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Laura Mansfield
Chief Executive Officer at ScreenSkills, Creative Director, Mentor
Laura Mansfield is the Chief Executive Officer of ScreenSkills, a role she assumed in January 2024.23 With extensive experience in the television and creative industries, Mansfield brings a wealth of knowledge to her position at ScreenSkills, the skills body for TV, Film, Animation, VFX, Children's programming, and Games.2
Career Highlights
Television Production:
Laura Mansfield co-founded Outline Productions in 1999, serving as its Managing Director for 24 years.2 During her tenure, she was responsible for developing and executive producing numerous successful television formats and programs, including:
- "Remarkable Places to Live" (BBC2)
- "Sarah Beeny's New Life in the Country" (Channel 4)
- "Michel Roux French Country Cooking" (Food Network)
- "Sarah Beeny's Renovate Don't Relocate" (UKTV/HGTV Discovery)2
Industry Leadership:
Mansfield has held several influential positions within the industry:
- Chair of Pact (Producers Alliance for Cinema and Television) from April 2015 to December 20162
- Creative Director at Tin Roof Media Ltd from January 2019 to December 20232
- Non-Executive Director at Elstree Studios since October 20232
Expertise and Skills
Laura Mansfield is known for her:
- Strategic problem-solving abilities for creative teams
- Talent identification and nurturing, both on and off screen
- Content creation, with a track record of developing new unscripted brands and formats
- Public speaking and panel chairing experience2
Education and Early Career
Mansfield began her career in television at BBC Youth and Entertainment Manchester and BBC Entertainment. She also worked at independent production companies such as Watchmaker and Rapido TV, contributing to programs like "Eurotrash," "The Clive James Show," and "Rough Guides".1
In her role as CEO of ScreenSkills, Laura Mansfield is committed to supporting careers across the screen industries and addressing the sector's skills needs.3 Her appointment brings together her extensive industry experience and leadership skills to guide ScreenSkills in its mission to develop talent and workforce in the UK's screen industries.
Highlights
Meeting the second Film Forward cohort, Film Council and mentors this week at the ScreenSkills Film Fund launch event was a real delight. This group of 8 brilliantly talented professionals, across departments from locations to post and makeup are destined for stellar things. Can’t wait to see what happens next. It’s a programme designed to create change in the industry by supporting experienced Black and Asian professionals to advance to more senior roles. Thank you to all the companies, indie producers and studios who attended and who contribute to help the fund support talent. And all ultimately thanks to the tax credits scheme . Watching next weeks budget with interest to see if there is good news for lower budget films from the chancellor. Big up to Emma Turner, Anita Overland, Sarah-Jane Wright, Naomi Joseph Celia Small, the film team and our fab events and marcomms team inc Anna Green Natalie Tandoh for making this happen! #diversityaction #screenskills #film
The cohort Merv Lewis Tobi Kyeremateng Venita S. Charanprite Dhami Abigail Alexander Jin Ong Collette Creary-Myers Leon Seth
DELIGHTED to be starting this role in Jan and very much looking forward to working with the ScreenSkills team, board and all the brilliant people who give their time and expertise to the Funds and bring skills and training to the whole screen industry. It’s an extremely challenging but also exciting time in the creative industries. I’m encouraged by the recognition from the Skills Task Force of ScreenSkills and that the screen industry work together in collaboration to build a long-term UK-wide strategy for skills to ensure we remain world-leading.
I’ve spent more than two decades working with the incredible Helen Veale who I co-founded Outline Productions with. I’m hugely proud of the legacy of quality programmes, and work culture we’ve developed and built together with our teams at Outline. We’ve helped grow hundreds of careers, and produced hundreds of hours of entertaining factual television that’s made positive real world impact. I’ll miss our creative partnership enormously, but know she and her teams will continue to do extraordinary things. This unique opportunity and the chance to help others enter, as well as build and enjoy sustainable careers in an industry I love at such a pivotal time was too good to miss.
Massive thank you’s to all the brilliant people onscreen and offscreen who I’ve had the privilege of working with over the years at Outline Productions as well as to all the encouraging commissioners, broadcasters, distributors, post production companies and other partners, as well as Al and my family who've supported me throughout this journey. It’s been a total blast (most of the time!). Thank you Helen for everything – now I’m not seeing you every day at work, I’m looking forward to more out of hours fun! You’re not only officially the funniest person in television (winner Edinburgh TV Festival Stand Up 2014) but the most creative, original, loyal and smart – as adept with crafting a format as in the edit, and even able to add incisive comment to a tricky contract. I’ll start at ScreenSkills in Jan, and stepping down from Outline and Tin Roof at the end of Dec #screenskills #skills #outline #creativeindustry #HEFund
