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The Team
We’re an award-winning team of like-minded professionals with a combination of broadcast, studio, and post production backgrounds. The original team met whilst working at ITV's London Studios, having all previously worked together in traditional post production houses. This provided us with a detailed understanding of the demands of the live studio environment while working on some of the highest-profile sport and entertainment shows of the era.
Our breadth of knowledge has since expanded massively, both as we have moved into other parts of the broadcast industry and as technology has evolved. We believe that it’s this mix of skills, experience, and expertise that stands our clients in good stead when using us — and why they keep coming back.
Soraya Robertson
Commercial Director
co-owner
An experienced post production commercial manager, Soraya was Head of Post Production at The London Studios (ITV) for 7 years, having previously been the Head of Post Production at London Post and Bookings Manager at Arena P3. In 2012 she went freelance as a consultant offering business, operational and strategic advice and practical project management to various media companies including BBC Archive and BBC Studios and Post Production. Soraya understands technical concepts without being technical and is able to form these concepts into operational service level agreements and cost efficient contracts for clients.
Chris Sarson
managing Director
CO-OWNER
Always enjoying making it happen, Chris started in the industry 16 years ago working in Nats Post Production as a VT operator and edit assistant on Avid and Final Cut Pro, before moving across to Evolutions where he also first started to use Baselight.
In 2006 he moved to ITV's The London Studios, where he became Technical Manager, managing people and workflows for shows such as Come Dine With Me and on site management for The Royal Variety Show. 2012 saw Chris move to Timeline Television supporting Avid, Adobe and EVS systems around the globe for major sporting events including Formula 1 on location for Sky Sports award winning coverage. Chris is well practiced in providing support and training for logging, editing and workflow integration for most of the major broadcast systems.
Stephen GattI
WORKFLOW DEVELOPMENT engineer
Stephen comes to us with 30 years of experience in the post production and media industry. Starting from Linear tape editing in advertising to the first truly digital post house in the UK, through and into the non-linear world working on a variety of systems for short and long-form broadcast formats for the television industry. He then moved from editing to colour correction via a ‘product specialist’ and ‘support engineer’ role within an innovative global British software systems company, who developed ground breaking and award winning film scanning, colour science and file based colour grading systems and technologies. From there he went on to become an accomplished colourist, both in a full time and freelance capacity.
Since we started The Collectv, Stephen has been working with us and our clients, where his experience in workflow, systems and data management have been invaluable in helping us to deliver our clients projects both technically and operationally with enthusiasm and an eye for detail.
luke spencer
MEDIA SYSTEMS ENGINEER
Luke joined us as a Technical Runner from Bournemouth University where he graduated as a Media Production student in 2017. He worked as an intern in various media companies, learning the basic workflows and practices of video production. Eager to take on a new challenge and move into the technical side of the broadcast industry, he brought his practical experience to The Collectv team and built upon his knowledge. He has been promoted to Junior Media Systems Engineer then Media Systems Engineer and works on some of our biggest shows.
Fiona Shadbolt
head of commercial operations
An experienced production manager with over fifteen years experience in the media industry, Fiona brings a wealth of skills and knowledge to the role of Operational Coordinator. Before joining The Collectv, Fiona worked as Planning Producer at the Olympic Channel in Madrid, planning global assignments for the Daily Content team. Prior to this, Fiona worked as Planning Manager at SNTV, where she arranged crews and logistics for sporting events such as the Olympics, FIFA World Cups, UEFA European Championships and IAAF World Athletics Championships. Fiona is highly organised with exceptional planning skills and always works to ensure a high level of service is delivered.
Steve Brough
Head of Technology
With a passion for technology and an unassuming approach, Steve started within the industry deploying and supporting NLE suites for a wide variety of different productions, from short form documentaries to some of the biggest feature films from the last few decades. Steve quickly found his niche, working on outside broadcasts managing integrations between Avid and EVS environments, as well as gaining a wealth of experience in Ingest and Media management workflows. Steve now enjoys staying attuned to industry trends for reliable and innovative media solutions.
Pete Hammond
senior operational coordinator
Pete joins our team with over a decade of experience in the industry, having started in 2009 with companies that served both Outside Broadcast and Post-Production clients. He has witnessed the shift from tape-based production to the integrated workflows we now champion, making him a seamless fit for our operations team. Pete's expertise helps us consistently deliver the excellent service our wonderful clients expect.
Outside of work, Peter enjoys various sports, listening to music, and watching great films and TV—when he’s not busy chasing after his three young boys!
Katie Chamberlayne
Head of Technical Operations
Katie joins us with 16 years engineering and management experience in Outside Broadcast and Live Studios. Starting her career as a Production Coordinator at Arena Television, she went on her first OB, looked down the back of the equipment bays in the truck and said ‘I just had to find out what all that wire did’. From that, she moment quickly progressed to become an EVS Operator and VT Guarantee Engineer. Moving from Outside Broadcast to Live Studios in 2015, she started as a Media Systems Engineer working for Timeline Television at BT Sport, before advancing to Lead Media Systems Engineer in 2020.
In 2022 Katie started at IMG Studios, leading their studio and post-engineering department before joining us as Head of Technical Operations. Katie thrives in busy and demanding environments and has a passion for people and technology.
Colin Ash
OPERATIONS manager
Colin joins us with over 25 years of IT management experience in both mainstream IT and Post Production roles. Having worked for Final Cut for 11 years. Designing, deploying and overseeing everything from network and hardware infrastructure to suite management and back end systems. More recently as Head of IT for Tech21, famed for their impact protection products. Colin has worked on large scale ERP systems, Data integration, Automation and Security across multiple countries. Helping to support business growth with the likes of Apple and Samsung. Colin takes pride in working cross functionally to understand issues and develop solutions which benefit as many people as possible. Firmly believing that there is always an easier way!
Graham Dunlop
Cloud VM Support Technician
Having close to six years experience with IT across multiple sectors such as education, telecommunications, IT service support and systems, Graham brings a variety of technical expertise and experience to the Cloud VM team. Graham has always been surrounded by computers and technology even at a young age, so working with them now comes as second nature and a childhood passion, always keen to learn new skills, take on new challenges and solve problems to further his technical skills and know-how.
Louis Miles
Media Systems Engineer
With over 15 years’ experience, Louis has a wide range of experience in all areas of post-production. Thinking on his feet, in the heat of a shoot, to problem-solve any issue that might arise is where he is in his comfort zone. Working previously for the likes of Deluxe Media and Red Bee Media, there is no problem too big or solution too small that he won’t have a crack at solving, carrying all that knowledge and experience from all areas of production and post-production to delivering when it matters.
YOLANDA ROMERO
finance manager
An ambitious and business orientated Accounts Bookkeeper, Yolanda has a degree in business and professional administration and started her career as a junior manager in a financial service company in her early 20’s. She then moved to an office manager position and in the last five years has developed her profession as an accounts bookkeeper. She is continuing to study to widen her experience and qualifications as a financial manager role.
Yolanda enjoys dancing, travelling and Spanish films.
ellis alberti
junior media systems engineer
Ellis joins us as a Junior Media Systems Engineer having worked at Virtual Post for over 3 years, where he started as an Edit Assistant. He built his way up through the operational and technical departments working his way up to Operations Manager before becoming a Junior Online Editor. Ellis’ experience at VP allowed him to work with a variety of clients, broadcasters, and productions. He took a particular interest in remote working and workflows. Ellis joins us to learn more and develop his technical knowledge. When not at work Ellis can be found falling over on a pair of ice skates or jumping around at a festival.
gabriel duceac
cloud vm support technician
Gabriel becomes part of the team as a Cloud VM Support Technician bringing with him over 5 years of post production technical experience and customer support while working for a midsized post house in London. Always eager to know more and broaden his experience Gabriel doesn’t shy away from any technical issues and tackles them head on with a can do attitude. “Just do it” is not just Nike’s slogan but also Gabriel’s life motto and he puts it into practice every chance he gets.
sam cousins
Junior media systems engineer
With a passion for sound and music in the Film and TV industry, Sam moved from Jersey to London in 2017 to complete a degree in Sound Design at London South Bank University, where he gained experience in audio production and post-production for short films. His passion for live sport and Formula 1 has led him to join The Collectv as a Technical Runner, where he’s keen to broaden his understanding of post-production systems, workflow, and data management, as the business continues to grow further into the TV broadcast industry
Oliver Davis
Cloud VM Support Technician
Oliver joins the team to add to the cloud vm support team. He brings with him over ten years experience of IT Support working for small medium and large businesses to include contracts with Fremantle and IMG. Oliver has a hands on approach and always works with a can do attitude speaking in a language non IT people can understand. His IT life began back in 1999 when he joined Portsmouth Uni to study HND in Computing. Outside of IT Oliver enjoys time with family and has a passion for cooking especially BBQ’s and is always coming up with a new idea to cook.
BRian Mathabela
Media Systems Engineer
Brian began his career in the post-production industry as a runner. He steadily progressed from operations and edit support roles to eventually managing workflows and leading a team of edit assistants. Along the way, he also gained experience as a Junior Online Editor and Colourist.
Throughout his career, Brian developed a strong interest in the technological aspects of film and television production, with a particular focus on networking. He recognized the importance of staying up-to-date with the latest advancements in this field. Brian eagerly looks forward to gaining experience in the world of Outside Broadcast.
In his down time, Brian can most likely be found near his record player, indulging in the joy of discovering and listening to his latest musical finds. Additionally, he loves spending his free time in the great outdoors.
Mathilde Christensen
Junior Media Systems Engineer
Mathilde is a proud Viking harking from the old, watery kingdom of Daneland. She came to the UK many years ago and has mainly worked in post production as a freelance edit assistant with designs on becoming an offline editor one day. She comes to The Collectv with a fascination for technology and bespoke workflows, and always aims to provide the most efficient and clearly communicated service to productions, bridging the gap between location and the edit and being a calm port of call in any storm.
jane lawrance
senior media systems engineer
Jane comes to us from the world of EVS. Starting her career as a VT Graduate in 2018 at Timeline Television, quickly progressing to VT Guarantee Engineer she brings with her 6 years of experience in Outside Broadcast Engineering. She graduated from the University of Portsmouth in 2018 where she studied BSc (Hons) Television and Broadcasting. While studying she also helped to run both the TV and Radio stations. At Timeline, she was involved in several large-scale sporting events such as; SailGP, The Commonwealth games and The Paralympics. Jane is dedicated to learning workflows end to end in order to provide the best possible solutions.
Bethany James
Operational Assistant
Bethany recently graduated from the University of Portsmouth where she studied TV and Broadcasting. Alongside studying for her degree, she took on different jobs as a Runner where she realised she loved the fast paced environment of working in TV. She is looking forward to working as an Operational Assistant for The Collectv and applying her natural sense for organisation.
Sadie Smith
Junior Media Systems Engineer
Sadie has always had an interest for tv production so studied Televison Production at Bournemouth University graduating in 2022. She started as a runner at Picture Shop working her way up to Edit Assistant. During her time as an Edit Assistant is when she found a love for location work and gained a heavy interest in the engineering side. Sadie has always loved the technical side of television but since her short time in the industry she has had her eyes opened to all the different types of roles, ones she hadn't even known were a possibility. Sadie joined The Collectv wanting to grow her technical knowledge and is so excited to see where this takes her.
Outside of work Sadie can be found enjoying endless books, endless long walks with her dog and endless nights out with her friends.
Charlie Lake
Technical Runner
Charlie joins us as a Technical Runner with experience both in post production and on-set. Having originally studied Film and Television Production at the University of Hertfordshire, he left early to pursue his passion and get hands on experience in the working world. Since then, he has developed his professional knowledge by working across several events, documentaries and high end TV productions. Eager to fill in the blank spots of his technical understanding and grow outside of the freelance world, he is joining The Collectv excited to grow further into the TV broadcast industry.