Megan O’Hara and Robert Pyburn join the Whicker’s World Foundation team
The Whicker’s World Foundation has added two young members to its team as we begin to prepare for our first set of annual awards next year. Megan O’Hara will join us in January as our social media and admin intern, and will help orchestrate the awards event at Sheffield Doc/Fest 2016. Robert Pyburn has joined us for the next few months to help create content for the WWF website and social media in the run-up to the awards submissions deadline.
Megan graduated last year from the University of St Andrews with a rather unconventional degree in English literature and Arabic, and has chased her love of writing and languages all over the world. Her travel writing has been published for the website The Culture Trip, where readers can follow her advice on anything from art galleries in Monaco to architecture in Montenegro. From milking goats in rural Bulgaria to filming documentaries in West Bank refugee camps, Megan seeks to emanate Alan Whicker’s intrepid and unapologetically explorative attitude in all of her experiences.
“I’m so excited to be given this opportunity to learn and develop my media career under the wise supervision of the Whicker’s World Foundation team. I’m a great lover of documentary film and Alan Whicker is such an undisputedly pivotal figure for me in this realm. He continues to be for me one of the original trailblazers of the authored documentary format, and I hope to be able to play a part in continuing his legacy by helping to encourage talented and inspirational filmmakers to showcase their work.”
Robert graduated from the University of Sheffield last year with a degree in Journalism Studies. He has written articles for online and print publications in the UK, about everything from Sheffield’s flourishing independent music scene to European public procurement directives. He has also worked in print and broadcast media outlets in Indonesia, where he grew up. Robert spent the last year co-directing a documentary about a Barcelona-based children’s orchestra and social project, as well as working as freelance videographer, photographer and writer. His passion for travelling and documentaries drew him towards a role with WWF.
“I’m very grateful for the opportunity to work for the Whicker’s World Foundation within a very talented team. I have a strong passion for documentary filmmaking, including Alan Whicker’s work, so working with a foundation that seeks to support and fund talented independent documentary-makers is incredibly exciting. I’m looking forward to helping them publicise their first annual Funding Award, creating content for the WWF website, as well as learn from industry professionals and develop my own skills.”