John McVay


Pact steps back from MIPTV and MIPCOM

Pact will stop running its stand at the MIP and MIPCOM markets in the face of mounting costs, and lack of willingness on behalf of the exhibiting companies to join the UK indies trade association. Pact chief John McVay confirmed the news that after 10 years its UK Indies Pavilion will cease to operate at […]

UK indies rebound on international growth

UK indie producers have reversed a sector-wide revenue decline, with international growth propelling the sector to turnover of almost £3 billion (US$3.7 billion). Cumulative revenues across the UK indie production sector fell in 2014, but international sales of content from these production companies spurred a 3.5% uptick in revenues of £2.987 billion. The international growth […]

All3Media’s Geater to chair Pact Council

Sarah Geater has been elected chair of the Pact Council and will replace Laura Mansfield in the position at the UK indies trade body. Geater is the former FremantleMedia UK CEO who joined All3Media as COO last year. She has also been head of commercial affairs at Channel 4 and director of rights and business […]

Industry group to examine Brexit impact

A new Creative Industries Council working group is being established to identify issues and opportunities across the creative industries, following the referendum outcome to leave the EU. The government and industry-backed Creative Industries Council has created a new working group to assess the impact of Brexit on the UK TV and media sector. John McVay […]

Eli Holzman to chair PactUS board

US producer and indie boss Eli Holzman will chair the board of PactUS. The US producers’ association, modelled on its UK equivalent, was formed last year and has now named its board members. Holzman, who left All3Media America to form the Intellectual Property Corporation at the start of the year, will be joined by execs […]

Mixed reaction to Commission’s TV plans

Industry players have reacted to the revised Audiovisual Media Services Directive, unveiled by the European Commission yesterday. John Enser, a partner at media law firm Olswang said the introduction of a European quota for on-demand content will prove controversial. “In an on-demand environment, the prominence obligation is likely to prove highly controversial and subjective – […]

Pact appoints deputy chief exec

Pact has brought in Max Rumney as its deputy chief executive. Rumney joined Pact, the industry group for UK indie producers, last June as director of legal, business affairs and industrial relations. Prior to joining Pact, he worked at Carlton Television & Film in business affairs, and more recently as head of business affairs at […]

McVay, Nohr join TRX advisory board

Soon-to-launch rights trading platform TRX has appointed a quartet of industry figures to a new advisory board. John McVay, boss of UK indies industry group Pact, will be on the board, as will Nadine Nohr (left), the former boss of both Shine and ITV’s distribution businesses. Juliette Squair, chief strategy office at music rights specialist […]

PACT demands Scottish indie support

British producers’ body PACT wants local and network TV commissioners to better support Scotland’s production sector. A new study, created in association with social research firm EKOS and Prospero, found that local commissioning could play a key role in developing the production sector, that co-commissioning should be supported and that local producers should be championed. […]

EU antitrust move ‘bad for producers’

The European Commission’s probe into country-specific TV rights deals could undermine the funding model for content in the region and ultimately threaten jobs in the TV and film industries, according to Pact. The UK trade association for independent producers was reacting to the European Commission’s investigation, announced last month, into rights deals between European pay […]