Director
Sally Atkins has worked in most areas of the entertainment industry, specialising in large-scale, live events and TV production. Her career started in the music industry, working for Elton John then managing Stock Aitken Waterman’s stable of artists, including Kylie Minogue. Music often plays a part in the events she now produces, films, or manages.
Event management credits include: nine years of LSO classical concerts in Trafalgar Square, The Liberty Festival of Deaf and disability arts, at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, and spectacular outdoor theatrical Events such as: ‘The Heritage Flame’, a ceremony for the 2016 Paralympics, staged at Stoke Mandeville Stadium, and The Great North Star celebrating the centenary of some women getting the vote on the banks of the River Tyne in Newcastle.
Sally’s TV Production credits include multi-artist, multi-media TV events such as ‘Titanic: A Commemoration in Music and Film’ for the BBC, and ‘Fashion Rocks for The Prince’s Trust’. She produced ‘Talks Music’, an intimate series of interviews with music icons for Sky Arts, and has filmed stadium concerts with George Michael, Take That, and Sir Elton John.
Sally produced book launches for the final three Harry Potter books for JK Rowling and Bloomsbury Publishing. They included: a magical weekend at Edinburgh Castle, an all-night book signing at the Natural History Museum and a theatrical event, complete with flying car, at the Royal Albert Hall, hosted by Stephen Fry.
Sally’s a Londoner, so loves events and locations that showcase her iconic home city. She is passionate about its diverse cultural influences and her favourite events bring free, unexpected experiences to Londoners and visitors alike. She was proud to sit on the board of Greenwich+Docklands International Festivals (GDIF), for many years. Their mantra is to curate ‘extraordinary outdoor events that transform people’s lives’. She only stepped down when she started producing some of those events for them. In 2016 she produced GDIF’s landmark opening event, ‘The House’, staged in the grounds of the Royal Maritime Museum.
If asked what qualities her jobs requires, Sally lists: a great team, communication, patience coupled with dogged determination, a sense of humour, the ability to inspire confidence in a group of disparate stake holders and to convince local authorities that ambitious events can be staged safely in challenging city locations. In her spare time, she dances – Ballroom and Latin and writes – suspense thrillers. She is not yet published but has just completed an advanced novel writing course with Faber and Faber.
