MasterChef: In-Person Q&A with team behind the series

WFTV members are invited to join five women from the Shine TV production team who make the iconic BBC cooking series, MasterChef, which celebrated its 20th anniversary this year.

Join panellists Katie Attwood (Co-executive editor), Clare Elliott (Production Executive), Jane Pelling (Unit Manager), Emily Cox (Shooting AP) and Victoria Howarth (Casting Executive) as they discuss their journeys in the industry and experiences working behind the scenes of the show which has become an essential piece of British TV culture. The panel will be moderated by Louise Plank (Director of Plank PR, MasterChef Publicity).

Members will have the opportunity to tour the MasterChef set, followed by networking drinks.

Thursday 26th September, 18:30 - 21:00

3 Mills Studios, Three Mill Ln, London E3 3DU, UK

Event Schedule:

18:30 – 19:00 Arrivals

19:00 – 20:00 Panel Discussion with team behind MasterChef

20:00 – 21:00 MasterChef tours & General Networking

Venue Information:

• What 3 Words: buyers.defeat.shakes
• By Tube: Bromley-by-Bow, which is served by the Hammersmith & City and District lines and is a 5 minute walk away.
• By Bus: Bus routes 108 and 488 stop outside Tesco, Three Mill Lane – a 3 minute walk away. Routes 25, 276 and 425 stop at Stratford High Street Bow Flyover – a 5 minute walk away.
• Parking: There is the Tesco car park just 5 minutes away which offers up to three hours free parking.

About Masterchef

Based on a format created by Franc Roddam, MasterChef is the world’s most successful cooking format* - celebrating food and discovering culinary talent in an exhilarating competition. Produced by Shine TV in the UK, there have been 20 series of the revamped version of MasterChef, 18 series of Celebrity MasterChef, 16 series of MasterChef: The Professionals; three series of Junior MasterChef and two series of BBC Three’s Young MasterChef. Celebrity MasterChef, Junior MasterChef and MasterChef: The Professionals have all been BAFTA-nominated and The Professionals won a BAFTA in 2010. Now commissioned across 70 markets, MasterChef has broadcast more than 14,000 episodes and 650 series worldwide. The format and finished programmes are represented internationally by Banijay.

(*Guinness World Records)

About Shine TV

About Banijay UK

Banijay UK is a collective of leading independent television producers from around the UK. Our companies are responsible for some of the biggest TV brands on television including the MasterChef, Big Brother, Peaky Blinders, Deal or No Deal, SAS Rogue Heroes, Pointless, Ambulance and many more.

Banijay UK is part of media and entertainment powerhouse, Banijay Entertainment, which is home to over 130 production companies across 21 territories, a multi-genre catalogue boasting over 180,000 hours of original standout programming, and a complementary live entertainment business – Banijay Events.

Katie Attwood, Co-executive editor

Katie is MasterChef’s Co-Executive Editor. Having joined the series as a casting AP in 2005, over the last 19 years she has taken on most editorial roles on all versions of the the series - MasterChef, Celebrity MasterChef, MasterChef: The Professionals and Young MasterChef. As well as casting contestants she has been the show’s Events Producer, Edit Producer and Series Producer. This experience has given her a strong knowledge and foundation of how all aspects of making MasterChef works.

Before joining MasterChef Katie was a freelancer and worked on many features shows for various broadcasters including The Apprentice, Comic Relief Does The Apprentice, Make Me A Supermodel, Escape The Country and How Clean Is Your House.

Clare Elliott, Production Executive

Clare is Production Executive and works across all of the MasterChef series and specials. Clare joined Shine TV in 2008 as Production Coordinator on MasterChef and stayed on to become Production Manager, overseeing My Life in Books with Anne Robinson, Council House Crackdown, Family SuperCooks and The Chef's Protege. In 2015 Clare became Unit Manager and worked across further cooking competitions such as The Box with James Martin and continued with MasterChef. Prior to joining Shine TV, Clare worked at Talkback, Radar TV and RDF.

Jane Pelling, Unit Manager

Jane joined Shine TV in 2010 as a Production Secretary on MasterChef, working her way up to her current position of Unit Manager. She has worked across multiple series of MasterChef, The Island with Bear Grylls (both public and celebrity) and various Mary Berry series, including A Berry Royal Christmas with the Prince and Princess of Wales. Previous credits include The Apprentice and Celebrity Big Brother. Jane is Unit Manager across all the series of MasterChef.

Emily Cox,  Shooting AP

Emily Joined Shine TV in 2021 as a Home Economist Runner and has worked her way up to her current position of Shooting Assistant Producer. She first decided to work in television after a broadcast module within her Journalism apprenticeship caught her attention. From there, she started work experience with BBC Studios as a production runner, and later landed the role on MasterChef. As well as every MasterChef series since 2021, she has also worked on other shows such as Farmer’s Country Showdown, Roux Down the River, The Great American Baking Show, Junior Bake Off, Taskmaster, and Saturday Night Takeaway.

Victoria Howarth, Casting Executive

Victoria has worked in television for over 20 years, having spent the majority of her career working in food programming, Victoria quickly found her passion for casting. Throughout the past two decades she has cast some of the biggest food shows in the UK and has worked up from runner to Casting and Welfare Executive, the role she currently holds at Shine TV.

Victoria started on MasterChef 19 years ago as a runner, elsewhere she has worked at Love Productions and Studio Lambert in a Casting and Welfare capacity. Her drive to make UK mainstream television a representative and supportive world to be in was cemented by her time spent working at Pact within the Diversity and Inclusion schemes.

Louise Plank, Director of Plank PR, MasterChef Publicity

Plank PR is the PR agency that handles every aspect of MasterChef’s publicity campaigns including picture publicity and social media content provision.

Louise has worked in the TV industry for more than 28 years, launching her PR career at Channel 5 where she spent seven years before setting up Plank PR In 2006.

MasterChef was the first television format that Plank PR worked across and has continued to deliver the publicity campaigns across all MasterChef titles for the last 19 years.

Plank PR is proud to publicise MasterChef – one of the biggest brands in UK television and they also provide publicity campaigns for BBC One’s Race Across the World; Celebrity Race Across the World, BBC One and NBC’s The Traitors, Channel 4 and Netflix’s The Circle; and support Netflix’s Squid Game: The Challenge and Prime Video’s Clarkson’s Farm.

This event is for existing WFTV members only.

This event is for existing WFTV members only. By registering to attend a WFTV event, you agree to comply with WFTV's Member Code of Conduct.

If you are not a member and would like to join, membership costs just £100 + VAT/yr , please click here or email admin@wftv.org.uk

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