Hi! My name is Will Sadler and I am a filmmaker and sound producer who has worked with the North East’s not-for-profit sector for over 20 years.

Supporting disabled and neurodivergent talent

I co-founded Beacon Films, a production company that supports the talents of disabled and neurodivergent filmmakers. In recent years I have started integrating my own lived experiences of mental health challenges into this work, which has included writing, co-hosting Lively Minds: the mental health podcast and appearing on panels to discuss mental health in film and TV.

My own filmmaking career

My own personal filmmaking career began in 2004, when I started my own production company which specialised in productions for the cultural, educational and charitable sectors. I made a lot of films with museums, including the short period drama: Siege and Storm for Discovery Museum in Newcastle and the documentary: A Part of Who We Are for Strathnaver Museum in the northern Scottish Highlands. Other works were exhibited at Tate Britain and the Laing Art Gallery. In 2012 I started working with the Museums Association to record their annual conference and eleven years later, I continue to work as part of their live-stream team that broadcasts the conference to an audience of thousands.

My move into sound production

I entered sound production in 2017, when I was commissioned to create a short podcast series called Atlantic Edge about Durness, the most north-westerly settlement on the Scottish mainland. Since 2018, I have worked alongside Kim Tserkezie, Andy Jones and Kema Sikazwe to make radio documentaries and podcasts for the BBC World Service, including Migrants Mean Business, Funeral Punks, Finders Keepers and The Reclaimers. Our shows have received ‘pick of the week’ in The Times and The Observer and The Reclaimers was featured on BBC World Service’s ‘Pick of the World’ which highlights its shows that have generated the most social media interest.

I help organisations to create their own podcasts and have been working alongside Blue Cabin to create their monthly show The Creative Life Story Work Podcast since 2021. In 2023, I started co-hosting a show for the first time, releasing the first series of Lively Minds: the Mental Health Podcast.