Meet the team behind the Montrose LandxSea Film Fest: a passionate crew of filmmakers creatives, community organisers, and changemakers.
We’re a small but mighty collective, powered by a core team, a committed Board of Trustees, and an incredible group of volunteers, all working together to bring bold environmental cinema to Scotland’s wild east coast.
Want to get involved? LandxSea Film Festival is seeking new Trustees and Festival Committee Members.
This is an exciting moment in our journey, and we’re opening up key volunteer opportunities for people who want to help shape the future of Scotland’s environmental film festival.
We have two main types of voluntary roles, and consider applications on a rolling basis:
- Charity Trustees (Board Members)
- Festival Committee Members
Festival Team
Rachel Caplan, Co-Founder & Festival Director
Rachel co-founded LandxSea to create a welcoming, place-based space for environmental cinema, creative exchange, and community action. She is an award-winning film festival producer and impact strategist for documentary films, with over 25 years’ experience across the UK and USA. Her work centres on the power of film to connect people, place, and action, using storytelling to spark dialogue around urgent environmental and social issues.
She previously founded and led the San Francisco Green Film Festival, growing it into an internationally recognised platform for environmental storytelling, and directed the International Ocean Film Festival, North America’s largest showcase for marine cinema. She also produced Scotland’s Climate Festival for COP26, supporting 37 locally led events and engaging more than 30,000 people nationwide.
As Festival Director of LandxSea, Rachel leads programming, partnerships, fundraising, and delivery, working closely with filmmakers, artists, and local communities to ensure the festival remains inclusive, accessible, and rooted in its coastal context.
Contact Rachel about partnerships, film programmes, and festival activity.
Anthony Baxter, Co-Founder
Anthony is a globally recognised documentary director and producer based in Montrose. Renowned for his award-winning documentaries, including the highly influential You've Been Trumped, Anthony has used his career in journalism and filmmaking to give a powerful voice to pressing environmental issues. His film Eye of the Storm, a deeply engaging portrayal of renowned Scottish artist James Morrison, won Best Specialist Factual at BAFTA Scotland, cementing his status as a critical filmmaker. Anthony's expertise and industry connections significantly elevate the festival's commitment to showcasing meaningful, impactful cinema.
He also created the stunning Festival trailer!
Holly Muse, Guest Manager & Assistant Festival Producer
Holly is a Creative Producer with a background in cultural anthropology, film exhibition, and community arts. She has worked across UK and international film festivals, and with organisations including Watershed Bristol and BFI Film Hub South West. She co-produced a community cinema in Bristol and led animation workshops and film screenings in refugee camps and youth centres in northern France and the West Bank. Holly recently completed a master’s in Visual Ethnography at Leiden University. Her fieldwork took place in the desert of southern Jordan, where she lived with a Bedouin family and explored the impact of tourism on gender dynamics and cultural practices. She presented her findings through a multimedia project, which she is now developing into a book.
Emma Jamieson, Marketing & Communications Manager
Emma is a marketing and social media consultant specialising in film and entertainment, with over 12 years leading award-winning campaigns and strategy across a variety of sectors in the UK and abroad. She now helps clients grow their brand, build fans, and drive awareness through story-led, data-backed, creative marketing that helps them cut through the noise. On the side, Emma also writes Reeling & Dealing, a film marketing Substack covering trends and innovations at the intersection of tech, media, fandom, the creator economy, and entertainment.
Graham Black
Graham is an architect with a passion for creative arts. After eight years with a preservation firm in Hawaii, he pursued photography, evolving into a semi-professional sports photographer. His work has been featured in local and national newspapers across Angus and Scotland. As a key creative force for Arbroath Football Club, he manages social media and marketing. Now, Graham brings his creativity to the festival, serving as its official photographer, capturing memorable moments. He also designed our stunning 2025 Festival screen printed poster!
Fiona Guest
Fiona is a leading producer of wildflower seeds in Scotland, championing the preservation of Scotland's flora. Operating Scotia Seeds, the most northerly wildflower seed producer in the UK, Fiona (and partner Giles Laverack) has deep environmental connections in Angus and is a key figure in the supply of wild seeds for major projects across Scotland and beyond. Her ongoing outreach for the festival, including collaborations with Clay Half, Buglife, Montrose Basin Visitor Centre, and Montrose Sailing Club, is vital to our community engagement and environmental advocacy.
Film Pre-Screeners: Armando Bautista Garcia, Abbie Clark, Bo Yau, Holly Muse, Martina Camatta, Mick Muse, Nadia Ward, Rachel Caplan, Rebecca Taylor
Trustees
Kenny transitioned from a 35-year career in the petrochemical industry, where he worked in North Sea gas and around Grangemouth's oil and gas complexes, to become a champion of environmental causes. Notably, post-COP26, he relayed the COP baton by land and sea from Glasgow to Sharm El Sheik as a ‘green runner’ and Scotland’s representative. He currently serves as Chairman of the newly formed Polmont Community Hub, working towards transforming the Community Centre and its grounds into a sustainable local asset for all. An active participant in climate events across the UK, including Scotland’s annual Climate Camp, Kenny serves as a passionate ambassador for our festival, offering a critical perspective on the environmental transition.
Gemma Bradshaw, Treasurer
Gemma is Impact Director at the TV Foundation, the charitable arm of the Edinburgh TV Festival. Prior to that, Gemma was the director of One World Media and focused on growing their support for new talent covering global stories. She is passionate about making the creative industries more accessible and the power of stories to open minds and create space for conversation and change, with a particular focus on the climate crisis. Gemma started her career in public policy before a move to the US led to her working in the documentary industry as Director of Programs for the Social Impact Media Awards (SIMA), and prior to that as COO of San Francisco Green Film Festival.
Nancy works across documentary film, photography, and public engagement, with a long-standing commitment to environmental storytelling and the belief that exposure to nature is the foundation of human and planetary health. Early in her career, she worked in adventure travel with Geographic Expeditions alongside conservation leaders including Jim Sano (WWF) and Huey Johnson, former California Secretary of Resources and founder of the Trust for Public Land. These experiences deeply shaped her views on stewardship, local heroes, and the strength of community. She has since collaborated with local and international film festivals, impact producers, and cultural organisations, and is drawn to stories that bring audiences to moments of reflection and inspire meaningful action.
Learn more about Nancy and her passion for LandxSea.
David Hughes, Chair
Bio coming soon!
Learn more about David and how LandxSea inspires him.
For the Montrose Playhouse
David Paton, Chair, The Montrose Playhouse SCIO
David is a dedicated community leader and long-serving associate director at Crawford Architecture. As the founder and Chair of the Montrose Playhouse SCIO, he played a key role in transforming the town’s old swimming pool into a community-owned cinema. A driving force behind the Montrose Music Festival (MoFest), Scotland’s largest free music festival, David was honoured as Montrose Citizen of the Year in 2014. He is integral to the town's current ProMo: Montrose Development & Improvement SCIO regeneration efforts. His leadership, community focus, and design expertise make him an invaluable asset to the LandxSea team. He also designed our brilliant logo!
Claire Carle, Operations Manager
Stewart Buchanan, Venue Supervisor
Jenna Henderson, Youth Programmes Coordinator
Mandy Kean, Mustard Studio
None of this would be possible without our amazing Festival Sponsors & Partners. Thank you!
LandxSea Beach Dook photo at top by Graham Black.