The Yorkshire and North East Film Archive has appointed a new Archive Director to take over from its founder Director, Sue Howard, who is stepping down after more than thirty years in the post.

Brent Woods will join the Archive in mid-July. He is currently the Chief Executive and Creative Director of the Media Centre, a ground-breaking social enterprise which delivers a creative and digital industries hub for the community of Huddersfield. His previous roles include General Manager of Litestructures Studios in Wakefield, part of what is now known as Production Park, one of the UK’s leading locations for the production of live event experiences, and Chief Executive of Sheffield DocFestBrent said:
“I am thrilled to be joining the Yorkshire and North East Film Archive and picking up from the incredible work of Sue Howard. I look forward to providing our communities with access to their moving image heritage while tackling the challenge of rescuing and preserving more of our film, video and digital social history before it disappears.”

Clare Morrow, Chair of the YFA Board of Trustees said:

“Our collections are a unique moving image record of lives, landscapes, industries, cultures and the rich diversity of our two regions
over the past one hundred and twenty years. Under Sue’s leadership and inspiration over so many years we have achieved enormous success in preserving and sharing these collections with audiences across our own two regions and far beyond. We are extremely grateful for her vision and commitment and wish her well in her well-earned retirement.

This is an exciting opportunity to build on the success of the Archive to date, and we very much look forward to welcoming Brent as our new Director as the Archive steps forward into the digital world to fulfil its long-term vision of creating a fully digital archive open for everyone to explore.”