Al Naffah is a London-based screenwriter and filmmaker. His romantic comedy screenplay Stephanie Dellacosta has won multiple international awards, including honours at the Oxford Script Awards, London Global Film Awards, New York International Film Awards and Cannes World Film Festival. His scripts have also been finalists at competitions including the Nashville Film Festival Screenwriting Competition, Cambridge Script Festival, Rome Prisma Film Awards, Chicago Script Awards and the Berlin International Screenwriting Festival.

He is currently directing Firefly: The Emily Remler Story, a feature documentary about the pioneering late jazz guitarist Emily Remler, made in cooperation with her estate. Before moving into filmmaking, Al worked in strategic communications at firms including Brunswick Group. He now mentors emerging writers on screenplay development, story structure and navigating the early stages of a career in film. In addition to his native English, he speaks French, Arabic, Spanish and Portuguese.

I’m a trained story analyst with a background in screenwriting (MA Screen Academy Scotland) who loves helping writers find the version of their story that finally clicks. I’ve read for competitions and institutions, including the Edinburgh Short Film Festival, and worked with writers from different countries, which has taught me to approach every project with empathy, curiosity and a sharp ear for the writer’s intention. My feedback is supportive and practical, aimed at giving you clarity, strengthening your narrative choices and helping you move forward with confidence. My goal is to be a creative ally who listens closely, asks the right questions, and helps you shape a story that feels true to your voice and ready for the industry. – Script coverage – Story development and rewrite guidance (structure, character, tone) – Support with development and sales materials (synopsis, treatments, pitch documents, applications for labs and competitions)

Angel Constantinou is a British screenwriter, director, and Raindance script reader and film reviewer. Her award-winning short Boy is streaming on Apple TV and Amazon Prime and is used in educational settings to support conversations around youth mental health. With a background in music and performance, Angel brings a strong ear for dialogue, rhythm, and emotional pacing, and specialises in character-driven storytelling across film and TV. As a mentor, she focuses on script development, structure, clarity, and market readiness, offering clear, practical guidance tailored to each project. 

Gideon van Eeden is a former television actor and theatre creator with South African roots. After emigrating to the Netherlands in 2008 he has worked as a festival programmer and filmmaker. His films have been selected by numerous Oscar- and BAFTA-qualifying festivals and have received more than 20 international awards. His short film Bijltjesdag (Day of Reckoning) has screened at more than 30 festivals around the world, and marks his debut as a director of narrative fiction. The film won Best Student Film at the Kerry International Film Festival in Ireland. His second short film, The Apricot Tree was selected for PöFF Shorts and nominated for Best Student Film at the Norwich Film Festival. Both productions were made as part of his studies in screenwriting and directing with the Raindance MA Programme, which he completed with distinction in 2018. His third film, God Glitch, is an award winning sci-fi short that screened at Film Quest and the Leeds International Film Festival. Next in the production pipeline is Entgen Luyten’s Executioner – a gritty historical thriller; green- lit by the Limburg Film Fund. He is in development with 3:42AM – a horror web-series and his first feature, a psychological horror: Darkness and Voices. 

Creative areas of interest

Socially relevant and reconciliatory themes, bigotry & hypocrisy, societies undergoing massive, sudden change, psychological & paranormal horror, sci-fi and fantasy, magical realism, (esoteric) symbolism, creating suspense with camera movement and musical score, aesthetic emotion, synchronicity, education- & redemption plots, coming of age stories, outdoors and nature, myth, occult, character motivation and psychology, popcorn flicks. Festival programming. David Fincher, Darren Aronofsky, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Jordan Peele.

Mentoring strengths

Script development: premise / character / theme, beat-sheets, rewrites, the shooting script. Short, feature and web-series structure. Indie- and guerrilla filmmaking: using limitations to your advantage. Visual design for new directors: directing the camera (movement, composition and blocking), vision statements, look books, sizzle reels, storyboarding and shot lists. Pitch-deck, (crowd-) funding, festival strategy, collaboration techniques: working with key crew and cast. Some hard lessons learnt the hard way – happy to share those practical gems.

James has a background in writing and producing short film projects, across drama and documentary. He has been a BAFTA longlisted producer (a while ago now) and has seen his work screened at various film festivals. James has worked as a Script Reader for the BFI and he currently supervises long-form screenplay projects for the University of Gloucestershire’s online MA in Screenwriting. James is currently developing a feature film screenplay. James has written for Little White Lies online and 3D World and Imagine FX magazines. His books about movies include The Virgin Film Guide: Animated Films and Bodies in Heroic Motion: The Cinema of James Cameron. Follow James twitter here: @jasclarkewriter

Born in London but living in Los Angeles since 2004, James Bartlett has over 25 years of experience as a script reader, analyst and editor for UK regions and funders, but also US studios, production companies, management companies and competitions such as the Nicholl Fellowships, PAGE International Screenwriting Awards, American Film Institute, Sundance, WGA, the New Zealand Film Commission and many more. As such he can offer a strong overview of the industry in the UK/Ireland as well as the USA, and he has also lectured in the UK about the business of screenwriting – including for Raindance and the London Film School – covering how to pitch and navigate the systems within commercial and publicly-funded development.

Julia is known for developing great material and has hands on produced many films from inception all the way to release. Julia has an excellent overall knowledge of all aspects of filmmaking including story development, casting and packaging, budgeting, financing, on set production skills, festival strategy, and getting films sold and out into the marketplace.  She has great creative instincts and is very passionate about each film she makes.

WRITING

General Script feedback and Script Editing for outlines, treatments, short & feature film scripts, TV pilot scripts and bibles.
Idea development – discussing initial ideas, crafting your logline, synopsis, one pagers, beat sheets.
Writing for TV – Crafting your pilot, story lining your series, writing TV bibles, pitch documents, treatments.
Character development.
Theme.

DIRECTING

Breaking down a script/scene by scene analysis.
Working with actors.
Creating mood boards, visual aids, working with cinematographers.
Communicating with crew.
Editing your film and Post.
General feedback on edits.

Mark Christopher Lee is a British indie filmmaker, musician, and creative visionary best known for his bold, genre-blending work in the independent film scene. A Raindance Film Festival nominee for Best Director, Lee is celebrated for his innovative storytelling and his groundbreaking UFO documentaries.

Driven by a fiercely independent spirit, he has self-distributed over 20 films, building a global network of contacts among film agents, distributors, and major streaming platforms. His dedication to DIY filmmaking has enabled his work to reach international audiences, proving that creative resilience can thrive outside the traditional studio system. Lee credits Raindance being instrumental in his creative success.

Lee is also the frontman of the cult indie band The Pocket Gods, further showcasing his commitment to pushing boundaries across both film and music.

Mentoring strengths

Directing, working with actors, micro-budget filmmaking, short filmmaking, screenwriting for short and feature films as well as TV/web-series, pitching

Mentoring strengths

Mentoring strengths would cover all aspects of the film industry, but with particular focus on writing, producing, directing. As a filmmaker who produces as well as writes/directs I can advice on story development, creating business plans, finance plans, budget & schedules, attending film markets and festivals, as well as how to create pre-visualization (pre-viz) elements (concept art, mood boards, proof of concept shorts, etc) that will inspire students to be proactive in their careers.

Simon Hunter is a filmmaker who’s spent his career moving between gritty indies, big-budget sci-fi, and festival hits. His debut feature LIGHTHOUSE put him on the map with award wins and praise for its razor-sharp suspense. He’s since directed the cult sci-fi MUTANT CHRONICLES (with John Malkovich, Ron Perlman, and Thomas Jane), the indie breakout EDIE (one of the UK’s most successful independent releases), and the WWI love story CAN YOU HEAR ME? His latest move is into television as show-runner and lead director of COLD MIND, a high-end crime drama shot in the Algarve.

Now, with Raindance One-to-One Mentoring, Simon brings that experience directly to you. Whether you’re making your first short or aiming for an indie feature, he’ll take you through the full producing and directing journey: developing the story, building the team, finding the money, navigating production, and getting your work onto the festival circuit and beyond.

It’s not theory. It’s filmmaking in practice — your project, your journey, one to one.

Mentoring strengths

Tutor Bio  

A graduate in European Business Administration, Stephan Mallmann has extensive experience in film production and sales, in Germany and the UK.

In 1989 he started out in a business affairs capacity at Recorded Releasing, a London based distribution and sales company for high quality arthouse films (Wings of Desire, Withnail & I etc.).

Stephan subsequently served as Financial Controller at Constantin Film in Munich, one of Europe’s leading film production, distribution and exhibition companies.

In January 1994 he joined Recorded Picture Company in London (The Last Emperor, Sexy Beast, among numerous others), and by 1996 had become a director of the company.

In 1998 he worked on the launch of RPC’s sister company, the sales agency Hanway Films (Carol, Brooklyn and hundreds more), of which he is a founding shareholder.

In 2001 he was appointed COO of both RPC and Hanway.

During his almost 20 year tenure, he handled the financial structuring of many of RPC’s and HanWay’s projects, including David Mackenzie’s Young Adam, David Cronenberg’s A Dangerous Method, Wim Wenders’ Pina or Roenning & Sandberg’s Kon-Tiki (the latter two films were Oscar-nominated).

In 2012 he stepped down from his day-to-day roles in RPC/Hanway, and moved back to Germany, as an independent consultant. He remains a shareholder in Hanway, as well as a non-executive director, and retains close links to the group.

His most recent credits as an independent producer are on Wim Wenders’ Submergence, Marcus Rosenmüller’s Trautmann and Rupert Everett’s The Happy Prince.

Full credit list on http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1040781/

Strengths:

His mentoring strengths are in all aspects of film and video production.

Tom Webb started making short films in his early teens and his love of filmmaking continued in his career.

Tom started his filmmaking life re-editing American TV shows for broadcast on the Discovery Channel in the UK and filming Martial Arts and Professional Wrestling

He then went on to be Head of Creative at Upbeat, a digital agency that covers video production and web development. Whilst there Tom filmed and edited everything from press junkets to film premieres, medical videos to corporate events, A-list movie stars to random people in the street.

Alongside this Tom has also co hosted the Have You Seen..? Podcast, made award winning short films, short form documentaries and a feature length documentary about the male perspective of fertility treatment called The Easy Bit which premiered at Raindance in 2019. It was reviewed in The Hollywood Reporter.

Viktor is a full-time script reader and consultant who has been helping writers with constructive and actionable feedback for over six years. Initially, he graduated from film school with a Bachelor’s degree in Screenwriting and started consulting within the UK production circuit. For the last half a decade, he has been working for the Coverfly umbrella and various websites, fellowships, and competitions. Returning clients also continue to present him with many writing and editorial opportunities. After reading thousands of film and TV scripts, hundreds of stage plays, and numerous manuscripts, he now has an in-depth understanding of various media, genres, and industry standards. This extensive experience has helped him master his craft while continuing to help writers and producers across multiple feedback formats and consultancy settings.

Strengths:

Premise – theme exploration, conflict engine design, world-building depth, tone consistency, and employment of genre conventions.

Plot – analyze event authenticity, logic, consistency, realism, and character behavior.

Characterization – review backstory and dimensionality, relationship dynamics, arc fulfillment, assign archetypal functions, and dramatize cast performance.

Structure – enhance conflict progression, tension-building, pace consistency, act break timing, scene efficiency, and distribution of character page time.

Dialogue – substitute exposition, make interactions natural, design character voices, add symbolism, and utilize subtext.

Marketability – budget minimization, financial appeal, broadening target demographic range, and increasing role castability.

Developmental – script development from idea to final draft, re-shape ideas to address underlying issues, offer specific suggestions with reasoning.

Technical – synopsize stories, design compelling loglines, edit treatments and pitches, correctly apply the industry’s formatting standard and appropriate use of prose, and provide page-by-page notes.