Tom Harvey

Tom Harvey MBE is a BAFTA-winning creative entrepreneur and writer and serves as an executive coach and board advisor. He has held leadership roles in UK creative industries, including as chief executive of Northern Film and Media and the founder of SohoCreate. In the 2012 New Year Honors, he was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to the creative industries.

Early life Harvey was born outside Stevenage New Town; his father was sculptor Mark Harvey and his grandfather was author William Fryer Harvey. He attended the Nobel School, Stevenage, and the London College of Printing, where he studied photography, film, and television. Harvey became involved in a range of media and cultural projects. He worked on activities related to the film industry and culture programming, which led to his involvement in the film and television sector. These early roles provided experience in media production and cultural development and preceded his later work in leadership and creative entrepreneurship.

Career Harvey has served as chair of hip-hop dance theater company BirdGang Ltd. and a Trustee of the Peter Marlow Foundation. Harvey was the founder and CEO of London-based festival SohoCreate. Harvey was chief executive of Northern Film & Media the creative industries development agency for North East England. Which was renamed North East Screen in 2024.

Harvey is an Executive Producer on One Night in Turin directed by James Erskine, and feature films Rising Tide; No Place To Hide; Frank, directed by Richard Heslop and Unconditional, directed by Bryn Higgins.

Harvey began working in the media industry at David Puttnam's feature film company Enigma Productions. He then worked as an assistant director, production manager, and producer on US and UK movies, television films and series, documentaries, short films and pop promos, including Happy Mondays and New Order, including their controversial promo Touched by the Hand of God, directed by Kathryn Bigelow.

He ran the Edinburgh International Television Festival for three years, developing the festival strands for young people, TVYP and TV25. He worked in senior management at the BBC as the Commissions and Strategy Executive on BBC2 and as Manager of the Independent Commissioning Group He was Managing Director of online interactive entertainment company XPT with Tim Wright and Rob Bevan.

As a playwright, Harvey wrote the play Pool, which won the Brockley Jack Theatre playwriting competition in 2014 and was produced by the theater in May/June 2014. The Verbatim play ABOUT LAST NIGHT in the 2017 general election was performed at the Arcola Theatre with a cast including Monica Dolan and Helen Belbin. Harvey's short plays have been performed at The Park Theatre; The Jack; Theatre 503, Arts Theatre, and The Cockpit. HER was selected for the ONE Festival at The Space Theatre and the FREE Festival at Southwark Playhouse.

His work has focused on creative industry growth and sector development, including support for creative business, founders, and executives. More recently, this has included work connected with Creative UK, whose program supports creative business through growth, investment readiness, and access to finance. Across his career, Harvey has contributed to initiatives concerned with creative business growth, company development, and executive support within the creative industries.

Harvey won the 2023 Seán Ó Faoláin International Short Story Competition at the Cork International Short Story Festival. He also placed second in the Martín Crawford Award at the Belfast Festival and was a finalist in the London Independent Story Prize. His short fiction appeared in "Bull Magazine," "Litro Magazine," "Merrcuites," "Southwood," and Fairlight Books.

Membership Harvey is a member of BAFTA He has an honors degree in film & TV and in the past has served on the advisory board for IPPR North, the Board of Culture North East, and the management board of music accelerator Generator.

Harvey is a Fellow 2007 of the Clore Leadership Programme, a graduate of Harvard Business School’s short course in Private Equity and Venture Capital 2009, and a Common Purpose Graduate 2003.

Awards Harvey won a BAFTA Award and received two further BAFTA nominations for his work with XPT. In 2023, Harvey won the Seán Ó Faoláin International Short Story Competition at the Cork International Short Story Festival. He came second in the Mairtín Crawford Award at the Belfast Book Festival and was also listed as a short-story finalist in the London Independent Story Prize.