Rico Johnson-Sinclair

Currently working as Skills and Training Director at Warner Bros. Discovery developing and leading on CrewHQ, a skills and training centre based at the renowned Warner Bros. Studio Leavesden, Rico works to develop and nurture ‘belowthe-line’ crew and embed inclusion into training and skills from inception. After working with Flatpack Festival in Birmingham, Rico Johnson-Sinclair went on to build CineQ, a queer film festival that prioritises queer and trans, Black and Indigenous people, and people of colour, which is now in its 6th year. Although his career has developed since then, his ethos has always centred on audiences first, understanding that the screen’s industries are empowered to shape hearts and minds. His last role was as Race Equality Lead for the British Film Institute, working to bring a critical perspective into conversations about race in the film industry and working intersectionality to develop work around class, disability, and gender from an intersectional perspective. Outside of programming and exhibition, Rico consults with organisations around events that focus on inclusion and diversity and works with talent to develop emerging voices centring on untold stories from historically marginalised communities in partnership with organisations such as European Film Academy and The New Black Film Collective. Rico was also co-director of ARTEF (the Anti-Racist Taskforce for European Film), an organisation that seeks to develop equitable processes across European exhibition and production, with successful events at Cannes, Berlinale, and BFI London Film Festival in 2022 and 2023.