The role of the AD | Workshop
Saturday, September 26, 2026 | 3:15 pm
Behind every director’s vision stands an Assistant Director (AD) – the person who keeps the production running so the director can stay focused on the story. This session explores the AD as the logistical backbone of filmmaking: the role responsible for holding hundreds of moving parts in alignment, from scheduling and call sheets to on-set coordination and momentum. More than a support function, it is the discipline that makes a set work. Through practical tools, tips, and techniques, participants will gain insight into how ADs think, plan, and lead under pressure – and why the role demands both rigorous organisation and calm, decisive communication. For emerging professionals, the AD track offers more than a way onto set; it is a clear and sustainable gateway to a lasting career in film production. (Image credit: Kevin Huggins)
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Sophie Walcott
Born and raised in Trinidad and Tobago, Sophie Walcott graduated from the University of The West Indies with a Film Production and Film Studies Degree in 2018. Since then she has worked as an editor/producer on numerous corporate, commercial and narrative projects. In 2017, she edited her first feature project ‘Back to Freeport’; then in 2020 she edited and produced the award winning feature film
‘Grace & Saleem’. Sophie has since participated in the DEENTAL in the Caribbean producers’ programme in the Dominican Republic, was accepted through the UNESCO Transcultura to the EFM Toolbox Programme 2023 for emerging Producers, and has a television project in development that was accepted into the DEENTAL series workshop for Series Mania in Lille, France.
Over the past five years, Sophie has served as Assistant Director (AD) on large scale regional television commercials (TVCs), music videos, non-fiction series and narrative projects (feature length and short form). She hopes to continue to develop, produce and direct high quality, artistically focused Trinbago films and television, that help enrich her local industry, and bring new cultural diverse stories into the international space.