Hilary Rosen Named BAFTA Chair After Sara Putt

BAFTA has appointed Hilary Rosen as its new chair, elevating the longtime television executive after a year as the British academy’s deputy chair. She succeeds Sara Putt, whose three-year term has concluded, and will help steer an organization whose influence spans film, television and games.

From television committee to the top role

Rosen has been part of BAFTA’s Television Committee since 2021 and later served as its chair. In those positions, she helped shape the Television Awards and Television Craft Awards, including oversight of their jury processes. Her new post expands that responsibility across BAFTA’s awards, industry leadership and year-round programs for emerging and established talent.

Outside the academy, Rosen is director of commissioning at UKTV, the BBC Studios-owned broadcaster. She leads a slate covering scripted and unscripted programming, with recent commissions including the Mark Gatiss period detective drama Bookish and Outrageous, a drama about the Mitford sisters.

In a statement reported with the appointment, Rosen called the chairmanship a “great privilege” and emphasized BAFTA’s role in promoting screen arts and championing talent. Her industry background gives the academy a leader with direct experience developing programs as well as overseeing awards.

A wider leadership transition

The change at the top is accompanied by several other appointments. Ade Rawcliffe and Andrew Miller will become deputy chairs and are set to serve two-year terms. Charu Desodt will chair BAFTA’s Games Committee, while Caroline Levy takes charge of the Television Committee.

Nahrein Kemp has been appointed chair of the Learning, Inclusion and Talent Committee. Shrina Shah, who chairs the Governance and Appointments Committee, will also join BAFTA’s Board of Trustees.

The leadership reshuffle matters beyond the annual red carpets. BAFTA also runs training, mentoring and development initiatives throughout the year, so its board helps determine how the institution supports talent and responds to changes across the screen industries. Rosen now takes that responsibility at a time when commissioning, production models and audience habits remain in rapid motion.