Our Industry Advisory Group
Since its inaugural meeting in May 2019, the Futureworks Industry Advisory Group has established itself as a key collaborative initiative between academia and industry. It brings together the strengths and expertise of professionals from creative sectors and our academic team to fashion a modern, industry-oriented curriculum for our students.
The IAG comprises industry leaders, innovators and entrepreneurs who bring knowledge, insight, and experience, and their collective wisdom helps shape our educational approach and programmes, ensuring our students are well-equipped for success in their chosen careers.
We believe education should be a collaborative process, and this vision forms the ‘raison d’être’ of the Industry Advisory Group. The group’s insights inform our Learning and Teaching Committee, ensuring our course content is comprehensive, intellectually stimulating, and finely tuned to industry demands. By facilitating conversations, generating innovative ideas, and initiating impactful changes, the Industry Advisory Group plays a central role in shaping the future leaders of our creative industries.
Together, we aspire to create a robust, future-ready academic environment that develops knowledgeable, skilled, and competitive students, graduates, and alumni.
Angela is a creative artist of African heritage and has been active in the creative industries for over 20 years. She has applied her skills in media production, digital content creation, 3D character design, scriptwriting, storyboards, and animation. She trained with the BBC, and Granada TV runs a consultancy and creative enterprise business that works with African & Caribbean community groups, charities, and corporate and individual creatives, focusing her activities on the UK and African territories.
Academic, Composer and Music Producer, James is an alumnus of our Music Production programme. He continued his academic journey by studying for a Master’s in Electroacoustic Composition at Manchester University and a PhD at Hull. He has lectured in our School of Sound, sharing his knowledge and applying his diverse skill set spanning production, composition, and new music technology, such as Dolby Atmos, Surround sound, and now AI. He currently works as the Course Leader for BSc (Hons) Creative Technologies at Leeds Arts University. Expert in Spatial Audio and Ambisonics
Katie graduated with a first-class honours degree in Visual Effects for the Arts as part of the Class of 2016. She has been making her mark in the VFX sector since working as a 3D generalist at Blue-Zoo Animation Studio, The Mill, Electric Theatre Collective, and is currently working at Selected Works. During my time in the industry, I have developed skills in sculpting, hard-surface modelling, texturing, shading, lighting, and rendering. I have a good sense of humour and great organisational skills. I thrive in teams of like-minded people, working toward producing stunning 3D visual effects for films, games, and television.
From animator to pixel artist, community manager to technical designer, Jess’s 13+ years of adventures through the games industry have been as wild and unpredictable as the Scottish Highlands she lives in. With her path spanning indie, AA, and AAA studios, she’s gained a wealth of insights into leading feature teams, designing experiences, and building systems in Unreal Engine. Jess is reimagining what gaming could be through restorative design, exploring how games can give more energy than they take, and continuing to advocate for accessible and sustainable practices.
Dr Marie-Claire Isaaman is Chair of the Futureworks Industry Advisory Group and Co-Director and CEO of Women in Games, a UK-based not-for-profit dedicated to building a fairer, safer and more equal global gaming ecosystem. An award-winning entrepreneur, executive consultant and thought leader, she is widely recognised across the gaming, tech and education sectors for her expertise in policy, organisational design, research initiatives and industry partnerships. Through her work with Women in Games, Marie-Claire champions the recruitment, retention and progression of women across the games industry and educational pipeline, challenging gender imbalance and inequality throughout the creative sectors. She also works as a consultant, advisor, trustee and chair for a wide range of industry, charity and education organisations, and Futureworks is proud to have her as part of the team.
Jey brings years of game audio expertise to his role as Director and Sound Designer at Firephonic Audio and as a collaborator with Settete. Previously, he was Lead Audio Designer at Sumo Digital, where he led audio on Sackboy: A Big Adventure, alongside extensive freelance work on diverse indie titles. A proud alumnus of our very first 2013 Game Audio for Audio Engineers Diploma cohort, Jey achieved full BAFTA membership in 2023 and served as a BAFTA juror for Audio Achievement in 2024.
Pete is an Outsource Producer at Lucid Games, where he manages outsourcing production and operations. In addition, he manages relationships, the partner pipeline, and production/budgeting for outsourced support. He spent five years at REALTIME on multiple projects from an outsourced perspective while managing recruitment. Pete joined the studio side of the games/CG industry following a 12-year stint in games recruitment at Amiqus.
Nigel has been a production director at Fuzzy Duck Creative for over 15 years and has been key to its continued growth and development, championing innovative technologies and creative methodologies. In addition, he is an experienced producer and project manager. As Production Director, he oversees 40+ productions a year, including filming dramas and documentaries, motion graphics and animation, touchscreen interactive programs, audio sound installations, Apps, and websites. Fuzzy Duck Creative can be found in the creative centre of the Northwest at Media City in Manchester/Salford.
Jode is co-founder & composer at The Horror Vault, specialising in music production & publishing for media. He works with creative agencies, movie studios and production companies in Los Angeles, New York & London to deliver music & sound design for motion picture advertising campaigns and television shows, including clients such as Disney+, HBO, Warner Bros, Sky, and Netflix.