Catryn Ramasut: How I made it to Chair of Creative Wales

Have you ever considered joining a board? As Creative Wales embarks on a recruitment round for non-executive Board members, Catryn Ramasut tells us about her journey to Chair. Here she shares her background, route into the industry and vision for the creative sector in Wales.

Catryn is managing director and co-founder of award-winning ie ie productions – a female-led, Cardiff-based indie. She is well known in the industry for producing independent feature films for the international market, including Queerama and Rockfield, and The Studio on the Farm. Most recently, she co-produced BRIDES which was showcased at this year’s Great8 at Cannes Film Festival and is set to be released later this year.

After meeting in Bangkok in the 60s, my Thai father and Welsh mother settled in Wales in the 1970s. Growing up in Cardiff, my non-Welsh speaking parents chose to send us to Welsh language school. This bilingual education instilled in me the importance of the language and a deep appreciation of Welsh culture – even if I didn’t realise it at the time. This dual heritage and my family’s entrepreneurial background are an innate part of my identity. My father opened the first Thai restaurant in Wales and this blending of cultures, and foregrounding them for new audiences, is something I’ve taken into my own work as a producer.

My route into the film industry

I did not take a conventional route into filmmaking. After secondary school, I went to University College London (UCL) to study Anthropology. There was a module on Ethnography of Film which really piqued my interest in film and storytelling. After graduating, I came back to Wales, got some work experience, and ended up working for BBC Radio 1 before moving into TV, where I tried my hand at different roles in front and behind the camera. I then moved back to London where I worked as a music journalist and then in advertising.

While this was a bit of a pivot at the time, these skills gave me the basic knowledge and confidence to jump headfirst into producing our first film. Along with directors Gruff Rhys, Dylan Goch and the support of Ffilm Cymru Wales, we headed to Argentina to shoot Separado! I left advertising shortly afterwards and returned to Wales, having started a family, and it’s here that ie ie productions was born.

How Creative Wales supports Welsh talent

It’s so important to have bodies championing and believing in Welsh creative talent, and I’ll be forever grateful that each of my creative endeavours has been supported by Welsh public funding, including from Ffilm Cymru, the Arts Council of Wales, and the Welsh Government’s Digital Development Fund.

It’s so important to have bodies championing and believing in Welsh creative talent

Wales has a solid cultural infrastructure. We have such a rich history of educating through the arts, song, drama, poetry, dance, literature, film, and other expressive art forms. It’s in our DNA. I also sit on the UK Government’s Creative Industries Panel, where I’m quick to remind my peers that Wales’s unique curriculum foregrounds arts in education. 

My vision is for each of these elements that make Wales unique to be cross-collateralised to bring benefit to Wales. We’re a small nation but we achieve so much. The screen output from Wales has been significant over the last year or so, with TV productions like Lost Boys & Fairies and House of the Dragon, and feature films like the recently-released Chuck Chuck Baby, all of which also provided great employment and training opportunities.   

There’s still a huge amount of work to do, our film sector is still fledgling. We also need to grow the level of indigenous IP that comes from Wales. Music-wise, too, there’s huge potential. 

But that’s what makes these roles at Creative Wales so exciting – these are real conversations that contribute to tangible change.

Diversity on the Board

As Board Chair at Creative Wales and also Board member at Chapter Arts Centre, in some ways I feel like the roles are a way in which I can give back. Earlier in my career, I didn’t see many people like me championing the interests of the sector. While diversity continues to be an issue, change management and transformation come from leadership itself.

That’s exactly what this Creative Wales recruitment round is all about: seeking a plurality of voices to be catalysts for change.

As Board Chair at Creative Wales and also Board member at Chapter Arts Centre, in some ways I feel like the roles are a way in which I can give back.

The Board’s responsibilities include identifying key growth sectors, addressing skills challenges, and promoting equality, inclusion and diversity. Our close industry ties also enable us to provide an evidence-base for change.

What we’re looking for

We’re not policymakers, but policy-shapers, so we’re looking for forward-thinking, well-connected individuals who are passionate about Wales’ creative industries. 

We’d also expect applicants to have a certain level of expertise, to be able to articulate a real understanding of their sector’s needs. We’d love to see some fresh faces with passion and insight – people who aren’t afraid to ask questions and challenge, too.

Robust debate and agenda-setting research.
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We’re looking for people in digital sectors (animation, games and immersive tech), as well as public broadcasting and the creative sector in north Wales.

A Call to Action

This is an exciting time to join the Board at Creative Wales. It’s not a hugely onerous role either. We want your knowledge and insight – not your ability to speed-read a 1000-page document! We meet bi-monthly – either IRL or hybrid. 

In return, Board members have the chance to shape the future of Wales’ most dynamic sectors, and the return on investment of your time is real impact. 

You can find out more about the roles here: Welsh and English.

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