ELAINE WICKHAM 

Founder & Filmmaker | Generative AI, Governance & Ethics & Social Impact 

Elaine Wickham is an award-winning filmmaker and producer whose career spans more than 15 years of involvement in the film industry. She is currently pursuing an MA in Artificial Intelligence at the University of Southampton, focusing on digital generative AI, governance and ethics. She also holds an MA in Feature Film Producing from Goldsmiths, University of London, and a BA in Photography from the University of Westminster.

Her work brings together visual storytelling, social impact and emerging technology. Drawing on her background in photography, feature film production, writing and directing, Elaine is exploring the creative possibilities of generative AI alongside the ethical responsibilities surrounding its use. Her latest short film, Being Shame, marks her first production created entirely using generative AI.

FILM INDUSTRY EXPERIENCE & AWARDS

Elaine wrote and directed the short film My Mother, starring Susannah Harker, Joanna Scanlan and Georgia Groome, and the twenty-minute short film Gaslighting, starring Stephen Graham and Hannah Walters. Being Shame is her third social impact short film and her first 100% generative AI production, extending her commitment to socially engaged storytelling into a new form of filmmaking.

My Mother was funded by Screen South and the UK Film Council through the Digital Shorts programme. Selected in competition at festivals worldwide, it won Best Short Film at the London Independent Film Festival and Best Director at Euroshorts Film Festival, alongside special jury mentions at A Corto di Donne, BuSho and Houston International Film Festivals. It also screened at Brief Encounters, Isle of Wight, Rushes Soho and Cracow Film Festivals.

Gaslighting was produced for an online child abuse awareness campaign. It has received more than 500,000 online viewsand over sixty five-star survivor reviews. It is used by numerous charities, including Childline. Its ambassadors include Mike Leigh and Clint Mansell, among many others.

Before embarking on a new career in writing and directing, Elaine was lead producer on three feature films: Gypo, starring Paul McGann; Ruby Blue, starring Bob Hoskins; and The Calling, starring Brenda Blethyn.

After producing these three features and a number of short films, Elaine became Vice President of Productions at London-based Umedia, where she worked across an extensive slate of feature films. Umedia is one of Europe’s leading production groups, combining production, financing and visual effects. The group has invested more than $670 million through its tax shelter funds and has been involved in more than 500 films, including What Happened to Monday, Grace of Monaco, Yves Saint Laurent and the multiple Academy Award-winning The Artist.

As lead producer, Elaine won the Outstanding Achievement in Production Award at the British Independent Film Awards for her first feature, Gypo. The film also won Best Feature at the Frameline Film Festival, with its cast receiving awards internationally. Gypo sold worldwide and was distributed in the UK by Lionsgate.

Elaine’s second feature, Ruby Blue, won several festival awards, including the Grand Jury Prize at the Washington DC Independent Film Festival, Best Actor at the Oxford International Film Festival, and Best British Feature Film at the London Independent Film Festival.

Her third feature production, The Calling, premiered at the Edinburgh Film Festival and was released theatrically in the UK.

As a producer, Elaine was selected for several high-profile mentoring and talent initiatives, including Guiding Lights and Cine-Euro. She represented the UK as the European Film Promotion Producer on the Move at Cannes in 2008. 

Her current work with generative AI builds on this foundation in independent filmmaking and production. Through creative practice and postgraduate study, she is exploring how AI can expand the possibilities of visual storytelling while keeping governance, ethics and social impact central to her approach.

CHARITY & SOCIAL IMPACT EXPERIENCE

Elaine is passionate about impact filmmaking and social change. She founded Impart Pictures to create awareness films for campaigns, using storytelling to bring attention to social issues.

From 2009 to 2013, she ran a youth charity, managing educational programmes for excluded teenagers, young offenders and children in care.

She has also run film programmes with the National Autistic Society, Connexions, Kent Youth Offending Service and Kent Community Organisation, and produced a number of staff training films for the Youth Offending Service.

Elaine also served as campaign manager for The Gaslighting Project, an online child abuse awareness campaign.

This experience continues to inform her filmmaking and her focus on AI governance and ethics. As she develops her generative AI practice, she brings a longstanding commitment to socially purposeful storytelling and an interest in how emerging creative tools can support awareness, representation and social change.