Judges

John Hurt

John attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art after studying Fine Art at St. Martin's. He has appeared in over 100 films including Alien, Midnight Express, The Elephant Man, 1984, Scandal, The Hit, Champions, The Field, Love and Death on Long Island, Shooting Dogs, The Proposition, 44 Inch Chest and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

He has received numerous awards including 6 BAFTA nominations and 3 BAFTAS, 2 Oscar nominations, an Evening Standard Award and a Golden Globe.

His television roles include The Naked Civil Servant, I Claudius, The Alan Clark Diaries and An Englishman in New York for which John received a special Teddy Award at the 2009 Berlin Film Festival for his outstanding acting performance.

John was granted a C.B.E. in 2004 and was awarded a Fellowship by the British Film Institute in October 2009. John has recently completed Lars Von Trier's Melancholia and also stars alongside Gary Oldman in Tinker, Tailor, Solider, Spy to be released later this year.

Paul Greengrass

Paul is an award-winning British film director, who began his career in TV directing the well-regarded current affairs programme World in Action. This has influenced his flair for productions documenting conflict abroad, exemplified by 2008's Green Zone, starring Matt Damon, an adaptation of Washington Post journalist Rajiv Chandrasekaran's account of life in the centre of Baghdad.

Paul is well-regarded for his intelligent film making style, brought to the fore with thoughtful 9/11 docu-drama United 93, for which he won the BAFTA for Best Director in 2006.

In Hollywood, Paul is perhaps best known for directing The Bourne Supremacy (2004) and the highest-grossing and most critically acclaimed of the Bourne action thriller trilogy, The Bourne Ultimatum (2007), which won all three Academy Awards it was nominated for.

Mat Whitecross

Young British film maker Mat started out making movies in his bedroom at 13. By the time he reached university to study English, he was directing Coldplay’s first music video, Bigger Stronger.

Last year Mat made his feature film debut with Ian Dury biopic Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll, starring Andy Serkis, which was nominated for two BAFTAs and a BIFA.

Mat has also directed several hard-hitting documentaries, including Moving to Mars about Burmese refugees, and The Road to Guantanamo, which he co-directed with the award winning Michael Winterbottom.

In 2005, he directed short film Job Street about exploited immigrant workers, which was screened at the London Film Festival and shortlisted for the Turner Classic Shorts Prize.

Mat has just finished shooting his latest film Ashes, a thriller starring Ray Winstone and Jodie Whittaker and part financed by Coldplay.

Chris Collins

Chris Collins is Senior Production Executive at the Film Fund (which transferred from the UK Film Council to the British Film Institute on 1 April 2011). He supports film makers across all types of films with particular responsibility for low budget features, shorts and innovative filmmaking.

Chris started his career in TV. He then spent 10 years in the independent sector working on critical successes including Last Resort and Brick Lane.

Between 2007 and 2010 Chris worked as a Development Producer at the UK Film Council's Development Fund, where he managed funding for emerging and experienced writers, directors and producers, from Virgin Media Shorts winners to 2010 release Tamara Drewe (directed by Stephen Frears).

James King

James is a film critic and presenter of The Movie Show on ITV2, the weekly programme reviewing the latest cinema and DVD releases alongside news and interviews. Until recently, James was the voice of film on Radio 1, reviewing the latest movies with Greg James in the week and Edith Bowman at weekends.

James has also appeared as the resident movie expert on Sky One's "Angela and Friends". and presented the Early Breakfast show, Bank Holiday soundtrack specials and several all-night Oscar programmes. His work on Radio 1 was nominated for a prestigious Sony Award in 2004.

James can often be seen talking cinema on ITV1's London Tonight. He is also a regular face on film documentaries, including The 100 Greatest Films. James has appeared as a film expert on shows as varied as Richard & Judy (C4), The Daily Politics (BBC2) and BBC Breakfast News (BBC1).

James Mullighan

Having spent a year as Director of the Edinburgh International Film Festival, James Mullighan's movie credentials make him a fantastic addition to our panel.

James has also run Shooting People, the world's largest network of independent film makers. Shooting People has worked alongside Virgin Media Shorts for the last three years.

James produced digital film festival RESFEST in the UK, Ireland and Australia; worked as a journalist (Rolling Stone and GQ) and music industry executive (Sony Classical and Columbia). James proudly helps judge the London Short Film Festival, Soho Rushes Shorts and Depict! Short Film Awards. He is flattered to offer occasional advice to the Sheffield Doc/Fest, Encounters and Branchage Jersey International Film festivals, the indefatigable charity Dramatic Need, the life-changing Open Cinema, and film happening Rich Pickings.

Cindy Rose

Cindy Rose is Executive Director of Digital Entertainment at Virgin Media. She leads Virgin Media's strategy for bringing the very best entertainment to consumers across multiple platforms including development of Virgin Media's award-winning digital platform and market-leading TV on demand service.

Over the past 15 years, Cindy has enjoyed a highly successful career with Disney, most recently as SVP & Managing Director, Disney Interactive Media Group (EMEA). While there she also held the position of SVP & Managing Director, The Walt Disney Company (UK & Ireland) and was responsible for leading the company's efforts and significantly growing the company's presence in the UK. Prior to joining Disney, Cindy qualified as both a US attorney and a UK solicitor, and worked in law firms in both countries. She graduated from Columbia University with a degree in Political Science, and has a post-graduate doctorate in law from New York Law School.