Our team brings together experienced experts in media industries with globally renowned experts in conflict resolution. All our mediators are qualified and experienced mediators and bring psychological insight into the management and resolution of conflict.
Founders
Monica Hanaway
Monica is an accredited mediator, coach, psychotherapist, trainer and author. Her first degree is in Fine Art. She has considerable experience of working with people in Media, Music, Film and Entertainment industries as a mediator, coach, and psychotherapist. As an experienced trainer in mediation she provides mediation training to companies and organisations around the world. She is the author of several books on leadership, coaching, and mediation including ‘A Psychological Approach to Mediation: Studies in Conflict and Resolution.’ (published by Routledge) and ‘Musical Differences: working with conflict in the music industry.’ (Routledge)
She has a global reputation for bringing existential thinking into executive and leadership coaching and training.
Mirjam Buyteweg
Mirjam is an accredited mediator who has worked as a business & legal affairs executive in the media and entertainment industry for more than 20 years, including more than 8 years at a senior international level. She combines an in-depth knowledge of the creative industries with a good understanding of different business cultures around the globe and speaks English, Dutch, German and French.
Accredited Mediators
Grace McIntyre
Grace McIntyre is a Senior Accredited Coach, Art Psychotherapist and Mediator. At the heart of her mediation practice, she fuses together a neurobiologically informed approach to conflict resolution, by negotiating and motivating resolve between parties through applying creative, and divergent perspectives to resolve complex dynamics. Having originally trained as a Fine Artist Grace brings this creative training to all areas of life, she appreciates the soul, heart and individuality that creative production surmounts to and would bring a passionate focus to help resolve issues of conflict within the creative industries. Grace has further specialisms in the field of trauma, neurodiversity and organisational dynamics, which all aid her ability to fine tune into the conflict at hand, and communicate across different planes of perspective.
Melvin Claridge
Melvin is a MIMs consultant and accredited mediator. His varied career path (from diplomat to opera singer, banker, psychotherapist, lawyer, and mediator) has a broad sweep as well as common themes, which include concern for others and a desire to make a practical difference. Melvin holds a Master’s of Law Degree and a Graduate Diploma in Law, as well as a Master’s Degree in Psychotherapy & Counselling, and an Advanced Diploma in Existential Psychotherapy. He also successfully completed a diploma in Opera Performance. He has a keen interest in classical music, especially opera. Prior to and while studying law, Melvin ran a psychotherapy practice, providing private trauma psychotherapy to individuals, couples and organisations. He is an in-house solicitor in the commercial law team with a large Government department and also serves as a trustee and Vice-Chair of the board at Pegasus Opera Company. Melvin’s interests in legal practice include intellectual property, art, cultural property and theatre law.
Dr Laurence Colbert
Laurence Colbert is a MIMs consultant and accredited mediator. He is a sound artist working in various ways. With over thirty years in the music industry, he has been signed to numerous record labels in the UK and USA, primarily known as the drummer and founding member of Ride and The Animalhouse. Laurence has experience of working in a number of bands who have enjoyed global recognition and understands first hand the stresses and strains of the industry. He is also a lecturer in popular music at the University of Huddersfield, leading the music business module. An advocate for better mental health and better communication in the music industry, Laurence became an accredited mediator in 2021.
Susan Blum
Susan has over 30 years experience working as a Management Consultant with organisations from less than 10 employees to very many thousands globally, spanning the private, public and voluntary sectors. She studied Psychology at the University of St. Andrews, has an MBA from Manchester Business School and is an accredited Workplace and Civil Mediator as well as being an accredited Team and Individual Coach. She has focused her coaching practice on supporting classical musicians to navigate the diverse challenges involved in being a professional musician in a competitive – and sometimes conflict-filled world – and has created innovative approaches to working effectively across national cultures. She speaks German, French and English.
Bart Jan Gorissen
Bart Jan is an accredited mediator with leadership experience in legal and commercial affairs across the global entertainment industry. As Head of Legal & Commercial Affairs for companies including a Metaverse brand agency and a Fortnite game producer, he has developed deep expertise in TV, digital media, advertising, and gaming. His international career spans Amsterdam, Melbourne, Miami, and London, with significant work across Europe, Latin America, and Southeast Asia. Having secured landmark intellectual property victories, including a precedent-setting TV format protection case in Brazil, Bart Jan intimately understands both the power and pitfalls of litigation. This experience drives his commitment to mediation as a more efficient, less burdensome and cost-effective approach to dispute resolution.
Antonia Hurford-Jones
Antonia Hurford-Jones, is a MIMs accredited mediator and consultant, and sector lead for tv. She has been working in television for the past 32 years and is an experienced channel head, commissioner, head of department and executive producer in the world of non-scripted programming. She started her career working on BBC Question Time until she was poached by Chris Evans to work on Don’t Forget Your Toothbrush and subsequently help him develop TFI Friday in the entertainment arena. From there she gained experience producing a wide variety of non-scripted series including comedy entertainment documentaries for Tiger Aspect and reinvigorating C4’s Saturday nights with archive-based, factual entertainment series at North One Television.
She ran the entertainment departments at Shine and Whizz Kid Entertainment before going in-house at the BBC. Joining Sky as their Commissioner for Entertainment, Antonia executive produced their existing slate of programming and commissioned new series. She went on to run the channel Sky Living for three years, acquiring hit US series and commissioning across the scripted and non-scripted genres.
She is currently Managing Director of independent production company, Twenty Six 03. As a MIMs consultant she provides consultancy and mentoring services.
Yannick Jacob
Yannick Jacob is a coach, supervisor and accredited mediator with Masters degrees in Existential Coaching and Applied Positive Psychology. A thought leader in coaching, and formerly Programme Leader of the MSc Coaching Psychology at the University of East London, Yannick is now part of the teaching faculties at the University of Cambridge (Unit Leader, Psychological Coaching, MSt Coaching) and the International Centre for Coaching Supervision. Yannick presents at conferences internationally and, amongst several book chapters and journal articles, authored the seminal textbook An Introduction to Existential Coaching. A passionate podcaster, he hosted the popular podcast Coaching Uncaged as well as his own ongoing shows Talking about Coaching and Talking about Coaching and Psychedelics.
An artist and creative at heart, Yannick’s love for music saw him collect over 3000 vinyl records, DJing since 2002 with gigs at major UK festivals such as Boomtown, Secret Garden Party, and Noisily; he recorded and produced 2 albums and, for a year, taught scratching and turntablism to young students at Haberdasher Askes Knights Academy.
Sally Eden
Sally Eden is an accredited mediator and a communications expert from a broadcast media background. Sally has worked as a news correspondent for Reuters and the ITV Breakfast programme GMTV, covering stories all around the globe. She also worked as a business presenter for BBC World News and so understands the demands of the media industry on the people involved. She brings her newsroom skills to mediation: listening, understanding, helping others find clarity in complicated situations and assisting people to navigate tough conversations. Sally also works with CEOs to help them improve their communication skills and get their message across in a noisy world. Sally holds qualifications in journalism, counselling and psychotherapy, and is an accredited mediator with the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution.
Daniel Bankover
Dan is an accredited mediator with more than 20 years’ experience in television and broadcasting. He began his career in daytime television and worked his way through the industry to become a Head of Production. From cookery and documentaries to sport and fast-turnaround factual programming, his broad experience means he understands first-hand the pressures and challenges of working in a fast-moving industry.
Throughout his career, Dan has managed complex productions, high-pressure situations and negotiations involving a wide range of people and competing interests. This has given him extensive experience in communication, negotiation, problem-solving and conflict resolution.
He brings this experience to his mediation practice, with a calm, impartial and practical approach focused on helping people navigate difficult conversations and find a constructive way forward.
Sector Leads – Consultants and Mentors
Pascha Hanaway
film and TV lead
Pascha Hanaway is a MIMs consultant, and sector lead for tv and film. She trained at Bath Spa University (Creative Writing), New York Film Academy and The National Film and Television School, UK. She has worked in production and direction in TV and film including Notes on Blindness’ , ‘The Falling’ and ‘Honey Trap’. She is currently working on ‘Bridgerton’ for Netflix. She has also worked in HR and has good knowledge of general employment issues and particularly of those specialist issues relating to the film and TV industry. She has a particular focus on issues of equality and fairness in the industry. She has a reputation of working well with the most demanding of characters. She has also worked with ‘troubled’ young people in conflict. She provides consultancy and mentoring services.
Antonia Hurford-Jones
unscripted TV lead
Antonia Hurford-Jones, is a MIMs accredited mediator and consultant, and sector lead for tv. She has been working in television for the past 32 years and is an experienced channel head, commissioner, head of department and executive producer in the world of non-scripted programming. She started her career working on BBC Question Time until she was poached by Chris Evans to work on Don’t Forget Your Toothbrush and subsequently help him develop TFI Friday in the entertainment arena. From there she gained experience producing a wide variety of non-scripted series including comedy entertainment documentaries for Tiger Aspect and reinvigorating C4’s Saturday nights with archive-based, factual entertainment series at North One Television.
She ran the entertainment departments at Shine and Whizz Kid Entertainment before going in-house at the BBC. Joining Sky as their Commissioner for Entertainment, Antonia executive produced their existing slate of programming and commissioned new series. She went on to run the channel Sky Living for three years, acquiring hit US series and commissioning across the scripted and non-scripted genres.
She is currently Managing Director of independent production company, Twenty Six 03. As a MIMs consultant she provides consultancy and mentoring services.