Liz Harkman
Creative Consultant, Freelance

Key Expertise: Crisis Management, Staff Well-being, Business Development, Bid-writing/Fundraising, Budgets and Finance, Monitoring and Evaluation, Programming, Equalities Diversity and Inclusion
Liz is a freelance consultant with over 20 years of experience working in film exhibition sector primarily with festivals and not for profit cultural organisations. Liz started her career working in production support, policy and PR roles at the British Film Institute and UK Film Council before developing a passion for festivals. She was the Managing Director of Encounters Film Festival for six years and has previously held operational roles at Edinburgh Film Festival, Animated Exeter and Flickerfest Short Film Festival (Sydney). Liz was previously a trustee of Take One Action and is a current trustee for Encounters Festivals and has extensive experience of being and working with trustees. Between 2016 - 2020, Liz was a short film programmer for Locarno Film Festival (Switzerland) and currently supports the international programming for Flickerfest Short Film Festival (Sydney).
As a Consultant, Liz works as a Creative Producer, Project Manager and Evaluator for clients including the Film Audience Network, Ffilm Cymru, Watershed, and Creative Europe.
Liz has extensive knowledge and understanding of managing small not for profit organisations and has developed business and strategic skills working for small creative companies including as the Executive Director for Bristol Festivals, a network and development consultancy for festivals and live event organisations in Bristol, where she has introduced a training and development programme with a focus on sustainability, equality, diversity and inclusion and well-being. She regularly facilitates development meetings, hosts peer to peer support groups and provides professional mentoring with a focus on income generation, fundraising, crisis management, strategic development, governance, leadership, recruitment, financial management and most other aspects of running a small creative organisation.
Key Expertise: Crisis Management, Staff Well-being, Business Development, Bid-writing/Fundraising, Budgets and Finance, Monitoring and Evaluation, Programming, Equalities Diversity and Inclusion
Liz is a freelance consultant with over 20 years of experience working in film exhibition sector primarily with festivals and not for profit cultural organisations. Liz started her career working in production support, policy and PR roles at the British Film Institute and UK Film Council before developing a passion for festivals. She was the Managing Director of Encounters Film Festival for six years and has previously held operational roles at Edinburgh Film Festival, Animated Exeter and Flickerfest Short Film Festival (Sydney). Liz was previously a trustee of Take One Action and is a current trustee for Encounters Festivals and has extensive experience of being and working with trustees. Between 2016 - 2020, Liz was a short film programmer for Locarno Film Festival (Switzerland) and currently supports the international programming for Flickerfest Short Film Festival (Sydney).
As a Consultant, Liz works as a Creative Producer, Project Manager and Evaluator for clients including the Film Audience Network, Ffilm Cymru, Watershed, and Creative Europe.
Liz has extensive knowledge and understanding of managing small not for profit organisations and has developed business and strategic skills working for small creative companies including as the Executive Director for Bristol Festivals, a network and development consultancy for festivals and live event organisations in Bristol, where she has introduced a training and development programme with a focus on sustainability, equality, diversity and inclusion and well-being. She regularly facilitates development meetings, hosts peer to peer support groups and provides professional mentoring with a focus on income generation, fundraising, crisis management, strategic development, governance, leadership, recruitment, financial management and most other aspects of running a small creative organisation.