe.
Screen credits include: Indefinitely (Hot Coals Productions); Annika (Black Camel Pictures) & Traces (Red Productions).
In addition to his creative work, Jack has diversified his practice into arts facilitation. Leading projects with Imaginate, Unlimited & Eden Court Theatre.
Katharine O’Donnelly
Acting Tutor
Katharine graduated from the BA Acting course at Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
Since then her credits have included Mary Queen of Scots (Focus Features), Clique (BBC Three), Girl at the River (Little Harry) & The Head Season 1-3 (HBO/Hulu).
In tandem to building her acting career she quickly discovered a passion for sharing the craft with young people and has been teaching acting and acting for screen for several years.
Emma Hindle
Acting Tutor
Emma is a graduate of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland’s BA Acting programme. Her credits include The Crown (Netflix), Outlander (Starz/Lionsgate) and Grantchester (ITV). She has a supporting role in 2024 feature film Harvest which will be showing at Venice Film Festival, TIFF and NYFF respectively.
Emma has experience in volunteer work with a young person’s charity in Edinburgh and is looking forward to exploring screen acting with students at Film Academy Edinburgh.
Stewart McConnell
Production Mentor
Stewart studied film at UHI and has been making films for 10 years. Starting off as a student at Film Academy Edinburgh in 2018, after graduating he became an Academy Assistant, then a Production Aassistant, and is now the 9-12s Production Mentor. When he isn’t teaching at Film Academy Edinburgh, he is working as a freelance editor and filmmaker for various clients, such as YouTubers (UpIsNotJump, 2021) and charities (Portobello Town Hall 2023, Mikeys Line 2022), as well as making his own short documentary and narrative films.
Mark Macdonald-Scott
Editing Mentor
Mark graduated with honours in Photography, Film & Imaging from Napier University in 2005 and went on to work as a freelance filmmaker in the film and TV industry for 10 years in a wide variety of productions and roles.
Notable credits include ‘Doomsday’ (2008), ‘Centurion’ (2010), Britain’s Got Talent (2007-8) and Britain & Ireland’s Next Top Model (2008).
Mark has been working in education at Edinburgh College’s TV department as a learning assistant since 2014 and very much enjoys passing on his wealth of experience to young aspiring filmmakers.
Kay McAllister
Development Officer/Summer School Acting Tutor
Kay studied acting at Edinburgh College and then the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, graduating in 2018 and awarded with the Rosalyn Lipsey Prize for ‘Best Woman in a Comedy Role’.
Throughout her training and since graduating Kay has worked across the industry, gaining experience in film, TV, theatre and radio. Her credits include television series The Loch (ITV), world premier theatre production The Panopticon (National Theatre of Scotland) and radio drama Killing Kate (BBC Radio 4).
Kay is very passionate about teaching and working with young people, encouraging them to build confidence and further their acting skills. She is thrilled to be back in Edinburgh and teaching at the Film Academy!
Ellie Crawford
Academy Assistant
Ellie joined the Film Academy as a student in 2018, and has been studying and refining her skills & knowledge since then.
She studied at FAE for 5 years, and in 2022 graduated and joined the staff and she studied Filmmaking for Screen at Edinburgh College.
She has an international film festival win to her credit, along with a win in the SYFF, and several other festival nominations.
She continues working with the students and to pass on her passion and skills in filmmaking to help them develop their own filmmaking abilities.
Katy Thorne
Academy Assistant
Katy is currently taking a gap year to get more life experience before applying to drama schools in the near future. She is currently a student at the RCS Juniors Level 3 and the Strange Town Young Company.
Katy attended the Film Academy between 2018-2024, learning filmmaking by Graham and the team, and is looking to pursue a career in acting for both theatre and film. Being a loyal member to the Film Academy Katy wishes to share her passion and devotion to the film industry with other young people.
Sophie Dalton
Academy Assistant
Sophie first joined FAE as a 9-12’s student, attending our very first summer school in 2018 and has joine dthe staff this year!
She has continued her study and practice with the Film Academy since then, and has become a key member of the team, earning several festival nominations & awards.
Sophie now joins the staff, bringing all that experience and achievment to other students.
Neill Prentice
Summer School Screenwriter/Production Mentor
Neill graduated from Queen Margaret University in 2013 with a degree in Film and Media and later earned a master’s in Film at Screen Academy Scotland, focusing on directing. His final project ‘Stay’ went on to be screened both nationally and internationally.
Neill has worked on several TV productions, including the reboot of the CBBC’s much beloved ‘Raven’. He also directed a short comedy/drama ‘Mercury Maybe’, that premiered at the 2019 Edmonton Film Festival.
Neill has a lifelong love of all thing’s cinema and his teaching focuses on the unique storytelling tools that filmmaking provides. With several years of experience in youth work, Neill enjoys the opportunity to combine his filmmaking knowledge and youth work experience as part of the Film Academy family.
Gudni Líndal Benediktsson
Summer School Screenwriter/Production Mentor
Guðni graduated from the Icelandic Film School in 2012, and then worked on the sets of feature films like Of Horses and men (2013) and Thor 2: The Dark World (2013), along with a number of short films.
In 2016, he graduated with honors from Screen Academy Scotland with a MA degree in Screenwriting.
He has written four published Icelandic children books, one of which won The Icelandic Children Book Award 2014.
Guðni was also one of the story writers for the mobile video game Box Island (2015), a game designed to teach children the basics in programming, and is a founding member of Fenrir Films, an Icelandic production company.
When he is not thinking of new creatures to put in his next books, he spends his time writing scripts for all manner of films, comics or video games.
