Jay Arnold Joins British Council; Glenn Close To Be Honored At Zurich Film Fest

Jay Arnold has joined the British Council as its new senior program manager for film. He’ll join the company, which is the UK’s international cultural relations organization, on September 18. In the new role, Arnold will play a leading part in the development and management of the British Council’s increasing film portfolio, making sure that film and media play a strategic role in the organization’s work. He’ll work closely on the development and implementation of the film strategy as well as lead on liasing and building partnerships with other British Council program teams in the UK and globally. He joins from Live Cinema UK, where he was projects director.

Glenn Close is set to receive the Zurich Film Festival’s Golden Icon Award, the festival’s most prestigious honor in appreciation of the lifetime achievements of an actor or actress. Close, who will also be at the fest to present her latest film The Wife with her co-stars Jonathan Pryce and Annie Stark and director Bjorn Runge, will be honored with the award on October 1. A six-time Academy Award nominee, Close has also recently wrapped Julian Fellow’s adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Crooked House alongside Max Irons, Christina Hendricks, Gillian Anderson and Terence Stamp. Other recent films include sci-fi thriller What Happened To Monday, The Girl With All The Gifts, Wilde Wedding and comedy Bastards. Zurich Film Festival takes place September 28-October 8.

BBC

Radford Neville, a former exec producer at Left Bank Pictures, is set to join BBC Studios as head of production for drama series and serials. He has worked as a first assistant director on projects ranging from Jane Eyre to Ashes To Ashes to Spooks for the BBC as well as Cracker and Hornblower for ITV and Britz for Channel 4 before becoming a producer where he worked for many indies including Left Bank, Kudos, Working Title and Big Talk. He has worked on shows for all the major UK broadcasters, including The Borrowers and Loving Miss Hatto for the BBC; Wuthering Heights and Married, Single, Other for ITV and Youngsters for E4. Radford exec produced series four and five of ITV’s DCI Banks for Left Bank.