BFI board appoints Northern Ireland Governor

DECLAN KEENEY is the new Northern Ireland Governor on the British Film Institute's (BFI) Board of Governors. 

The Board, chaired by TIM RICHARDS, welcomed Keeney at the end of June for an initial four-year tenure. 

Keeney has extensive experience across Northern Ireland's screen sector with over 25 years in film and television and 13 years at the BBC.

He is Professor (Chair) of Screen Technologies and Innovation at Ulster University and Director of the Ulster Screen Academy. He recently co-founded Studio Ulster, a £75m large scale commercial virtual production and real-time visual effects studio, making up one of four studious across the UK specialising in the future of virtual production. 

He is a Fellow of The Royal Society of Arts, member of the British Council’s Arts and Creative Economy Advisory Group, Co-investigator at Future Screens Northern Ireland, and Policy Fellow at AHRC/DCMS in the Future Observatory at the Design Museum in London.

“I am proud to represent our vibrant screen industries in Northern Ireland as someone who has worked for many years in this incredible industry and in screen education,” Keeney said.

“It is also an opportunity to champion our unique workforce needs and showcase the immense potential offered by our emerging screen technologies sector in Northern Ireland. 

“I look forward to working with CEO Ben Roberts and with colleagues at the BFI to not only support the current generation of story tellers but also to seek out the next generation of creatives for this fast-growing industry.”